Cover Art: Tejedora7 on Twitter

"Cyra, are you sure you've got everything? The books? Pencil-case? Lunchbox? The spare gun I gave you, in case of emergencies?" Blitzo turned to Cyra, nearly running over an imp on his bike, not paying attention to where he was driving.

"Y-yes, Mr. Blitz! I double-checked before we left. I'm pretty sure I've got everything," Cyra confirmed as she shyly tugged the straps of her backpack. She sat awkwardly between Moxxie & Millie, trying not to look frightened. Today was her first day at her new school, and she was understandably pretty anxious.

"Well, you can't blame me for being careful, Cyri. Wouldn't want you to be embarrassed on your first day at school," Blitzo said as he turned back to the road.

"She might not even make it to the school if you keep DRIVING LIKE A MANIAC!" Moxxie exclaimed from the backseat.

"Hey, keep it down there, Moxxie! Okay? Cyra's nerves are already on the rooftop edge right over her new school. She doesn't need your hysterical ass, making things worse!" Blitzo spat back, turning to face him as he did. And in doing so, he knocked down a trash can, ran over a sinner crossing the road, and caused a massive car crash behind him, all of which he ignored.

Usually, Cyra would've been worried about all the damage caused around her, but at the moment, she was much more concerned about the school she was going to attend.

It wouldn't be her first school. She and the rest of the orphanage kids had been through Kindergarten & Grade School while at Carmilla's. Neither one was enjoyable for her. It was bad enough that all the teachers there didn't seem to care about any of the kids or what they were teaching, but like at the orphanage, she was the only hellhound there surrounded by imps and the occasional succubi/incubi child. And that meant that most of the other children were afraid of her. Or worse, Cyra was regularly name-called, bullied, and picked on by the other kids. The adults were of little help. They just ignored her pleas, uninterested in her plight. Every day she spent there had been nothing short of miserable.

But, now she was finally free from there. After Mr. Blitzo had adopted her, she was no longer forced to attend her old school anymore. And it came as a relief when he told her that he had set her up with a whole new school, from the one she used to go to. Cyra didn't know the full story, but apparently, he had called in a favor from one of his clients. She happened to be a teacher who agreed to let her attend her class.

She was a little relieved knowing that, but deep down, the hellpup was afraid that it would be no different from the ones she used to attend. She tried to remain optimistic, but her nerves were starting to get to her.

"Hey, Loona?" Cyra called to her older sister, who was sitting by the front row seat next to Blitzo. "You've been to school before, right? Do you have any advice I should know about?"

Loona took a moment to respond, internally debating on whether or not to answer, before finally giving a blunt response. "Yeah, first up, don't bother asking Blitz for help on your homework. The idiot can't write for shit and knows less about math, history, and pretty much every other subject than all of your classmates. And don't feel bad about skipping classes or falling asleep. Half the things you learn in that school's going to be worth jack-shit when you finally grow up."

"…a-anything else?" Cyra asked hesitantly.

"Nope. That's all the help you're getting from me. Enjoy your first day in Double-Hell."

Cyra frowned in disappointment. She

had hoped for some good advice from her older sister or even a few words of encouragement to try and help ease her worries. But, her choice of words had had the opposite effect. Now she was just more nervous than ever.

"Don't listen to her, sweetpea," Millie told her gently after shooting a dirty look at Loona. "School ain't that bad once you get used to it. It's only scary the first few days, but soon enough, it'll become just another mundane part of your life. And besides, it's not like you'll be the only new kid there."

"Indeed," Moxxie joined in with a similar encouraging smile. "These next school years will be incredibly the most informative time of your life. You'll learn, grow and even make friends along the way. It might be a bit much at first, but you'll get used to it." Cyra's worried frown slowly started turning into a hopeful smile from their uplifting words. Maybe they were right. Perhaps this school wouldn't be so bad after-

"Yeah, real easy for you to say," Loona retorted with a fierce snort. "But, in case you forgot, the kid's a hellhound. And this place is probably going to be full of asshole adults who don't give a single fuck about any of the kids there and stupid little imp shits, ready to pick on the new weird kid on the block. Put those all together, and tell me how well things are going to work out for her." She said the last part with a low growl, remembering back to her old school days.

From the corner of her eye, she could see the kid's smile fading and the other imps looking at her angrily; Millie even flipped her off. Not that she gave a shit. Loona's school life had been nothing short of a living hell. She had been bullied, viewed as a wild animal, looked down upon by her teachers, and treated worse than dirt the whole time she had been there. So she would be damned before she would believe that the kid's experience would be any different. Sure it might suck for her to hear that, but she was going to find out, sooner or later anyway.

Blitzo, meanwhile, let out a low growl as he kept on driving. "Oooh, I'd like to see them try. Any asshole brat stupid enough to try anything to my baby girl…" he left his warning to everyone's imagination.

He didn't say anything else for a while, but as he began to notice Cyra's mood not changing, his voice changed into something more encouraging. "Hey kid, I wouldn't worry about anything like that. I'm sure it'll be fine. From what Ms. Teacher told me, there aren't any bullies in your class, so you should be fine. Plus, we axed off the teacher's client, got her a cake, and just to sweeten the pot, I'm getting her a fruit basket. So, I doubt she'd let anything happen to you after all that. The rest is probably just going to be some boring learning stuff, so just try to get through all that, and everything will be fine."

That seemed to have done the trick, as Cyra's frown turned back into a small smile. She wasn't entirely convinced by his words, but she appreciated the effort. "Okay, If you say so, Mr. Blitz. Thanks."

Blitzo took the thanks with a beaming smile: "Awww, don't mention it, Cyri! I'm just doing what all fathers do." His dotting smile then turned more confident as he continued. "And besides, you're not just any old hellhound. You're my kid! That means you don't take shit from anybody! Do whatever it takes to survive! Lie, cheat, steal, kill. In fact, once recess starts, find the toughest kid in the yard and beat the living shit out of them! Then everybody will know you mean business."

"Sir, that's prison."

