What a night! What else can one say after experiencing everything Octavia did before she finally turned in at 2 in the morning.

After she finally managed to pull herself out of bed at around 10 AM, the Goetia Princess quickly, yet painfully noticed that she had actually passed out while still wearing her dress from the previous night. Worse still, when she looked in the mirror, she found that her makeup had been smudged and her feathery hair sticking out in all different angles. Bottom line: she looked like a complete and utter mess.

By the time she had managed to get herself washed up, straightened up and changed into a fresh pair of clothes that DIDN'T smell of marijuana, all the while fighting against a hangover that came with a colossal headache, about another hour had passed. But at the very least, she didn't look like a complete tramp when she inevitably had to explain her absence to her parents.

When she eventually left her room and stepped out into the hall, Octavia was surprised to find a certain Kitsune pup sitting in a daze inside a hole she dug in one of the potted plants situated just a few feet from her door. Needless to say, the Goetia Princess couldn't help but find her predicament adorable.

"You too, huh, girl?" she said, giving the little fox a gentle pat of the head before lifting her out of the pot. "Come on, let's get you some water."

In response, Snowflake only let out a low purr, unable to let out her usual yip due to being so out of it. She didn't know what happened but she was sure it was that little shit, Damian's fault.

Her head still throbbing, Octavia let out a small yawn as she came down the stairs with Snowflake in her arms. Despite how late into the morning it was, she was still incredibly tired, undoubtedly another side effect of her first real hangover. Granted, she may have drunk booze before, but never to the extent she did last night and NEVER mixed with whatever strain of weed Mick had. If this was what the consequences were for having such a good time, she may need to reconsider how she handled herself in the future… Well, at least she couldn't feel any worse.

"Ahem,"

To her shock and dismay, she found Stella waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.

"Mum!?" the Goetia Princess exclaimed, almost dropping Snowflake in surprise. "Uh... morning."

Judging from the expressionless look her mother gave her, Octavia could tell that she wasn't in any sort of cheerful mood. If anything, it appeared as though she was going to get a scolding a lot sooner than she thought.

"And a good morning to you too, my daughter," she said. "I was hoping you would be downstairs sooner."

"Yeah… sorry about that," Octavia replied, unable to think of anything else she could say at that moment.

Surprisingly enough, Stella didn't chastise her for her tardiness after that. In fact, she didn't even seem to care at all.

"It's quite alright, dear," she said, her face turning slightly softer. "You've missed breakfast, of course, but it's no trouble. Though you should know that Count Ipos's son has been waiting for you."

No sooner had she said that, a familiar Duck Demon dressed in a more casual suit came into view around the other side of the stairs, his arms folded behind his back with what Octavia thought was his sad attempt at a charming smile.

"Ah, a very good morning to you, my dear," Seth greeted, giving her a low bow.

Seeing the pompous Duck Demon walking into the foyer, Octavia immediately felt sick… and it wasn't because of the hangover. Of all Demons to spend the night here after the banquet was over, WHY did he have to be one of them!? Furthermore, why was he still here!? Shouldn't he have left by now!? Even Snowflake was repulsed by his appearance, which she made clear with a low growl. Whatever the case was, Octavia knew she was now suddenly caught between a rock and a hard place, so all she could do was adapt to the situation as best she could.

"Morning, Seth," she greeted back, both politely and reluctantly. "You're looking... well."

"Why thank you," Seth replied, not even bothering to return the compliment.

Seeing that slimy smile across the Duck Demon's beak, Octavia wanted nothing more than to give him a good punch between the eyes for even being in the same room. However, before another word could be said between the two, Stella once again stepped in.

"I have arranged tea for the pair of you out on the terrace," she said, much to Octavia's hidden horror. "Master Seth, I trust that will be to your liking?"

She couldn't tell for sure, but the Goetia Princess could have sworn she saw Seth's grin stretch even wider at that.

"Very much so," he said, bowing his head towards the elder Goetia. "Thank you, Lady Stella."

Once again, Octavia found herself wanting to scream her lungs out. Was her mother actually being serious right now!? Of all Demons to be saddled with, she was going to make her hang around this one some more!? Alas, as much as Octavia hated the idea, she knew she didn't have a choice. Avoiding guests at the banquet was one thing, but if her mother arranged something for the two of them specifically, then there was no way of getting out of it without making a scene. And frankly, she didn't want to try her luck with this spoiled asshole. Soon enough, Seth looked back up at the Goetia Princess with the same slimy smile and held out his hand.

