As Octavia sat there on the sofa watching TV, a bored frown was completely smeared across her face as the logo for 666 News flashed onto the screen. A few seconds later, the news anchors appeared and began their report.
"Good afternoon," the first one announced, a slim woman with short blonde hair, pearly white skin, and was wearing a red dress with shoulder pads. "I'm Katie Killjoy"
"And I'm Tom Trench!" her co-host added, a Demon with a head that appeared to be nothing but a gas mask that had a sweep of ashy blonde hair on the top. "Chaos out at Pentagram City today as a turf war is raging on the west side, between notable kingpin, Sir Pentious, and self-proclaimed spunky powerhouse, Cherri Bomb!"
However, despite the vigorous detail, the news anchors got into, Octavia wasn't really listening, letting out a small groan as she laid her head back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a week now since she had returned home and despite everything she has tried to do to settle back into some form of normality, she can't help but feel… restless. No matter what she did, she just couldn't get over what happened during the Extermination, hell, it took at least 4 showers and a 3-hour soak in a tub filled with scented oils and rose petals before she felt even remotely clean after what she went through in the river of blood. Every night since then, her sleep was plagued with nightmares, nothing too traumatizing considering she literally lives in Hell, but every time she sees that Exorcist grinning back at her, she would wake up in an instant.
Not only that, but ever since she came back, her father has been acting more overprotective than ever before. For the last week, she had been practically forbidden from leaving the grounds, not that she had any intention of doing so anyway, but that was beside the point. In any case, for the first three days after she got back, Stolas, being the doting father that he is, was so glad to have his little girl back, that he wouldn't even let her out of his sight. In fact, he became so annoyingly clingy that Octavia had to snap at him just to get him to give her some form of privacy. Thankfully he had managed to calm down a bit after the third day… which sadly meant that he and Stella were back at each other's throats, which was evident by the screaming Octavia had woken up to this morning.
"Coming up next," Katie Killjoy continued. "We have an exclusive interview with the daughter of Hell's own head honcho, who's here to discuss her brand new passion-"
It was at that point, Octavia snatched up the remote and turned off the TV before getting to her feet. Having grown tired of listening to some old bat drivel on, the young Goetia Demon needed a walk to clear her head. Exiting the small media room and strolling through the extravagant halls of her home, Octavia couldn't help but let out a small sigh. While living in such a large home had its advantages: plenty of bathrooms, dozens of good hiding spots for when you got into trouble at the age of 4, and of course the finest pieces of decor for one of Hellish Nobility to appreciate, the sheer size of her homemade travelling from room to room somewhat of a small quest, especially when the room they were looking for was on the other side of the estate.
Traversing through the numerous corridors, down the stairs and into the foyer, Octavia passed by many of her family's treasured ornaments and heirlooms that decorated the walls. From the multiple species of her father's collection of plants that either hung from baskets on the walls or were displayed in decorative pots, to the decorative weapons and suits of armour that lined the walls of each corridor, each one representing some form of her family's status and symbolism. Even the great hall, which resided to the far side of the foyer, was a marriage of elegance and majesty. With a grand piano in the far corner and a ceiling decorated with what appeared to be actual constellations of stars that floated gracefully in the mists of a constant night sky.
However, there was one room in particular that Octavia had been intending to visit since she stood up. As much as she enjoyed a good walk, with the house being so quiet, she could only guess that one of her parents had decided to take their leave in order to cool their heads… nine times out of ten it was usually her mother. As such, Octavia couldn't help but feel a little bored. Usually, she would prefer to sit down with a good book, but even that didn't seem to calm her nerves as of late. Eventually, she found the door she had been looking for, behind which was her father's study. Normally Stolas didn't spend that much time in there, usually preferring to live his life with a little more freedom than his station allowed, as evident by his choice of lovers. However around this time of year, as a member of Hellish Nobility, Prince Stolas was at his busiest, so Octavia knew that this was where he would be when she gave the door a quick knock, before stepping inside.
"Ah, Via!" Stolas greeted, rising from his desk and giving his daughter a tight hug. "Good to see you, my Owlette! Is everything okay?"