"Only if you let it be Moxx." And with that Blitzo, turned his focus back to the road, seemingly satisfied with his words of encouragement. And not noticing Loona's growing frown.

The rest of the ride was mostly silent as Blitzo drove on. It wasn't that long before they arrived and the school came into view. Cyra looked at it with a slight sense of dread, not sure how to feel. Sure, the words from Blitzo, Moxxie & Millie had helped a little, but her worries and fears for how it might turn out still wouldn't leave her. There was still a longing sense of dread in her that wouldn't leave her alone. Which were made worse by Loona's harsh words. But, for Blitzo's sake, she would try to be optimistic.

Eventually, Blitzo's van came to a slow halt and pulled up next to the school. As Moxxie opened the door for her, giving her one last encouraging smile, Cyra took her first look at the place. It didn't look very different from her old school. It was a large dull-grey building, with a large portion of the right side, colored red. Cyra couldn't tell if it was supposed to be paint or blood, and honestly, she didn't want to know. It was surrounded by a fenced wall covered in barbed wire, a few dead trees, and a concrete playground for the recess periods.

Cyra gulped as she stepped out of the van, tugging at the straps of her backpack for support and comfort.

Blitzo looked out from the window and gave her a warm smile as she stepped out. "Well, kiddo, this is your stop. Just remember what I told you and try to make it through the day. We'll be here to pick you up when you're done. Have fun!" Blitzo waved her goodbye as the van drove off. "And tell Haycherry, her fruit basket will be a few days late cause it's in the mail!"

Cyra watched the van until it disappeared from her view, leaving the young hellhound girl alone. Only when it was completely gone, then did she turn back towards the school. Unfortunately, it didn't look any less intimidating the second time around. As the other kids walked past Cyra, not a single hellhound among them, giving her looks and keeping their distance from her, she was slowly beginning to lose hope.

But, it was too late to turn back now. The bell started to ring. Cyra took one last deep breath, gripped her backpack, and began walking to her classroom.

It took Cyra a while to find her classroom. There were so many different rooms in the one building, and she didn't dare ask for help out of fear of what might happen next. But she eventually managed to find it. She carefully stepped inside and saw that, much to her dread, it was an imps-only class. No hellhounds or even succubi to be found. And as soon she stepped inside, they all began to turn towards her, as confused, scared, and malicious faces appeared on most of them. Cyra instantly pulled on her hood when the looks came, shrinking slightly at them. Already things were off to a bad start.

Cyra sat down by one of the empty desks, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the rest of the children as the final bell began ringing. Shortly after, a female, violent-skinned sinner entered the room with a bright beaming smile on her face. From what Mr. Blitz had told her, she must've been Mrs. Mayberry, her teacher. He said she was friendly but also super crazy at times. But as she wrote a sweet greeting on the blackboard with a piece of chalk, Cyra couldn't see how she was supposed to be crazy. She just seemed like a friendly teacher. She was already sweeter than most of the ones she had at her previous school.

"Good morning, boys and girls!" The teacher said as she turned to the class with a bright warm smile.

"Good morning Ms. Mayberry!"

"I hope you all did your homework. Remember what I always say. Slackers will. Be. PUNISHED!" She finished the last of her sentence in a cold, threatening tone, even crushing the chalk in her hand into dust. Cyra gulped nervously. Now, she realized what he meant by the crazy part.

"Now, before we being I have an exciting new announcement!" Ms. Mayberry continued, her terrifying demeanor instantly changing back to her sweet persona from before. "We have a new student joining us. Would Cyra please step forward and introduce herself to the class?"

Well, here it goes. Reluctantly, Cyra got up from her desk and walked up in front of the class. She could feel everyone looking at her, and she hated it, even if not all of them were malicious. She hated being the center of attention. It was fine when it was with Mr. Blitz and his team. At least then, it was only a few people. But now, there were so many more kids looking at her, making her feel even more uncomfortable. But, Cyra didn't want to upset her teacher, so she steeled up her nerves the best she could, formed a shy smile on her face, and quietly introduced herself: "H-hello. M-my name is C-Cyra. I-It's v-very nice to meet you all."

She was met only with blank stares and some whispers from the rest of the class. That is until Mayberry began to scowl at them, her eyes getting brighter and a low growl escaping her lips. "Class, say hi to your new classmate." That scared the rest of them out of it, as they all quickly gave short greetings and fake smiles to the hellpup. That seemed to satisfy the teacher, as she went back to her sweet mood encouraging Cyra, to go on.

"I, I have a da-parent, named Blitz, an older sister named Loona, and I like stripped animals. Okay, thank you all, bye." Cyra quickly finished after that and ran right back to her desk, ignoring as many of the stares as she could. She pulled her hood down further in embarrassment, wishing she could just hide inside her hoodie for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, Ms. Mayberry seemed to have noticed her shyness, as she didn't try to press anything more out of her. The most she did was give her a welcoming smile before turning back to the class. "Thank you for your introduction Cyra. I hope all of you make her feel comfortable in our family. Or else! Well, now that we've got our introductions out, let's get back to our English lessons. Everyone, please open your book to page 17 and read until page 21."

Cyra sighed in relief, with the introduction over. No longer the center of attention, she pulled out her book from the backpack and turned to the page her teacher had mentioned. From there, Cyra was starting to get a bit more comfortable with her new surroundings. As she read through the pages with the rest of the class, she steadily grew more optimistic about her new school. Maybe things would work out after all.

"I can't believe they let a stray like her in here."

That shattered Cyra's concentration. It was a whisper. A very faint one so that Ms. Mayberry wouldn't hear it. But Cyra did and recognized it as one of the students. And hearing it shocked her. She should've known this might happen, especially with all the stares she got, but still hearing it was devastating. But she wanted to try and be hopeful. So, rather than to cause a scene, the pup ignored it and continued reading, hoping it would only happen the one time.

The bell had rung out for recess, the kids all left the classroom and ran to the playground, eager to have fun. Cyra waited for most of them to go before joining them, letting out an exhausted sigh as she did.