"Shall we go then?"

Trying desperately to hide her cringe, Octavia reluctantly accepted the Duck Demon's hand and allowed herself to be pulled away.

"Yeah... happy to," she replied, trying desperately to resist the urge to vomit.

Meanwhile, just outside the Servant's entrance to the kitchen, Mick was assisting Johnny and his clones in loading his van back up. When the ball began to wrap up the previous night, all remaining music was played via one of the phonographs the Goetias kept around the house. However, since it was so late into the night at that point, Johnny had no choice but to crash in the Servants' Quarters until the following morning… not that he was complaining due to the wild afterparty.

"I can't thank you enough for this, Johnny," Mick said as he heaved the last of the equipment into the van. "Seriously, I appreciate it."

"It's no problem, my man," the Greaser replied, giving him a good pat on the back as he shut the van doors. "And hey, thanks for giving Bloody Mary my contacts, it would be cool if she got us a couple more gigs down the line."

"Happy to help," Mick replied, smiling under his mask.

Bloody Mary, of course, already left earlier that morning. After all, her job was pretty much done after the last guest left. But not before she too came to thank Mick again for introducing her to the Goetias, allowing him to give her Johnny's contact info in case she ever wanted to use him and his clones for any more events in the future. On that note, Mick suddenly noticed something just as he was turning back towards the kitchen door,

"Wait…" he said, doing a quick headcount. "Aren't there supposed to be five of you guys?"

His eyes snapped wide open in surprise, Johnny did a headcount himself. Sure enough, one of his clones, namely the ponytailed one, was missing.

"Where the fuck is-?" he tried to say, only to be cut off by a sudden noise coming from above their heads.

CHINK!

Snapping their heads upward, Mick, Johnny and his clones looked and saw something, or rather someone slam into the glass of the closest window before clawing at it like a frightened puppy. While it was tricky to see who it was from the angle of the window, the voice screaming from the other side of it instantly identified them as Johnny's missing clone.

"Help me!" he yelled. "For god's sake, help me!"

At first both Johnny and Mick were stunned and confused, the pair of them wondering what it was that got the clone so terrified… of course, it wasn't two seconds later before they both got their answer.

"Where are you going?" they heard a second voice say in an excited tone. "Mama wants MORE!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Hearing that all too familiar voice in their ears, followed by perverted giggles from behind the glass, both Johnny and Mick's eyes shrank in horror as they watched Johnny's clone get pulled away from the window by Jewel's tail.

"Okay, NOW you should start running!" Mick exclaimed, ushering Johnny over towards the driver's side of the van.

"I can't just-" Johnny tried to protest, only for Mick to cut him off.

"It's too late for him!" he snapped. "Flee, you fools! Flee! FLEE!"

Remembering all too well what happened when he and Jewel first met on the train, Johnny didn't take much convincing to start up the engine and start ushering all his remaining clones into the back of the van. Then suddenly…

CRASH!

"Heeeeeeeeeeeere's mommy!"

Seeing the perverted maid smash her head through the window like a lunatic before panting and salivating like a wild animal at the sight of Johnny's clones clambering into the van, it was no surprise that everyone with a Y-chromosome began running for their lives.

"Let's burn rubber, guys!" Johnny screamed, immediately stepping on the gas.

The air filled with the sound of screeching tires, and a certain Cat Demon making a beeline for the nearest shrub, the next ten seconds were filled with absolute chaos. Bad enough that Johnny left skid marks on the paved driveway as he and his clones took off, but Jewel made things so much worse by literally jumping out the window to hang on to the back of the van as it drove away.

"Come on, baby!" she screamed. "Just one little kiss goodbye!"

It was only when the van and Jewel were completely out of sight, did Mick dare poke his head out of the shrub, his breathing heavy with terror.

"That woman… needs professional help!" he exclaimed, shifting his eyes to make sure the Maid wasn't coming back.

In all honesty, Mick should have expected something like this to happen. After all, Jewel was not just a pervert but also a complete sex addict, and just like any other addiction, all it takes is one taste to get the individual going… and from what Mick saw last night, Jewel tasted a LOT! Now that Jewel's main interest literally just drove away, it probably wouldn't be long until she doubled back and tried hunting the other hunk of meat she had her eye on.