To say Stolas was a tall Demon would have been an understatement. Considering the fact that the top of his daughter's head only reached his torso, he had to bend his long, black legs to even wrap his arms around her. What's more, he and Octavia shared many physical traits, from their owl-like features to the colour of their respective feathers. In fact, one of the only distinctive differences between them was the fact while Stolas had a second pair of eyes above his frontal ones, Octavia only had a single pair. In any case, there was no denying the amount of affection Stolas had for his daughter just from the way he embraced her so caringly.
"Y-yeah, dad. I'm fine," Octavia replied, pulling away from her father's hug. "Mum going off to clear her head again?"
It was only when those words left his daughter's mouth did Stolas's smile quickly fade.
"Sadly yes," he sighed, walking back over to his carved mahogany desk. "Didn't say where she was going, though."
Octavia couldn't help but roll her eyes at that as she took a seat on the small couch in front of her father's desk, sinking into the soft leather before looking back at her father with a look of indifference.
"She's still mad about our newest addition then?" she asked.
"I swear I didn't know that trunk had a possessed item in it!" Stolas snapped defensively. "Now your mother won't get off my case until I hire a professional to clear it out."
As if to emphasise the subject of the conversation, a loud smash was suddenly heard from above their heads, followed by the muffled sound of inane laughter, thus shattering the silence that the house had fallen into for a brief period. However, Octavia didn't need to hear the noise to know what her father was talking about. Much like every other year, much like how certain happenings take place before the Extermination, there are also a fair few common occurrences that happen shortly afterwards, ones that most often last at least a few weeks.
One such event was the selling of items that used to belong to the Demons who were unfortunate enough to be slain by the Exorcists on the actual day. As such, many auctions were held by the greediest of the opportunists to gain the biggest profit, BLIND Auctions to be exact, meaning that most of the time, those attending had no real idea of what they were buying. About five days after the Extermination, Stolas attended one of these auctions and came home with 3 trunks in tow, along with a new vase for one of his many carnivorous plants. Unfortunately, having no idea what was inside, Stolas unknowingly brought a huge disaster into his house, one which had now taken residence inside one of the guest bedrooms. Thankfully, the staff managed to trap it inside by nailing the door shut and barring the windows from the outside, and more importantly, it didn't seem to have any intention of leaving anyway, like a rat who had found itself a nice cosy hole to lurk in. It had been two days since then, and so far none of the staff had any clue on how to get rid of it.
"Well, why don't you call someone then?" Octavia asked as if that were the obvious option to go for.
"Via, most of those people are con artists who only put the thing back after you pay them an insane amount of cash," Stolas argued. "I know we're rich, but that doesn't mean I like getting ripped off."
"And we can't get rid of it ourselves because…?" Octavia retorted.
"Your mother believes such a task is 'beneath us',"
Octavia couldn't help but groan at that. Of course, her mother would say something along those lines! After all, despite Stolas being the actual head of the family, it was his wife that strived to uphold the family's actual status. As such menial tasks such as this should be distributed to "Lesser Demons", as she so put it on multiple occasions. Wanting to avoid any possible migraines that came with arguing with her, Stolas didn't really wish to push the subject any further than it needed to whenever it was brought up. Suddenly the train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a loud ring coming from the rotary phone on Stolas' desk, being as old as he was, of course, he would have something like that instead of a Hellphone.
"Hello?" he greeted, picking up the receiver and putting it to his ear, only to gasp when he heard the voice on the other end.
"Stolas!" it yelled. "How's it going?"
"Ah, Valefar!" Stolas greeted with a smile. "Dear Cousin, how are you?"
The moment she heard the name of the Demon at the other end of the phone call, Octavia groaned and pulled her beanie over her eyes. Among the many relatives she had, one of the many that got on her nerves was her father's cousin, Valefar, Duke of Hell, leader of 10 legions, and a well-known king among thieves in the Human World. Granted, he wasn't as blood-thirsty or malicious as some of Octavia's other relatives were, but his overall personality was… too much to take on most days, and the large Lion Demon had no intention of dialling it back even when he was being affectionate.
"Good, good," he replied, a clear chuckle oozing from his voice. "Glad to hear you've got your spark back. Sorry if I'm interrupting anything. I just called to see how my niece is doing."
Stolas couldn't help but smile at that.
"Oh she's fine," he said. "Still a little shaken, but who wouldn't be after everything she's been through?"