So far, her first day at school had been not too bad. But then again, it hadn't been great. On the bright side, it was better than her previous schools. The biggest reason was their primary teacher, Ms. Mayberry. While she did have her scary moments, for the most part, she had been the best teacher Cyra had ever had. She was friendly, helpful and seemed to care a lot about the students. Unlike most of the other teachers Cyra had had, it was clear that Mayberry was dedicated to her job and teaching her students.

But, on the other hand, there was the rest of her classmates. At the least, none of them had done anything mean to her yet. At her old school, she got picked on all the time. Even during lessons in plain view of the teachers. She would pull on her ears, step on her tail and loudly make fun of her, while the adults did nothing to stop them.

But, while these kids didn't do anything like that, Cyra could feel them sneaking in glances behind her back. And heard them whispering amongst each other as the lessons went on. They didn't do it too often, so they wouldn't get found out, but Cyra had caught several disgusted, or frightened glares were thrown her way. And thanks to her enhanced hearing, she picked up on each little hurtful thing they said about her. The boy that muttered what a bitch like her was doing at their school. And then there was the girl who asked her friend whether or not the mutt was housebroken. And so many other similar things she had heard before.

So, that was pretty terrible. But, it was still early in the day, so there was a chance that things would get better. At least, that's what Cyra tried to convince herself as she walked through the hallways towards the outdoors. It was hard to be optimistic after all she had heard.

Cyra finally made it outside and arrived at the school's playground. It was much larger than the one at the park, with more equipment and even a small ball field. Most of it looked a bit unsafe, but no one seemed to care.

The kids seemed to be having a good time, playing with each other. Cyra doubted she'd be able to make any friends. And honestly, after everything she heard from her classroom and the park experience, she didn't feel like it either. But, she could still have some fun on her own.

"Hey, bitch!" A loud shrill voice called out from behind her.

Cyra paled as soon as she heard it. And with a terrified gulp, the hellpup carefully turned to the source of it, knowing that ignoring it would only make it worse. Standing beside her was a tall imp boy, surrounded by a group of equally rough-looking kids with cruel grins. The leader looked about two or three years older than her, with long curved lizard-like horns, one of which was broken in half, and an evil-looking smile on his face.

"You're a long way from Gluttony, aren't yah? What do you think you're doing here, bitch?" The lead bully asked her with the same smile as he began advancing towards her. Cyra instinctively took a step back and tried to run away. But she was blocked by one of the kid's lackeys.

"Where do you think you're going?" The other kid asked with a chuckle as he stood in Cyra's path. "Drako asked you a question, mutt."

"P-p-p-please, just let me go. I-I-I don't want to any trouble," Cyra pleaded, as she desperately looked for some way to escape her bullies.

"P-p-p-p-please, l-l-let m-m-m-me go-o-o-o-o," The leader, now identified as Drako, mocked by her, causing the other kids to laugh, "Can you hear her? She can't even talk right!" His joke was followed by a loud chorus of laughter from the rest of his group. Even some of the other kids were starting to join in and watch what was going on.

"Woah, is that a hellhound?" One of the other kids, not from her class, said to his friends in worry as they watched. "Hey, Drako, maybe you shouldn't be making fun of her like that."

"Why not?" The bully asked with an amused laugh. Then gestured to the cowering hellhound in front of him. "I mean, look at her. Do you think this little puppy is going to try anything? She looks like she's about to piss her pants right now." That, and a look at Cyra's shrinking form, seemed to convince most of the other kids, as they soon started joining in on the heckling, much to her despair.

A part of Cyra did want to try and fight back against them. She was even considering using the emergency gun Mr. Blitz had given her. But not only was it in her backpack, inside her classroom, Cyra knew from experience that was a bad idea. To begin with, she was never that strong or a fighter, and the few times she had tried to push back, it was her that would up in more trouble, rather than the bullies. The adults often took the other kids' side and blamed her. Saying she should've kept her "animalistic impulses" under better check. That's how it was at Carmilla's and her old school. So why would this one be different?

"So? What are you going to do, bitch? Are you going to try to fight me or what? Or are you more pussy than mutt?" Drako taunted Cyra, walking up to her menacingly. The hellpup stepped back, only to have him follow her. He looked at her like he was tempting Cyra to hit him. Instead, she made one more attempt to escape, only to be roughly pulled back by her tail. She yelped in pain as she was thrown by the tail right into another student who had just joined in. And once more, the large group of kids all laughed at her plight, Drako leading them on. "See? What did I tell you? The dumb mutt can't even fight! And look, she's crying!"

Cyra hadn't even noticed the tiny teardrops that were starting to form in her eyes. She bit her lip in shame, trying to hold them back, but they were already beginning to fall. All the while, the kids laughed at her and called her a crybaby. Along with a bunch of other insults.

Why did she think this time would be better? She should've known by now; it never was.

A sudden gasp pulled her from her thoughts. In her misery, Cyra had forgotten she had bumped into someone. As the pup tried to pick herself back up, she looked down at them. It was an imp girl, about her age. She sort of looked like a miniature version of Moxxie & Millie's kind. Her black hair was kept in a pair of pigtails, extending to her lower back. She had two black curved goat horns, some white stripes on her arms, and several very cute freckles on her nose & cheeks.

The two of them looked at each other face-to-face for a brief while. It looked like the imp girl was going to say something, but Cyra didn't let her. Her day had been awful enough, and she just wanted to escape it all. So she got up and ran, trying to escape Drako, the imp girl, and the rest of the kids, all the while tears continued to fall from her eyes.

Thankfully, she managed to lose them after a long run. One of the advantages of being a hellhound was that she was faster than most imps. Which was useful whenever she needed to escape. Like now.

But, even when she was free from her tormentors, she didn't feel any better. She spent the rest of recess alone as she did in her old school. Trying her best to avoid the rest of the students until classes started again. She was used to it by now, but it still hurt her just as much as it always did. She was surrounded by so many people, but she felt alone with no one by her side. Everyone hated her there, and apparently, they did so here too.