Gulping in fear, not wanting to be Jewel's plaything for the next hour, Mick tried desperately to look for a way to escape. He couldn't use the Servant's Entrance, that would have been too obvious, plus Jewel knew the entire house like the back of her grabby hand. Maybe he could escape through the back garden? It seemed like as good a plan as any. With that in mind, the Cat Demon slowly ducked back down into the shrub and began making his way towards the side gate.

Back inside the house, the Prince of the house slowly and groggily pulled himself into his family's personal kitchen, clad only in a pair of slippers and a blood-red robe that hung off his shoulders, exposing almost all of his feathery chest. Normally Stolas would always wear such a thing when having a lazy day at home, if he had the choice he would do so all the time, but since he had guests over, he had to make sure he looked presentable… at least that was the original plan. Now that he was completely wiped out and carried a splitting headache, he just didn't care anymore.

Groaning as he walked into the kitchen with heavy bags under all four of his eyes, all the Goetia wanted to do at that moment was go into his fridge, grab himself a quick drink and then go right back to bed to recover from this shitty condition he found himself in.

"Well, good morning to you too, Stolas,"

Hearing that familiar voice, Stolas froze for a moment, keeping his hand on the fridge door as he turned his head a full 180 degrees to see none other than Duchess Gremory leaning up against the kitchen counter with a cup of tea in her hand. Gone was her ballroom attire, now she wore a simple red dress and shawl, and surprisingly enough, she was looking a lot more lively than Stolas was.

"Ugh… is it morning?" the Goetia Prince asked sarcastically as he pulled open the fridge. "I can't tell."

"Oof, that Valium hit you hard, huh?" Gremory replied, looking Stolas over with a wince.

"Yes," Stolas grumbled as he grabbed a bottle of blood orange juice from the fridge and gulped it straight from the carton. "Remind me to kill my brother the next time I see him."

"Noted," the red-haired Duchess giggled, trying to find a little humour in the situation.

Taking another swig of juice, Stolas pinched the bridge between his eyes and tried to recollect the events that put him in his current state. He remembered getting all agitated when he saw that stranger dance with his daughter before he tried making his way over, after that he remembered Malphas giving him a glass of champagne to calm him down, and then… an entire night filled with swirling colours and other hallucinations. Not wanting to dwell on the situation, however, Stolas thought it best to change the subject.

"So what happened to that Succubus you brought with you?" he asked, snapping his fingers as he tried remembering her name. "Uh… Verosika?"

"Oh, she left with this handsome pair of twins last night," Gremory explained, smirking at the memory of her Plus-one hooked arm-in-arm with both men as they left the house last night. "I think one of them owns a studio down in Greed, so she wanted to try her luck with him."

Stolas couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Such are the trials of stardom," he declared playfully.

"Oh, you have no idea," Gremory replied, sharing in the Owl Demon's humour.

At that moment, a third Demon entered the room, his larger mass narrowly squeezing through the open doorway. Now dressed in a more casual suit… well, more casual for him at least, Malphas strolled into the kitchen with his arms behind his back and a gentle smile on his beak.

"Morning, brother," he greeted, earning himself a small grumble from Stolas for his trouble.

"Morning," he replied, his tone clearly indicating that he wasn't the least bit amused.

Bashfully letting out an awkward chuckle, quickly realising that Stolas was still a little ticked over his little stunt, the Raven Demon shuffled over towards Gremory and leaned in to mutter something in Gremory's ear.

"Uh, Gremory… you left this in my room," he said, keeping his voice hushed as he handed the red-haired Demon something from behind his back.

However, if there was one thing Malphas wasn't good at, it was subtly, and even while groggy, Stolas could easily see the transparent black bra in his brother's hand, enabling him to figure out what else transpired the previous night.

"Really, you two?" he uttered, completely astounded that such a thing happened under his own roof.

"What?" Gremory retorted, shamelessly taking her bra back. "He's not MY brother. Hell, stick a pair of tits on him and he'd be my type."

Once again, Stolas pinched the bridge between his eyes. In all honesty, he didn't know why he was so surprised. After all, both Malphas and Gremory were single and part of the Hellish Nobility, so such a thing wasn't that uncommon… Still, the fact that they were both second cousins did make Stolas shudder a bit. Soon enough, however, that particular subject would quickly be the last thing on the Goetia Prince's mind.