Hearing this, Octavia peeked an eye out from under her hat and gave him a small frown. Even though what her father was saying might be true, that didn't mean she liked people talking about her as if she wasn't in the room. As petty as that may sound, that was just a pet peeve she had for some time now.
"Yeah, I can only imagine what the pair of you must have suffered through on that day," Valefar replied with a sigh. "Hell, if any of my little ones ended up hurt by those grinning bastards, I probably would have broken into heaven and shoved one of those swords right up Azrael's celestial ass!"
"You and me both," Stolas chuckled.
"Oh, by the way, you should know that Malphas called earlier," Valefar replied, quickly piquing Stolas' interest at the mention of his other relative. "He said Morax was ringing up everybody to remind them to prepare for this year's summit."
The moment those words reached Stolas' ear, the giant owl's smile quickly faded into a look of annoyance, once Octavia easily noticed as she heard her father begin a small rant.
"Oh for the love of…" Stolas muttered, pinching the bridge of his beak. "The Royal Summit isn't for months! It's way too early to start anything about that!"
"I know, but try telling Horn-head that!" Valefar retorted. "The guy's got a stick so far up his ass it's a wonder it doesn't come out of his mouth!"
At those words, Stolas let out a heavy sigh and slumped back into his chair.
"Sad but true," he admitted.
"I don't even LIKE going to this thing!" Valefar continued, beginning a small rant of his own. "I mean once a decade I have to listen to the other family heads bitch and moan to the Big 7 when there are so many better things I can do with my time… like repeatedly screwing one of my incredibly sexy wives!"
Unfortunately, that particular rant was so loud and bombastic, Stolas had to retract the receiver from his ear for a brief moment, allowing Octavia to hear it from where she was sitting and gag in disgust.
"Ah yes," Stolas grimaced. "How many are you up to now?"
"Four, and still going strong! Ha-ha!" Valefar bellowed in delight. "Anyways best let ya go, gotta keep the line open for a delivery notice."
"Bye," Stolas replied, quickly hanging up the phone and once again pinching the bridge of his beak with a heavy sigh. "I swear that man has more issues than I do."
Seeing her father lean forward in his chair and slam his head into his desk, Octavia couldn't help but feel a small tinge of pity for him. As much as she didn't like to admit it, despite how she felt about her relatives, she also knew that her father had the worst of it since he had to deal with them on a more regular basis.
"I see Uncle Val hasn't changed in the slightest," she commented, hoping to lighten the mood.
"Indeed not," Stolas concurred. "At least he and your Uncle Malthas get along well enough. Everyone else in the family tends to avoid him like the plague."
"Can't imagine why," Octavia commented sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.
It was no secret among Hell's Royalty (Or even among some of the lesser demons) that Valefar was well known for being a womaniser and a thief. In fact, he was practically infamous for it. With four Succubae wives, and 13 daughters on top of that, as well as all riches he had "accumulated" over the centuries, Octavia's Uncle Val's reputation was somewhat questionable among many… and the subject of severe envy among others. In any case, since he was one of the more "uncouth" and "unkempt" of the Goetia Demons, most of the others preferred to pretend that he was unrelated to them.
Suddenly, the two Goetia Demons heard a loud grinding whir of motors from outside. Rising from his desk and going over to his office window, Stolas opened it wide and looked out to see a small Imp wearing gardener's attire working at a wood chipper in the garden.
"BUZZ! Do try to be careful with that chipper!" he called out when there was enough quiet for him to be heard. "We only have it for the week!"
Stopping for just a moment, the now named Buzz looked up to the window and gave a small salute to his employer.
"You got it, boss," he responded before going back to the work of getting rid of various forms of trash and debris.
Hearing her father call out to the Imp with such caution in his voice, wasn't really much of a surprise to Octavia either. Being a teacher of botany, Stolas took his passion for plant life quite seriously, which was the primary reason why so many plants decorated the interior of the house. As such, when one of the Exorcists decided that it would be amusing to toss its spear over the boundaries of the estate and topple one of Stolas's prized trees, causing severe damage in the process, the Hellish Prince was NOT amused. As much as he wanted to repair the damage himself, however, given the circumstances of his daughter's disappearance, as well as all the other formalities he had to deal with, Stolas had no choice but to give the job to his resident gardener, Buzz, who seemed to really be enjoying hacking up the fallen tree with various axes, before practically vaporising the chunks in the chipper. However...