It may be a different school, with different teachers & kids. But it was just more of the same.

When the day was finally over, Cyra left the school miserably. She dragged her background behind her as she crawled towards the sidewalk, all while receiving looks and quiet mumblings her way. Not just from the kids but also their parents who had come to pick them up and were quite horrified at seeing a hellhound among their precious darlings.

Despite promising to be there, Cyra couldn't find Mr. Blitz's van anywhere. The hellpup knew he was probably just late, but it sucked that he wasn't there on time. She wanted to get away from the school as soon as possible.

"Hey! Hey hellhound-girl!" A chipper, southern-accented voice called out from behind Cyra, much to her horror. She turned to see it had come from the pigtailed girl from recess, who was running towards her excitedly. With Cyra's luck, she wanted to try and pick on her like the others.

Thankfully a familiar-looking van had just arrived at the school. Cyra dashed towards it, ignoring the cries from the other girl to wait. Once she was close enough, the hellpup jumped inside through the opened front car door, slamming it shut.

"Nice to see you too…" came a familiar, deadpan mutter from the driver seat. It wasn't Blitzo as Cyra had expected, but rather Loona, who didn't look too thrilled about being the driver.

"Loona? Oh, I wasn't expecting you to pick me up," Cyra said in a bit of confusion, before rushing out an apologetic: "N-n-not saying, I mind or anything, it's just, I kinda thought Mr. Blitz was going to be here."

"Yeah, well, he and the lovey-dopey dipshits had to take care of a job, so they left me to do their dirty work. As always. You're welcome, by the way." With that, Loona took off, driving back to the I.M.P. headquarters. She didn't say much of anything to the hellpup and didn't want to either. It wasn't until a few minutes later that she noticed the tired look on the Cyra, and she finally asked: "So, I'm guessing school didn't go too well?"

"I don't wanna talk about it…" Cyra responded with a flat, miserable tone as she pulled her legs into her chest, her hood obscuring most of her face. Loona side-eyed her for a bit, a small sigh escaping her mouth. She was both satisfied and disappointed that her prediction had been correct.

"Yeah, figured you'd say something like that." From there, the ride was mostly spent awkward silence. Cyra didn't say anything, and Loona didn't want to say anything to her. She had done her duty of picking the brat up and had no intention of doing anything else for the rest of the day. The least of all, taking care of the damn kid.

She had told her & the rest of the team how fucking awful school would be. There was no way one good teacher was going to make things better. It wasn't her fault that she had been right, so why the fuck should she do something about it? After all, No one had helped her when she went to school. She was bullied in class, looked on in fear by students, or given unfair punishments by the teachers. And not once had any of them stood up for her. It had just been Loona surrounded by children who taught she was a monster and teachers who looked for any excuse to expel her on the spot. But she still went through it all and had made it out okay, and Cyra would too. She just had to toughen up and learn to deal with it. Sure it sucked, but that was just how it was. Nothing was going to change that. So why even bother?

That was what Loona thought to herself as she drove onwards to the office. And she had every intention of being silent through the whole ride. But, she could hear Cyra's little sniffles from beside her. And soon, that was becoming hard for her to disregard. The older hellhound kept her focus mainly on the road, but Cyra's depressed state began to affect her. Bringing up painful memories from her childhood. Ones that she wished she could forget.

Loona silently cursed the longer the crying went on. The kid would've been so much easier to ignore if she was on the phone. But unlike Blitzo, Loona was careful when she was behind the wheel.…most of the time. So, she was forced to endure it, with little distractions to keep her mind off of Cyra. And the longer she did, the more shitty she began to feel. And she hated it. It was just like the hairbrush incident all over again. Why was she feeling bad for this brat? She was her replacement, after all. Blitzo's second chance to get all the love & endless worshipping his lonely ass craved. He was well on his way to throwing her out already. So why should she care about this brat? No one had cared about her!

…and because of that, she had one more thing that made her childhood crap. Loona frowned sadly at the horrible memories she had when she was at that age. When she glanced at Cyra, she could almost see her younger self. But the Hellhound shook those thoughts away and focused back on the road. She wasn't going to get involved, no matter how much shit the kid had to go through.

Eventually, they made it to their headquarters, Loona bringing the van to a stop on their parking space. Cyra took off her seat belt and went to open the door.

"Hey, kid?" Loona suddenly spoke up. She hadn't intended to, but the words escaped her mouth before she could stop herself. Cyra stopped mid-exit and turned to her. Then after a bit of hesitation, she reluctantly continued: "Look, I noticed there're some trees over at that school of yours, so…I don't know, maybe try hiding over there when recess starts. Also, try using the exits, furthest away from the kids picking on you. Should give you a headstart on them."

"Oh, okay. I'll try to keep that in mind next time," Cyra said softly, still sad, a little surprised, but happy for the advice. As she went outside, she turned to the older hellhound and gave her the best smile she could manage: "Thanks Loona."

Loona followed shortly after, quietly cursing herself for what she did. She hadn't planned on saying any of that. She wanted nothing to do with the damn brat. So why was she helping her? How was that kid getting to her like that? Ugh, this was getting frustrating. But, at least now, her school life could be slightly more tolerable, and she wouldn't have to worry about her crying as much. If she was being honest, Loona doubted her advice would work for more than a few weeks at most, but it was better than nothing. From there, she'd have to manage somehow. But until then, this was a decent start.

"…And so, near the beginning of the 16th Century, the Great Hell War came to an end, when King Lucifer and his fellow Fallen Angels triumphed over the would-be emperor Azazel and his league of hell-born supporters. From there, Lucifer would reassume the supreme throne of Hell and…"

Cyra was barely paying attention to the history class. The poor girl was trying, but she just couldn't focus. It was her fifth day in school, and things were not improving much for her.