"Well, the creature from the pit finally emerges," a fourth voice declared, once again drawing everyone's attention to the doorway of the kitchen.

The moment he saw his wife glaring daggers at him, Stolas let out a heavy sigh of irritation.

"Please don't start with me, Stella," he said, taking another swig of juice, knowing full well that his wife was practically begging to have a go at him. "I'm not in the mood right now."

At that remark, however, Stella's scowl instantly hardened.

"Well I suppose there's a first time for everything," she snarked.

Knowing full well what his wife meant by her particular choice of words, Stolas's eyes hardened with a stern glare, directing it fully on the Demon in the doorway.

"Alright, since you insist on speaking I WOULD like to have a word with you," he said, practically glaring daggers at his wife. "Since I'd failed to get the chance last night, I think now is as good a time as any."

At those words, Malphas nervously cringed, because not only was he the reason for that particular scenario but also because he knew exactly what particular subject of conversation Stolas wanted to have with Stella. Given how overprotective his brother was over his niece, it was no surprise that he would be angry upon learning about his wife trying to dump a fiancé on her behind his back. Taking a few steps back, Malphas and Gremory mentally prepared themselves for the oncoming argument… one which was suddenly interrupted before it could start.

"Your Majesties!" Reginald yelled, suddenly bursting into the room in an uncharacteristic state of panic. "Your Majesties! We have an emergency!"

"Reginald!?" Stolas gasped, taking his eyes off Stella for a brief moment. "What the devil's the matter with you!?"

"It's the Count's son, Your Highness!" Reginald replied, his frantic tone not dropping for a second. "He's… well, he's…"

The Imp's panic was, of course, warranted to an extent, though not without an explanation to back it up. A few minutes earlier, he was pouring tea into cups that were laid out on a small table situated on the back terrace, where two teenage Demons sat on opposite sides with mixed expressions on their faces. While Seth sipped his tea with his slimy smile, Octavia almost looked bored. In fact, she looked just about ready to stab herself in the leg with a fork just to take her mind off something other than the repulsive company she was in. Even Snowflake looked miserable to be here, so much so that she dared not leave the space between Octavia's legs under the table, if only to avoid Seth's disgusted glare. Normally she would have just left, but the little fox just didn't feel right leaving Octavia alone with this guy.

"I am so glad you agreed to join me this morning, my dear," Seth suddenly declared, clearly trying to bring Octavia into a conversation with him. "I was hoping to speak to you more last night but, well… you know."

From the moment Seth called her "dear" Octavia tried desperately to hold back her disgust. As much as she hated this Demon, there was a dark feeling in the back of her mind telling her that it was best not to upset him at the moment. As such, she had no choice but to indulge him.

"Y-yes, I wasn't feeling that well after the ball," she explained. "Probably too much champagne or something."

"It's actually surprising to see you that frail," Seth pointed out, looking above his cup straight at her. "After all, surviving your little ordeal with those... Heaven's Exorcists is quite remarkable. I can only imagine that it must have been quite awful to have gone through."

At those words, Octavia swallowed her tea with a forced gulp, somewhat startled by Seth's choice of subject.

"Oh... uh yeah, it was horrible," she said. "You overheard that, huh?"

Of course, he did! What sort of stupid question was that!? Great! Now, this scumbag was making her fall over her own words. She'll have to be more careful with what she says from now on.

"I must say, it gave a great deal of relief to all us Nobles to hear that you were able to make it through all that," Seth continued on, fully ignoring Octavia's growing anxiety. "I dare say it would have been such a terrible shame if you had died during that 'horrendous' event."

Okay, seriously, was this guy TRYING to piss Octavia off!? Because if so, then it was definitely working!

"Indeed," she commented through gritted teeth. "Though if you don't mind, I'd rather not speak about it."

"Oh, but of course," Seth replied, his tone just as condescending as ever. "After all, we wouldn't want our… 'perfect' future spoiled with such bad memories when it is merely within our grasp, would we? If my fiancé isn't happy… well… we can always work on that."

That's it! That's the final straw! To Hell with being polite! And to Hell with being careful with her words! If being blunt is what's going to get the message through this bastard's thick skull then so be it!