"Ah… such a wondrous piece of art..." Buzz sighed, pulling out a large painting from the bushes. "Oh well!"
Mere seconds later the Imp laughed maniacally while casually throwing the painting into the chipper, smiling in delight as it was reduced to powder, before pouring into the dumpster at the other end.
"You're nothing but junk now!"
Turns out THIS particular Imp had a bit of a… stability problem when it came to pretty much everything in his life. No one really knows why he was like this, but now and again, the Goetias' gardener had the occasional episode where he would simply go… to put it simply, berserk. Hence, he was currently mixing in certain items from inside the house with the chunks of wood he was putting into the chipper while laughing his head off. Closing the window, to muffle the noise, Stolas couldn't help but give a small shrug.
"He seems to be doing good work," he commented, once again choosing to ignore the Imp's antics as he did every other time he had an episode.
Octavia, however, was NOT impressed.
"Honestly, I still have no idea why you hired him," she commented.
"His father was one of my best gardeners for years," Stolas retorted. "His son needed work, so I did him a solid."
"The guy's one screw loose away from being completely unhinged!" Octavia argued.
Stolas merely shrugged at that.
"Well, nobody's perfect," he replied, not even bothering to come up with a better excuse.
Quickly realising that she wasn't going to win the argument, Octavia let it go pretty easily. In all honesty, she had come to expect a reaction like that. Unlike her mother, her father always had a soft spot for Imps… in more ways than one. And she wasn't even that surprised that he wasn't upset with Buzz for destroying items other than what he was supposed to, considering most of what he was destroying belonged to Stella anyway; all of them she had thrown away in a fit of rage whenever she got into an argument. Deciding to change the subject of the conversation, Octavia returned her attention to her father's desk, or rather the vast amount of paperwork splayed all over it.
"What's all this, anyway?" she asked curiously.
"Oh just some request forms for new employees," Stolas sighed, sitting back down and looking through the papers. "We lost a lot of the staff this year… for certain reasons."
"Right…" Octavia muttered, rubbing her arm, knowing instantly what the reasons were, despite her father's awkward attempt to avoid actually saying them.
To no one's surprise, one of the problems that came from an unexpected Extermination was that many Demons, both Sinners and Hellborns alike, were unable to find refuge in time. This, of course, led to the deaths of many of Hell's denizens, including many Imps that were under the Goetia family's employ, which meant that now there were many open spots for new employees that managed to survive. Clearing his throat, Stolas decided to shy away from the subject in hopes of avoiding upsetting his daughter, due to what she had been through on that day.
"Anyway, Via, was there something you needed? Not that I'm complaining, but it's not usual for you to visit me in the study like this," he said, admitting curiosity for his daughter's talkativeness.
"I know but… guess I just needed someone to talk to," Octavia admitted with a heavy sigh.
"Are the nightmares playing up?" Stolas asked, concernedly. "You know I do have remedies for it if you need them."
"No I'll be fine," Octavia insisted, trying to convince herself more than anything. "It's nothing I can't handle."
She could handle her father being protective and doting over her like a baby, but she wanted to handle her own personal issues on her own. As much as her father didn't want his little girl to be in distress, Octavia still wanted to show that she was an independent individual who didn't snap at anything that went against what she wanted… like her mother. But still, the stress of this whole situation was truly starting to eat at her from the inside out, and as much as she wanted to put on a brave face for her father, Octavia actually did need something to take the edge off a little… something like one of Mick's joints. It may have been out of nowhere and perhaps a little bit risky to say, but the next thing that came out of Octavia's beak was most definitely something she had to let her father hear.
"Perhaps I can… pop out for a bit?" she suggested. "Maybe that will clear my head a little."
Unfortunately, the answer her father gave to her little gamble was NOT the one she was hoping for.
"Absolutely NOT!"
Within a matter of seconds, Stolas instantly switched from being a normal dad back to his "overprotective mode", something which, while expected, Octavia wasn't in the mood for.
"But dad…" she whined.
"No buts!" Stolas argued. "I almost lost you last week and I am not-"
"I'm not going to run into an Exorcist now!" Octavia retorted. "Besides you can't keep me cooped up here forever!"