After her horrible first day, she had eventually told Mr. Blitz about it. To say he was mad was an understatement. The imp had been furious. The rest of the crew had to physically restrain him from marching over there and burning down the school. When he eventually managed to calm down a little, he went straight to Ms. Mayberry and lodged an incredibly loud and vulgar complaint about her treatment at her school. To her credit, Ms. Mayberry was disgusted to learn what had happened. And when the next day came, the first thing she did was give her class a stern talking about bullying.

Well, it was less a talking to and more threatening to smash the student's phones in front of them, burn their bikes and triple their homework if she ever saw, heard, or found them bullying someone again.

Perhaps a bit extreme, but it seemed to have worked at first. Then the next two days rolled around, and slowly Cyra began to notice the small glares & whispers returning. They were much less frequent this time around, often only done while Ms. Mayberry was focused on something else, but it didn't make Cyra any less uncomfortable. And it only made her feel more alone, among the sea of imp children.

But honestly, the worst part was recess. When the kids were free to do whatever they wanted, while the teachers took their breaks. What was usually a time where kids had fun and played with each other was a living nightmare for Cyra. It was then that where she was completely out in the open and free for all the other kids to torment on.

After her first recess, word had gotten out that the terrifying hellhound was completely harmless and nothing to be worried about. Most of the students were no longer afraid of her, which Cyra thought she would be happy about. But that only meant more kids trying to pick on and bully her.

In particular, she had become the new primary target for Drako and his gang of sidekicks. They would continue to harass & taunt her whenever they got the chance, throwing out insults and a few hits while the rest of the school joined in. Whenever Cyra encountered him, she left it with bruises and tears.

And while most of her classmates didn't bother her too often, still afraid of Ms. Mayberry's warnings, they didn't step in to help either. Instead, they just stood back and watched it unfold, never bothering to help out.

And then, there was that weird little imp girl with pigtails and cute freckles. She was never a part of any group, but she was always one of the kids trying to chase her down. Sometimes even more so than Drako. What was her-

"Cyra?"

"Huh? I mean, yes, Ms. Mayberry?" Cyra mumbled, embarrassed, as she was pulled back into reality. She could hear that some of the kids wanted to laugh, but they held most of it back to avoid their teacher's wrath.

"I asked if you could name the five Rings that were destroyed in the Great Hell Civil War." The teacher repeated with a kind and encouraging smile.

"Oh, um…Limbo, Hersey…Violence…Lying and…Treachery?" Cyra resided, to the best of her knowledge.

"Good try, sweetheart. You got most of them right. The fourth ring's name was actually called Fraud not lying, but it was close enough." Mayberry gave her a proud smile for her efforts before continuing on with the lesson. "Now, with the War over and most of Hell's resources deplenished, Lucifer decided not to rebuild the ruined 5 Rings. Instead…"

Ms. Mayberry continued her lecture on the aftermath of the Great Hell Civil War, going over how Lucifer and the Ars Goetia used their combined magic to merge the remnants of the five fractured Rings. Turning them into the three new ones: Pride, Envy & Sloth, that now made up the current 7 Rings of Hell. Cyra managed to catch onto every other word she said as she asked another classmate to name the 6 demons Lucifer appointed to rule the new rings.

Cyra felt terrible for not paying as much attention as she should. Despite her teacher's temper problems, the hellpup did really love Ms. Mayberry. So far, she was the best thing about this school. But the hellpup was so exhausted just being at the school, she could hardly keep her focus on anything. And with recess a few hours away, it only made her mood even worse. Man, she didn't like this school.

Cyra didn't move as she hid inside the large dead tree. She did her best not to make any noise, focusing only on listening out for anyone approaching her. It was recess again. Drako and his goons and the freckled girl were probably already looking for her right now.

The hellpup couldn't be more thankful to Loona for what she had told her a while back. Her advice had been super helpful, allowing Cyra to often escape her bullies for a long while and make her recesses slightly more tolerable. One time, she had managed to go through it all without getting spotted once. That had been her best recess to date.

It wasn't perfect, though. Once Drako had managed to catch her before she could make it, resulting in her getting bullied and roughed up for what felt like hours before, she managed to outrun them. Another time, he caught her after recess, stomping on her tail and throwing her to the ground before he left. But, thus far, she hadn't been found yet, so Cyra kept on hiding wherever she could.

But while the hellpup was safe from her bullies, that didn't stop her from feeling miserable. Even from her hiding spots, she could hear the other kids playing. How much fun they were having, as they laughed and ran around. And it only made her feel more alone. All Cyra wanted was to join in on the fun. But she knew, the moment she tried to, they would go right into picking on her.

She just wished she could've been one of them. To be able to play with the rest of them, instead of being treated like dirt, simply because she was a hellhound. She hated having to hide from the other students. Hated being all alone, in a place where she was unwelcomed. And sometimes, she even hated being a hellhound. Why couldn't they just be nicer to her? Why did her life have to be so terrible, just because of how she was born? It was so unfair! Tears began to swell as she thought to herself and sat in her hiding place.

"There you are!"

Cyra's eyes widened in fear. Someone had found her! Oh crud, what was she supposed to do now?!

"Ah've been looking all over for yah!" The voice exclaimed again, cheerily. It sounded familiar.

Cyra slowly looked up and saw the one approaching her. She gasped upon recognizing them. It was the imp girl! The one with pigtails and the freckles! Cyra shuddered with dread as she saw the girl running towards her with an excited smile. When she was just a few feet away, Cyra flinched, shut her eyes, and waited for whatever awful thing would happen next.

"…uh, what are you doing?" The girl suddenly said, her excited voice sounding genuinely confused. "Why are you looking all scared like that?"

Out of everything that would've happened, Cyra did not expect that. She opened her left eye carefully and looked at the imp girl. She was staring at the hellpup, her look matching her confused tone. "A-aren't you going to hurt me?" Cyra carefully asked.

The imp girl said nothing for a moment, then laughed in disbelief at what Cyra said. Now the hellpup was even more confused. Why wasn't she trying to hurt her? Why was she laughing like that? The young imp continued laughing for a short while before catching her breath, "Are you serious? Do you think I'd try to pick on you? You're a hellhound! If I tried anything, you would bite my hand clean off! Or you'd tear my throat out! Or rip me to shreds with those claws of yours! Actually, I might get a badass scar out of it. Wanna spar?"