"Okay, let me stop you right there!" Octavia said, setting her cup down on the table hard with an irritated frown on her face. "Look, "I don't know what you may have heard, but I did NOT agree to a marriage of ANY kind!"

Needless to say, Octavia was so riled up by her own words, that she ended up rising from her chair, getting into Seth's face so that her point was made perfectly clear.

"I am NOT your fiance, nor will I EVER be. Is that clear?"

Surprisingly, Seth didn't even flinch at the Goetia Princess's statement. In fact, he laughed it off as he took another sip of his tea.

"Oh? And why not my… 'sweet lil Owlette?" he asked, pushing Octavia's anger past breaking point. "After all, as members of Demon Royalty, it is our obligation and our right to build a future together. And not just for US, my dear… but for our lineage as well."

"Stop that!" Octavia snapped, unable to bear any more of the Duck Demon's crap. "And don't you DARE call me that name! Only ONE person gets to call me that!"

She was, of course, speaking of the Owlette title her father would call her. Coming from him it was okay, but being called the same thing by this privileged asshat instantly made Octavia's stomach turn. Once again, however, Seth didn't so much as flinch at the Owl Demon's threat and remained perfectly calm.

"I would suggest you don't take that tone with me, my dear," he said, his tone, while still calm, subtly shifting to one filled with irritation as he let out a small sigh. "And I was having such a lovely time with you as well."

"I'll take whatever tone I want, Seth!" Octavia retorted with an agitated growl. "And I saw what you consider a 'lovely time' last night. Treating my staff like crap even though they're not even YOUR employees! If that is how you act in someone else's home, I dread to think about what you're like in your own."

SLAP!

About 2 seconds later, Octavia suddenly felt a sharp pain across her cheek, one that was paired with a small force that snapped her head over to the side. Instinctively placing a hand on her stinging cheek, Octavia looked back at Seth with a look of shock and fear smeared over her face. Seth, on the other hand, gave Octavia the coldest glare she had ever seen.

"You should know your place in the near future, Octavia," he stated with a darker tone in his voice. "That type of backchat doesn't suit someone of our stature… Especially if it's our future we're referring to."

Keeping her hand over her sore cheek, Octavia looked back at Seth with pure disgust. Was he seriously so delusional that he thinks he can just do something like this without repercussions? And to someone of a higher rank in the hierarchy no less?! Well, if it's knowing one's place that he feels so strongly about, then perhaps she should let him know HIS.

"Fuck you!" she snapped, spitting directly into the Duck Demon's face.

It was only then that Seth's calm demeanour dropped as he grimaced in response to the Princess's reaction. Taking out a handkerchief from his vest pocket, he wiped his face clean with a repulsed scowl before slowly standing up from his chair… this time he didn't bother with just a backhanded slap.

BAM!

SMASH!

With one single punch to her face, Seth knocked Octavia off her feet, causing her to fall to the ground while also causing the table to flip over and smashing numerous pieces of china as a result. As Octavia tried to pull herself back up, tasting her own blood as she felt the left side of her face begin to throb in pain, Seth began to walk over towards her with a glare that could kill anyone who dared look back. Just as he was only a few inches away, however, Snowflake wasted no time in jumping in front of him, yipping furiously in Octavia's defence, her mouth fiercely spurting little blue flames.

"Get away from me, you little rat!" Seth snapped, not even remotely scared at the Kitsune's attempt to be threatening as he kicked her away.

NYAFF!

With a pained yelp, Snowflake skidded across the terrace, rolling onto the lawn with a heavy thud. Thankfully she wasn't hurt too badly, but that kick was definitely enough to knock the wind out of her long enough for Seth to suddenly grab Octavia by her feather hair and painfully yank her up to his eye-level.

"THAT was a big mistake you defiant little bitch," he snarled, any charm, fake or otherwise, being long gone from his persona. "You can deny it all you like, but you ARE my fiancé, so you will honour me the way a wife is REQUIRED to! No more of your backchat, and certainly no more slumming it with those filthy peasants downstairs!"

The moment those particular words left Seth's beak, all sense of pain Octavia felt was briefly forgotten, only to be replaced by a mix of terror and confusion.

"You... you know about that!?" she exclaimed, her mind completely baffled at how the Count's son was able to find out such a secret.

"But of course!" Seth snapped, releasing Octavia's hair and letting her drop to the ground. "And quite frankly, I am APPALLED at the fact someone of your stature willingly mingles with such lowly, degenerate peasants… like that Mick fellow."