"I can try!" Stolas countered.
Octavia shot her father a disapproving look upon hearing that. Though they'd both gotten better at talking to each other in recent years, Stolas often forgot that his daughter was not a five-year-old, something which pissed her off to no end. As such, she had no choice but to use something not many teens would even consider... negotiation.
"Okay, I'll be honest. I just… wanted to go see the guy who saved me," she admitted, inwardly smiling as she noticed how quickly that got her father's attention. "I thought that... I don't know, maybe he'd like to come over for dinner or something. You know, to say thanks for helping me."
At those words, Stolas leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin in thought. Octavia had mentioned quite a fair bit about the Cat Demon who saved her after coming home, and while Stella simply wanted to leave well enough alone, believing that there was no good reason to seek the Sinner out to thank him since he had all but refused any kind of reward anyway, Stolas was of a completely different opinion.
"Now that you mention it, I must admit I was hoping to give him my own thanks for that," he said, though somewhat hesitant in his words. "But couldn't you just call him?"
Octavia couldn't help but roll her eyes at that.
"Kinda impossible to share contact info when both our Hellphones were destroyed," she pointed out. "I do know where he lives though."
However, even with that information in mind, Stolas was still hesitant.
"I don't know, Via," he muttered, the uncertainty in his voice as clear as crystal.
"I promise that I'll go straight to his place and back here," Octavia insisted, almost begging at this point. "And I swear not to make any unnecessary stops."
Seeing that his daughter clearly wasn't going to back down, Stolas rubbed his chin in thought. Granted, he didn't know much about the Cat Demon, apart from what Octavia had told him, however, given the fact that most Sinners only grew worse as time went on, letting their vices get out of control during their eternal stay in Hell, this particular one was clearly different if what she said was true. The fact that this one Sinner helped his daughter and didn't do anything inappropriate to her or even attempted to demand compensation spoke great volumes, thus making his interest in meeting him grow with each passing moment. Eventually, the Goetia Demon sighed in defeat.
"Alright fine," he finally relented, only for a small glare to appear on his face. "...but on ONE condition."
"You didn't have to come with me, you know," Octavia said, the frown on her face making it perfectly clear that she was NOT happy in the scenario she now found herself in.
As it turns out, Stolas's condition for allowing Octavia to leave the house to see Mick was that HE had to go along too. Needless to say, Octavia was NOT happy with that compromise. After all, what girl would ever want to meet with someone she knows with her overprotective father in tow? Alas, it was the only way Stolas would allow her to go, so she clearly had no choice. So now here she was, sitting in the back seat of one of her father's limos, with Stolas himself sitting next to her with a look of determination spread across his face.
"Until I'm sure you'll be safe, you are not leaving my sight," the Goetia Demon insisted, his look of determination slowly morphing into one of concern as the limo finally came to a halt, allowing him to peer through the window. "Uh… Via? Are you sure this is the right place?"
Taking a peek out of the window herself, Octavia couldn't help but agree with her father's concerns. Now that she got a good look at the building itself, it was blatantly obvious that this had to have been one of the most run-down buildings she had ever seen, and considering the fact that they were in Hell, that was a high bar. Aside from the obvious damage, the Exorcists caused, most of the windows were boarded up, the brickwork was practically crumbling apart, and there were numerous splatters of god knows what spearing every wall. If anything the whole structure looked more like a crack house than anything else, one which both Goetia Demons could only assume was being held together by cockroach droppings.
"Well… it's the only Deagle's Apartments listed on the GPS," Octavia awkwardly replied, double-checking her new Hellphone just to be on the safe side, before once again looking out the window. "Plus… I recognise the street."
Quickly noticing the hesitancy in his daughter's voice, Stolas instantly knew that just being here was making her uncomfortable. Despite rushing through the area while escaping an angel set to kill her, the young Goetia Demon still recognised it almost immediately. After all, she did have several obstacles that forced her to slow down along the way, thus allowing her to get at least a glimpse at her surroundings.
"So, this is where…?" he asked, unable to finish his question but receiving a nod in response, thus confirming his suspicions.
After gazing upon the building for a few moments more, Octavia finally let out a heavy sigh and opened the limo door.