Cyra stared at the weird imp girl, completely dumbfounded by her. She was making up all these crazy accusations she had heard from other people. But, instead of saying it in fear or disgust like everyone else, she was thrilled. Excited. Like it was something cool. "W-what? No! No, I don't want to do anything like that stuff. Why would you even think about stuff like that?!"

That finally seemed to knock the Wrathian out of her excitement as she became calmer. "Well, ain't you supposed to like super strong and dangerous? At least, that's what mom told me. She said hellhounds could rip off folk's limps with your bare teeth. You must have some wicked strong ones. Can I see?"

She didn't wait for a response. Instead, the wrath imp grabbed ahold of Cyra's jaws and pulled them open, much to her shock and discomfort. While the energetic girl peeked inside, the hellpup tried in vain to close her mouth. Despite her size, she was surprisingly strong. "Hey, stop it! Let go!"

"Woah, look at the size of those canines!" The imp said with glee. "Aw, they look so big and sharp! Oooh, you must be able to bite through bones with those." The weirdo looked at Cyra with enthusiasm and then noticed the bald spot on her forehead. "Woah! Cool scar!" Her hands now went from her hands to the hellpup's forehead, trying to get a better look at it. "Where did you get it? Was it from a fight?! I bet it was! Aww, man, I bet it was a really brutal one too!"

Cyra had had enough. It was already annoying that the imp was touching her like this. But trying to look at her scar was the last straw. "Get off of me!" With one rough kick to the imp's face, the hellpup finally managed to shove her off. "Go away!" She exclaimed as the girl took a tumble from the hit. "Go away!" she exclaimed, turning her back on the intruder.

The imp steadily got back up on her feet, no worse for wear. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Cyra, who was huddled into a fetal position, her hood covering her face looking like crap. The act caught the imp girl by surprise. "Uh, are you okay?"

"Leave me alone," Cyra muffled responded to the imp's awkward question but didn't turn to look at her or move from her position. It was only now that the stranger was starting to realize that she might have made her uncomfortable. And she didn't quite know how to respond. But she could tell that the poor girl looked sad.

"Hey um…sorry about making you sad and stuff. I…didn't mean to make you upset," the imp girl finally said awkwardly, though she really did feel bad about her behavior. The stranger smacked herself on the forehead in shame & frustration: "Stupid, stupid Abigale! Ma raised you better than this! You big, dumb, dummy!"

After a sigh, the girl, Abigale, turned back to Cyra, who hadn't moved from her spot. She did, however, seem to have heard her. Her head was tilted slightly toward her, and the pup's tail was wagging ever so slightly. Abigale couldn't quite tell if that was a good sign or not, but she hoped it would be a chance for her to make things better.

"Look, I think we got off on the wrong start. I just got a little overexcited about seeing you and got a little carried away. Maybe we can start over?" Abigale asked her, giving the hellhound a friendly smile. That managed to get the hellpup's attention as she carefully moved to face her. She had tears in her eyes even now, but Cyra looked at her with cautious curiosity. Seeing that made the imp girl happy. She extended her hand out to the hellpup and continued: "Hi. Name's Abigale. But, you can call me Abby or Gale if you want."

Cyra didn't respond at first. Instead, she kept silently looking at the stranger, like she was searching for some tiny hint that she was lying. Then, after not sensing anything suspicious, she slowly reached towards Abigale's outstretched hand and shook it. "H-hello, I'm Cyra…" She greeted back, still not fully trusting of her.

Abigale lit up with excitement at the handshake. "Well, it's pretty cool to meet you, Cyra." She then began scratching the back of her neck, looking a bit ashamed of herself as she apologized: "And uh, sorry again about touching you and making you mad. I just, always wanted to meet a hellhound, you know?"

Once again, Cyra was confused by that. "Y-You have?"

"Of course!" Abigale gushed. "You guys are awesome! You can beat up demons if they mess with you. Or you can go up into the living world and go after mortals who sold their souls to other demons. And you're like really great at tracking and running and fighting and-"

Cyra just stared in silence as she just listened to Abigale continue to talk about hellhounds. She didn't know what to say. This imp thought she was…awesome. Almost everyone she had met treated her just like a wild animal or a stupid lowborn. And then suddenly comes this weird freckled stranger, who seems to think she's cool. It was honestly overwhelming. "Y-you really mean that?"

"Yeah! Hellhounds are badass!" Abigale said excitedly, finally stopping for a bit.

"W-wow, t-thanks," Cyra stuttered shyly, pulling up her hoodie exposing her face before frowning and looking down sadly. "But, I-I'm not that cool. I don't really like fighting…and I'm not even that good at it. I'm just a kid. Sorry."

"Oh, that's a little disappointing," Abigale mumbled at the news. But she brushed that aside and cheered up. "But, you're still plenty cool, even if you can't fight yet! I'm sure you can still track good. Oh, and you're super fast! I saw you run from those other kids a few days ago, and you totally lost them almost immediately! You were like super-speedy and stuff!"

"You really think so?" Cyra asked in awe, to which Abigale nodded. She always knew she was fast. She had always been great at outrunning her bullies. But to actually hear it as a compliment from someone else was starting to make her blush. "W-wow. T-thanks."

"Yeah, you totally were!" Abigale confirmed eagerly. "Hey, let's play tag! You're it!" The imp girl poked the hellpup right at her forehead and then took off running. The move was so sudden, Cyra didn't move to chase her. She just sat there stunned. Abigale turned to her, miles away a shouted. "What's wrong? Don't you know how to play tag?"

That snapped Cyra out of her funk as she regained her bearings and stumbled: "Uh-uh, no! I-I-I-I mean yes! Yes, I know how to play tag." She blushed out of embarrassment.

Abigale just laughed and waved towards herself. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Are we playing or what?"