Now Octavia's confusion was replaced by raw anger. Snapping her head back up, ignoring any sense of pain, she glared hard as she got back to her feet.

"You leave him out of this!" she yelled, trying to throw a punch only to have her wrist caught in Seth's slimy grip.

"I don't believe it…" Seth muttered, the anger and disgust ever-growing all over his face. "You ACTUALLY care about that piece of Sinner trash?!"

Despite the Duck Demon's tightening grip on her wrist, Octavia still couldn't help but smirk in response to his anger.

"That piece of trash is twice the man you'll ever be!" she retorted, relishing in Seth's constantly growing frustration. "In fact… I'll bet he's even ten times the man you are where it actually counts!"

That was it! That was the final nail in the coffin! If there was one thing that was guaranteed to piss a guy off, it was to insult his dick size! Granted Octavia may not have seen it, nor did she ever intend to, but she didn't need to in order to rile the fucker up… oh, what a big mistake it was.

Furious at such a personal remark, Seth tightened his grip on Octavia's wrist to the point where she squealed in pain before collapsing to her knees. After that he clenched his free fist, readying himself to once again punch Octavia right across the jaw for her defiance… unfortunately for him, he would never get the chance to land the hit as he suddenly felt a tight grip on his shoulder.

"Hey! Ugly Duckling!"

Instinctively snapping his head around in response to the insult, Seth was instantly forced to let go of Octavia's wrist as something solid smashed into the side of his face with the force of a cannon.

BAM!

Before the Duck Demon realised what had happened, the hairy fist had sent him flying across the terrace, before he smashed into the wall of the mansion.

"AH! GODDAMMIT!" he shouted furiously, staggering to his feet as he clutched his now-bruised cheek. "WHO DARES TO STRIKE MY FUCKING FACE?!"

"Oh no one, really," Octavia's saviour growled as he cracked his knuckles in equal fury. "Just a simple piece of Sinner trash"

Snapping her head towards the source of the voice, Octavia almost felt like crying… once again, Mick had come to her rescue.

However, it was pretty obvious that the Cat Demon wasn't in the mood for chatting right now. In fact, if looks could kill, then Seth would have been dead ten times over. Granted, neither he, nor Octavia could actually see his face, but the anger Mick was feeling at that moment was so powerful, that it was bursting at the seams as literal blue flames erupted from the eyeholes of his steaming mask. What's more, those flames seemed to grow the more Mick shifted his gaze between Seth and the red mark across Octavia's face. Never mind being angry… Mick was LIVID!

"You've got a lot of nerve, doing that, Daffy Duck," he snarled at the Duck Demon. "You realise that this can't go unpunished, don't you?"

Seth, however, showed his cockiness once more by scoffing at Mick's threat.

"Oh, and who's going to punish me, trash kitten?" he mocked. "You? Please, do you honestly believe you can lay a finger on me? The Nobility will have your head for even trying."

Mick merely scoffed at that.

"Trash Kitten, huh?" he muttered. "Did you come up with that yourself, or did you need to ask a 5-year-old for help?"

"Make your jokes while you can, you lowly little bastard!" Seth spat back. "At the end of the day BREEDING always comes out on top. Face it, even if you just ratted on me, no one will believe you over me, because, by comparison, you are less than nothing."

However, as threatening as Seth believed himself to be, Mick wasn't intimidated in the slightest… or at the very least, he was just too angry to care.

"Oh I'm sorry," he said, rolling his eyes at the Duck Demon's words. "All I heard was 'blah, blah, blah, I'm an uptight prick with a tiny bird dick!'"

At those words, Octavia had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing. As insults go, it would seem that the pair of them were one of the same mind. As for Seth, one could easily tell how frustrated he was getting from the intense twitching in his left eye.

"Heh heh, that's funny, you're a FUNNY man!" he said, his voice sounding more deranged with each passing second as he walked over towards the Cat Demon. "You know what else is funny?"

WHACK!

All of a sudden Seth got his own back on Mick with a roundhouse kick to his head. Seconds later the Cat Demon was sent spinning across the terrace before smashing into the outer wall of the patio, his neck completely twisted out of place as his head turned to face his backside.

"Mick!" Octavia screamed, her mind overwhelmed with terror at what she saw.