"Well, no time like the present," she said, stepping out of the vehicle. "You better stay in the car, Dad."
Needless to say, Stolas was not happy with such an instruction.
"Wait, Via! Don't go out there alone!" he tried calling out, only for the door to slam shut in his face.
As much as she didn't like treating her father like that, Octavia didn't want to have him looming over her shoulder as she did what she came to do. As such, she could only close the door and roll her eyes at her father's worry. Walking up the crumbling stoop to the apartment building's door, quickly noticing the disgusting layer of mildew creeping on the corners of the faded blue paint, Octavia let out a light sigh before reaching out for the rusty door knocker and giving it a few small whacks. At first, she got no response. After hearing nothing for a couple of minutes, she then knocked on the door itself with a little more force. Eventually, she then heard movement coming from the inside, and the door finally opened… however, it wasn't Mick who answered.
"Yeah, what do you want!?" the wrinkly faced Demon snapped.
Seeing the ugly, wrinkly Pug Demon wearing the red-haired wig and feather-topped hat staring back at her with an unamused sneer, Octavia could only assume that this was the landlady of the building.
"Mrs… Deagle?" Octavia asked, somewhat guessing her actual name.
"Who's asking?" the Pug Demon scoffed, practically answering Octavia's question without openly saying anything.
Quickly realising that this was the type of Demon with next to no patience and a temper as short as a pair of knee socks, Octavia thought it best to get straight to the point and try to be as polite as possible while doing so.
"Sorry, but I'm looking for someone who lives here," she explained, causing Deagle to raise an eyebrow. "Mick Nikos?"
Unfortunately, the answer she got to that enquiry wasn't one she had anticipated, nor liked.
"Nikos?" Deagle repeated, a disturbing smirk spreading across her face as she let out a small cackle. "HA! I kicked that deadbeat out days ago! Couldn't keep up with his rent last week."
Last week? But that was during the Extermination itself. Was this old bitch seriously saying that she had kicked Mick out of his apartment just because he wasn't here to pay her during the most dangerous day of the year!?
"You can't be serious!" Octavia exclaimed, her disgust oozing through every syllable that escaped her beak. "You ARE aware of what was happening around that time, right!?"
"I don't care if it was in the middle of fucking Christmas, you don't pay rent, you don't live in my building!" Deagle retorts, the veins in her forehead practicality pulsating as she talked back to the Goetia with next to no respect. "Now, unless you want to rent a room… PISS OFF!"
At those words, Octavia was left completely flabbergasted as the door was slammed shut in her face. Her blood boiling with insulted anger, all she could do then was smash her fists against the door and scream.
"BITCH!"
After taking a moment to breathe, Octavia stomped down the stoop with her arms crossed, her mind reeling over what she had to do now. She had been fully depending on Mick actually being here, or at the very least being told where he was if he wasn't home, but now she finds out the poor guy has been evicted? Granted, this may have been Hell, but to kick someone out because they weren't here during the Extermination was completely below the belt! Suddenly, she heard a loud crash coming from inside the building, followed by Deagle's furious screams.
"GAH! MY SPIN DRYER!"
Snapping her head around towards the sound of the familiar voice coming from the window just above her head, Octavia suddenly found herself gasping in shock as something suddenly squeezed through the gap between the boards and jumped down onto her head. Before she had time to comprehend what was happening, the small white blur jumped off her head, forcing her to fall flat on her ass, and ran off down the street, quickly turning a corner into the nearby alley. Her curiosity peaked, Octavia quickly rose to her feet and followed the strange white creature into the alley, finding it strangely familiar.
At first, when Octavia rounded the corner, she found no sign of the strange white creature that burst through the window mere moments ago, finding only garbage cans and bunches of trash scattered all over the alley, but then something odd managed to catch her eye. What she first thought as nothing more than a pile of garbage resting next to the cans by the nearest wall, suddenly began to shift and shake, as if something was under it. Taking a few cautious steps forward, the Goetia Demon crouched down and reached a hand towards a discarded piece of newspaper, gasping in shock after seeing what was hiding underneath.