She resumed her run, and this time Cyra chased after her. As fast as her legs could carry her. Despite the imp girl having a good headstart, it took less than 3 seconds for Cyra to catch up to her. She ran so fast, Abigale didn't have time to react before the pup collided right into her. The hellpup barely managed to say tag before the two tumbled to the ground, with Cyra rising up first. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Cyra panicked.

"Are you kidding?" Abigale cried out in amazement, looking up with an excited grin. "That was so awesome! You were like, "Whooosh," and then you just tagged me instantly! You're like one of those superheroes from comics or something."

Cyra didn't know whether to blush or cry at the girl's words. She had never been praised like that by anyone. Well, aside from Mr. Blitz. Hearing it from someone else was almost too much. She was right about to thank the imp when Abigale suddenly lunged at her. Cyra dodged on instinct, confused by what was happening: "What are you doing?"

"We're playing tag, remember? And I'm it. So you better start running!" Abigale began chasing after Cyra with a playful, mischievous grin. The hellpup quickly caught on after that and evaded the freckled girl. From there, the two of them ran between the trees. And as they did, the two began to see just how fast a hellhound could be. While Abby was pretty speedy in her own right, Cyra easily outpaced her at every turn. But Abby didn't seem to mind. It looked like she enjoyed the chase.

And so was Cyra. She loved it. She was actually playing with one of the other kids! Finally, she had found someone who wanted to hang out with her for the first time in so long. It was almost like she was in paradise. She was so thrilled; Cyra barely paid attention to where she was running. And didn't realize she was moving directly towards another kid until it was too late.

The impact knocked both of them roughly to the ground. The imp child was the first to get back on his feet, while Cyra was disoriented by the clash and struggled to stand.

"Well, look who finally showed her sorry hide!" Drako's voice called out from behind her. Cyra whimpered as she faced her tormentor and his usual gang of bullies. "Don't you know it's rude to ditch your pals like that, bitch?"

Cyra crawled back in fear as he approached her. Only for her path blocked by the kid she bumped into. How could she have been so stupid? In her excitement of playing with Abigale, she had forgotten all about Drako. Now, there was no way she was getting out of this.

"Hey! Drako!" A familiar voice suddenly called out. It was it Abigale who had finally managed to catch up. And she didn't look too happy about the display before her. "Who said you could crawl out of your little shit hole?"

Upon seeing her, the cocky grin on Drako instantly vanished, briefly replaced by one of fear. That caught Cyra by surprise. Abigale, almost half of Drako's height and much younger than him, had scared the bully instantly. Even the other kids looked intimidated when she showed up. He tried to rebuff himself, putting on a threatening stance, but it was obviously faked: "H-hey, back off Abigale! This is none of your business, alright?"

Abby was not at all impressed. "Oh really? Because last time I checked, trying to hurt my friend WAS my business. And you should know, I don't take too kindly to assholes, picking on my friends." Abby walked over to Cyra and stood right in front of her as if to shield the hellpup. Then she looked Drako square in the eyes with a murderous glare. Some of his lackeys started backing away, a few whispering amongst each other about her defending the hellhound. The imp girl cracked her knuckles and challenged the bullies: "You want Cyra? You go through me first. OR, I can go through you!"

Drako continued to appear tough and imposing but didn't move a muscle. Instead, the two imps looked at each other while Cyra quietly watched the whole thing, a bit stunned by everything. Finally, Drako backed off, trying to look dismissive: "W-w-whatever! You're not even worth it. You two freaks deserve each other!"

Abigale watched them run off unimpressed, flipping them off before turning back to Cyra. She gave her a small smile and held out her hand. "Hey, are you okay down there?"

Cyra stared at the imp in wonder for a bit, then accepted the outstretched hand and climbed back up. "Y-yeah, I think. I'm okay." She answered shyly, then quickly gushed out. "T-thank you, so much! F-for getting rid of Drako. That was so cool!"

Abigale brushed it off like it was nothing. "It was no big deal. That asshole knows better than to try anything with me. You know, I used to be his number one target? That guy would pick on me all the time. Said my accent was weird and called me a retarded country hick."

"That's…horrible," Cyra whispered sympathetically.

"Yeah," Abigale agreed before she smiled with a proud, mischievous grin. "Then, I broke off his horn."

"W-WHAT?!" Cyra exclaimed in surprise.

Abby let out a small snort at her response while grinning proudly: "Yep! After that, he realized not to mess with me anymore." She patted Cyra's shoulder and then pointed to herself. "If that asshole tries anything again, just try to find me. He'll run off like there's a spear in his ass."

"Oh, sure. Thanks," Cyra said, and then after a moment of silence, she asked: "H-hey…Abigale? D-did you mean that you said back there? Am-am I really your…friend?"

"Well, yeah. Of course, we are!" Abby confirmed excitedly. "I mean if you wanna be-"

The imp girl got a response before she could finish, as Cyra suddenly wrapped her in a tight hug. The hellpup was close to breaking down. Tears of joy were running down her eyes as she tightly embraced Abigale, whispering a shaky: "T-thank you. Y-you're the first f-f-friend I ever had."

Abby was a bit caught off guard by it before soon warmed up to it, gently patting the hellpup on the back, "Hey, don't mention it, kid." The two girls stood there silent for a while. The imp girl generously allowed the hellpup to hug her as she poured out her emotions. It went on for several seconds when suddenly Cyra felt a sudden touch on the side of her head.

"Tag. You're it."

The hellpup blinked in surprise, "Wait, what?"

"We were playing tag, and I'm it. And left yourself wide open. Didn't you think I'd try to tag you?" Abigale asked with a playful smirk.

Cyra broke the hug and glared at the imp girl, absolutely flustered. "Wha-that's not fair! You just do that when someone's hugging you!"

The imp girl just kept on smirking, getting a kick out of the adorably annoyed look on Cyra's face. "Oh yeah? Well, what are you going to do about, huh?" The hellpup lunged towards the freckled imp, who gracefully dodged it. "Ha, missed me!"