There, trembling in fear, was a small, white-furred fox with icy blue eyes, overly large pointy ears and two bushy tails that were pointed like a paintbrush. Upon seeing the tiny creature, Octavia couldn't help but stare in awe, however, the same could not be said for the fox. The moment the small vulpine saw Octavia, it instantly shot her a nasty glare, arched its back and growled defensively as it tried to back away. Given what she had heard mere moments ago, Octavia couldn't really blame the poor thing for acting like that. Whatever Deagle was doing in there must have been horrible if the poor fox felt the need to run. However, she also couldn't help but notice how strange it was, even by Demon standards. Daring to take a closer look, she even saw small blue flames escape from the corners of the fox's mouth… this must have been a Kitsune pup!
From what Octavia had read in many books about animals in her family's library, creatures like this weren't that common in this region of Hell, in fact, one could say it was extremely rare. What's more, depending on how they're raised, they could either grow to be no bigger than a Chihuahua or grow large enough to be bipedal and become just as sentient as Hellhounds. Knowing that the Goetia Demon counted herself lucky to have actually seen one. However, more importantly, seeing the creature now reminded her why she thought it seemed familiar… because Octavia had seen it before in a photo on Micks Hellphone. What's more, despite hearing it while she was half asleep at the time, she also remembered what Mick called her.
"Snowflake?"
Upon hearing her name, the Kitsune suddenly stopped growling and looked up at Octavia with cautious curiosity. Confused as to how this strange Owl Demon knew her despite never seeing her before now, the small fox still kept her guard up regardless. As for Octavia, seeing that she has made a little progress, she decided to take a step further and offered her hand to the Kitsune, attempting to show her that she meant no harm.
"Hey, it's okay," she said softly. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Snowflake had no idea what the Goetia Demon's game was, so of course, she was still hesitant. But seeing that Octavia wasn't even trying to come any closer, the Kitsune gave in to her own curiosity and began slowly edging over towards Octavia's open palm. Taking a few cautious sniffs, Snowflake eventually allowed Octavia to reach out even further and stroke her behind the ears. Upon reach, she let out a small noise that sounded like a cross between a growl and a squeal, something which the Goetia Demon admittedly found adorable, even though she would never openly say it to anyone. Soon enough, Snowflake sat back on her haunches and raised her two front paws, showing that she trusted Octavia enough to allow Octavia to hold her… at least that's how the young Goetia Demon saw it. Scooping up the tiny fox in her arms, Octavia couldn't help but smile as she held onto Mick's cherished pet.
"So you're the one Mick says is his pride and joy, huh?" she asked as if the fox could actually understand her. "Think you can tell me where he is?"
Though obviously, she was just playing with the tiny furball, her question still had some weight to it. Now that she had found Mick's pet, her mind quickly began to fill up with several more. First and foremost being why Mick would leave Snowflake here if he cared about her so much. Little did Octavia know, her answer would soon be stomping around the corner behind her.
"There you are, you little shit!" she heard Deagle screech, scowling in disgust as she saw the Pug Demon stomp over towards her, a rusty kitchen knife in her hand. "Give me that thing right now, Missy!"
Seeing the wrinkled old hag come closer to her as if she were her superior, Octavia's face instantly twisted into a scowl, especially considering the fact that Snowflake quickly tried to bury herself in her chest the moment she heard that shrill voice. Taking a brief moment to get a closer look at Snowflake, the Goetia Demon quickly noticed the number of scratches and grime plastering her fur, and as such completely began to put the pieces together as to why the little fox seemed so scared. Needless to say, there was no way she was going to just let that happen.
"And why should I?" she asked defiantly, something which Deagle did not appreciate. "What have you even been doing to the poor thing!?"
"Whatever I bloody well like, because that future piece of taxidermy is mine!" she retorted as if it were the most obvious of answers. "Any property left behind by an evicted tenant automatically belongs to me! Now hand it over! I won't ask again!"
"Fuck you!"
The moment those two words left Octavia's mouth, Deagle snarled like the filthy dog that she was, brandishing the kitchen knife with every intention of actually using it without any care whatsoever as to who she was going to use it on. Taking a cautious step back, Octavia only glared back at the Pug Demon and refused to let Snowflake go, if anything she only held on even tighter based on an instinct to protect her. Suddenly, something happened that caused Octavia to smirk, something which Deagle was instantly confused by.
"Is there a problem?"
Freezing upon hearing the sound of the voice, Deagle slowly turned her head around, gasping in horror as she saw none other than Stolas glaring down at her with his arms crossed, his eyes burning with hate and disgust as the Pug looked back at him with a nervous gulp. This was one of the few times Octavia was glad to have such an overprotective dad who was also a powerful member of Hellish Nobility. She'd certainly be lying if she said that watching Deagle piss herself with fright, after realising who she was looking at, wasn't entertaining to watch.
"Uh… well," Deagle muttered, unable to find the right words to make an excuse. "You see this thing, it's…"
As the Pug Demon continued to babble utter nonsense, trying desperately to form a simple sentence, Stolas shifted his gaze towards his daughter. Seeing Octavia cling onto the strange furry animal with such care and protectiveness certainly piqued his interest, at the very least it allowed him to piece together what appeared to be happening. Rather than create any more unnecessary conflict than needed, the elder Goetia Demon decided to go for a more… civilised approach to the matter.
"How much do you want for it?" he asked suddenly, causing Deagle to cease her rambling.
"Huh?" she uttered, instantly confused as to what the Hellish Prince meant by that.
"The fox," Stolas clarified, pulling out a chequebook from his coat pocket. "How much?"
Not expecting to hear such a thing coming from the Goetia Demon's mouth, Deagle was left completely flabbergasted. Still, she needed to give an answer. After taking a moment to breathe, the old hag spoke out the first number that came to her mind.
"Um… 200?"
At that moment, Stolas had to resist the urge to roll his eyes as he quickly scribbled the number and his name on the check, before tearing it out of the book and shoving it into Deagle's hand.
"Done," he said. "Now do be a dear and fuck off."
Staring down at the check, quickly seeing the legitimacy of it, the old Pug Demon couldn't help but smirk.
"A pleasure doing business with you, your highness," she said condescendingly, giving a forced curtsey before walking past the Goetia Demon and back into her apartment building.
As soon as she was gone, Stolas once again turned his attention to his daughter, who in turn turned her head away in embarrassment, as much as she appreciated her father's help, it was still a little humiliating to have "daddy" bail her out of trouble.
"This had better come with a good explanation, my Owlette," Stolas said, hoping that his daughter would allow him the right of some clarification.
Seeing no reason to hide anything, especially because the biggest piece of evidence was literally curling up in her arms at this very moment, Octavia let out a heavy sigh and answered.
"It does," she stated, holding up Snowflake so her father could get a better look. "This fox belongs to Mick. Looks like that bitch kicked him out and tried to keep Snowflake here for herself."
Leaning his tall body down to get a closer look at the fearful Kitsune, Stolas scratched his chin in thought, raising an eyebrow as all four of his eyes took note of the condition the poor furry animal was in. Raising a finger, he then scratched Snowflake behind the ear, something which the Kitsune actually found quite pleasant given how much she appeared to be purring.
"Looks like the poor thing's been through a lot," Stolas admitted. "But where IS this Mick fellow?"
Octavia couldn't help but sigh at that.
"I… I don't know," she admitted, desperately wishing she actually had the answer to that. Suddenly her eyes snapped wide open with realisation as a certain memory popped into her mind. "But I think there is one other place we can try."
Stolas, however, wasn't so enthusiastic. After witnessing what happened with Deagle, he wasn't exactly willing to put his daughter through any more hardships today, no matter how determined she was to see things through.
"Oh, I don't know, Via," he said, his voice riddled with uncertainty.
Octavia however, wasn't going to have any of it. In fact, she was so determined to find the one she was looking for, she resorted to something that no teenager with any ounce of pride would ever consider as their first option… begging.
"PLEASE dad," she pleaded. "Just one last stop, I promise."
As if his daughter resorting to begging wasn't bad enough, even Snowflake tried looking as cute as possible with her big, blue eyes staring pleadingly in Stolas's direction, almost as if she understood what Octavia was trying to do completely. Unable to resist his daughter's pleading eyes, Stolas eventually sighed in defeat.
"Oh… okay," he relented, slumping his shoulders. "So where are we going?"
Delighted to have won the argument before it even started, Octavia looked down at Snowflake, who in turn looked back up at her as a small smirk appeared on the young Goetia Demon's face.
"The only other place I can think of that Mick could possibly be," she said as she began her walk back to the limousine, "The Peppermint Puss."