"Hey! Get back here, you jerk!" Cyra cried out as she chased the fleeing imp. She looked annoyed, but really the hellpup was loving every moment of it. She had a friend! For the first time ever, she had an honest to Satan friend! A bit of a weird one, but a friend nonetheless. She was absolutely thrilled. The two of them spent the rest of recess in their tag war. It was the best time Cyra had ever had at school.

As the final bell rang and all the kids rushed out of the building, eager to return home, Cyra walked out of the classroom with mixed feelings. Cyra's day had been a little bad, with the classmates still sneakily making fun of her and the close one with Drako. But then she met Abigale and made her first real friend. She had met a kid who didn't treat her like the others, despite being a hellhound. And then suddenly, it hadn't been so bad anymore.

"Hey, Cyra!" A familiar voice called out to the hellpup as she walked through the halls. Cyra turned and saw Abigale running towards her from across the hall. She closed the gap quickly, and the two of them greeted each other: "Man, with all these people, I figured I never would've found you. So, is your class nearby?"

"Oh yes, I'm in that one over there," Cyra pointed to her classroom. It was right by the corner, near one of the doors that led to an exit.

"Cool. Mine's a bit further away. I can show you some other day if you'd like," Cyra nodded at the girl's suggestion as the two of them walked out the main exit. As they did, the hellpup could hear the kids whisper behind their back. But this time, they looked not only at Cyra but Abby. Cyra heard them gossiping amongst themselves about the new friendship. Cyra wondered if she should tell Abigale, as she hadn't seemed to have noticed any of it. "Hey, you wanna hang out at my place?" The freckled imp suddenly asked. "I'll have to ask mom first, but I'm sure she'll be okay with it. Eventually. After ma talks to her."

"Really?" Cyra's heart raced at the invitation. She had never been invited over before. "Sure! I'd love to! But, I'd probably have to ask Mr. Blitz for permission first."

"Mr. Blitz? You call your dad by his first name? That's kinda weird, man," Abby joked, though shooting Cyra a little weird look.

Cyra didn't respond at first, just continued to walk while Abigale looked in concern. The hellpup thought hard about what her new friend had said. She knew Abby was probably right, and after how nice Mr. Blitz had been to her, she probably should've started thinking of him as her… But she couldn't. Not now. She wasn't ready for that yet. "Yeah, I guess it-"

"HEY! THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER?!" A loud scream suddenly called out. Cyra & Abby turned to the source: Blitzo roughly pushing kids aside as he marched over to them.

After her first day, Mr. Blitz had made it a point to always pick her up at the end of her day, no matter what. It did make things immensely frustrating for work and Moxxie, but he could do little about it. The furious imp stomped towards the two girls, glaring threateningly at Abigale. "So, you think, you can just mess with my kid on my watch, you little-"

"W-wait! Wait, Mr. Blitz, you don't understand!" Cyra panicked, standing in front of her new friend, trying to deescalate the situation.

"Woah, hold on. Mr. Blitz?" Abigale suddenly asked in confusion. "This asshole is your dad?"

Blitzo furiously snapped back at the child: "Yeah! You got a problem with that you son of a-"

"No! Mr. Blitz, it's okay! Everything's fine! Honest." Cyra quickly interjected before things could get more violent. "This is Abigale. She's my new friend. She helped scare away some of my bullies."

That thankfully managed to stop Blitzo from doing anything. But that didn't stop him from glaring at the imp suspiciously, "Oh, is that right?"

The imp girl gave her best casual look, despite being pretty pissed at his earlier attitude. "Yeah, that's right. I took care of your daughter's bully problem. They shouldn't try anything for a while now, Mr. Blitz."

After a few moments of careful study, the adult imp smiled went to shake her hand. "Well, in that case, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Blitzo; the O is silent. Glad to see my little girl's making friends-" before either could react, he pulled Abigale in close and coldly whispered to her: "-you hurt so much as one hair on my Cyri's precious body, and I will disembowel you, with your horns-" then he pushed her off, grabbed Cyra's hand and began leading her back to the van. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, Audrey, but we really have to get going now. Have a good day!"

"B-but, Mr. Blitz I-" Cyra tried to protest but found herself being dragged back towards the van. However, the hellpup did manage to say her goodbyes to her new friend before she got inside: "Bye! I'll see you again tomorrow!"

Abigale waved and responded: "You got it! Goodbye!" The van took off after that, with Cyra watching the school building & her friend fade from sight as the pair drove to the I.M.P. Office.

"So, did you have a good day at school?" Blitzo merrily asked as he drove on.

Usually, Cyra would've answered either with silence or a tantrum about how horrible it had been. But not this time. Today had actually been pretty good. And it was thanks to Abigale. It was such a small thing, but knowing that there was someone in that school that was by her side and cared about her other than Mrs. Mayberry, meant everything for Cyra. It was only their first meeting, but already she felt close to the little Wrath imp. She was actually looking forward to going back to school again. If only, so she could spend more time with Abigale.

"Yes," Cyra said with a growing smile, thinking back fondly on her day. "I think I did."

This one was a lot of fun to do, despite all the slightly angsty stuff, mainly because this is the introduction to a new OC I've been meaning to introduce. Abigale the Wrath imp. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on her, as I've been excited to including Abby in the story. We'll see some more of her later.

This was originally released long before Episode 8 confirmed Gluttony to be the Main Ring for Hellhounds. Before then that had just been a fan theory of mine, given that Cerberus lived there in Dante's Divine Comedy.

Speaking of which, Some of you may have noticed the references to the other Hell Rings the Inferno that aren't featured in the Hellaverse. It's mostly just my take on why they are absent from the show itself and a small homage reference to the Peter Binsfeld view of Hell.

Abigale's reference to Hellhounds hunting people who have sold their souls, as a nod to the show Supernatural, where they served that role in the series. I figured something similar would be the case for this world's hellhounds. After all, why else would they need human disguises?

Anyway, thanks again for reading and your support. It's always great to see.