Between the punch he gave her and now that sudden kick, it was clear that Seth must have had some form of self-defence training at some point. After all, it's not like he couldn't afford them, given his status. Apparently, he wasn't just all talk after all.

Looking over Mick's mangled form, the Duck Demon once again scoffed, unsurprised at how easy taking him down was.

"Filthy peasant," he muttered in disgust, adding insult to injury by spitting on Mick's mask before returning his attention to a frightened Octavia. "Now… where were-"

"Yyyyyyyyou entitled prick!"

Suddenly Seth choked on his own words as he snapped his head back towards Mick, who while groaning in pain, was still very much alive despite having his head being completely turned around. As unsurprising as it was for Octavia, having witnessed Mick do this before, it was still such a delight in seeing Seth's baffled face as he stared at the Cat Demon grabbing his own head and twisting it back into place.

"Okay…" he groaned, his eyes burning more fiercely than ever. "Now. I'm. PISSED!"

At those words a set of glowing blue claws shot out of Mick's fingertips, each one lit up with the same fire his eyes were enveloped in. Before Seth had the chance to blink, Mick suddenly launched himself straight at him, quickly grabbing him by the face and slamming him down to the ground. Using his legs and tail to keep the Duck Demon pinned, Mick began continuously and mercilessly smashing him in the face, each hard punch driven with such tremendous force it drew blood with almost every one… However, Seth wasn't one to be taken down so easily either.

"You damned WRETCH!" he screamed, opening his beak to let out a small blast of flames directly into Mick's face.

"GAAAAAHHH!"

Needless to say, Cat Demon found the sudden attack to be quite painful, thankfully his mask was able to shield his face from any real damage though. It did, however, give Seth the opportunity to free one of his hands and throw the Cat Demon off him. Quickly getting back to his feet, he then kicked Mick in the stomach, winding him just long enough to pin his foot down on the Cat Demon's neck. Watching the entire scuffle from the sidelines, Octavia instantly gasped in horror upon seeing her friend in such a situation.

"Get off him!" she yelled, quickly rushing over to try to pull Seth off… only to get another backhanded slap once she got too close.

"Stay out of this, you!" Seth growled, disregarding Octavia's attempt to help as a sign of idiocy as he gave Mick a deathly glare while pressing his foot further on his neck. "You know, all of this could have been avoided if you just minded your own business like all the other pieces of filth. Do you really think you can just mark my face without paying for it? You're no better than all the others who were put in this pit to serve your betters! And now… I'm going to enjoy watching you squirm under my foot… where you belong!"

This wasn't looking good. If Mick didn't break out of this situation, he might as well be dying all over again. Luckily the Cat Demon had one thing up his sleeve, something that he needed to do quickly before he blacked out.

"Hmm?" Seth muttered, hearing something faint through Mick's unintelligible gasping. "What was that?"

Believing Mick wanted to say his final words before he choked to death, Seth stopped pressing his foot down for a brief moment and allowed him one final breath of air to speak… oh, what a tremendous mistake that was.

"You talk too much!"

About three seconds later, Seth felt the worst pain he had ever experienced in his life, courtesy of the multiple sharp flaming claws now piercing the flesh of his leg.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

That was all the opportunity Mick needed to suddenly snap his tail up, and wrap it around Seth's neck before tossing him aside with one strong pull. Slamming him into a nearby wall, Mick didn't give Seth the slightest chance to recover this time. Getting back up and grabbing the front of the Duck Demon's shirt, he once again started delivering a merciless onslaught of punches to his face, screaming venomously in his face with each hit.

"You inbred. Shit-faced. FUCKER!"

However, just before Mick could land another punch, his fist suddenly stopped before it reached an inch away from Seth's swollen face, courtesy of a strange blue aura now mysteriously surrounding his hand.

Gasping in horror as she recognised the sparkling magic forcing Mick to cease his attacks, Octavia quickly snapped her head around to the open terrace doors, where she saw her father looking back at the Cat Demon with a frantic look on his face. Worse still, Stolas wasn't alone. Standing next to him were Malphas, Stella AND Duchess Gremory, along with Reginald standing at his feet. Much like Stolas, almost all of them shared a look of shock and disbelief at what they were seeing. Stella, however, looked more furious than anything else. In fact, one could argue that the death glare she was giving Mick was far worse than Seth could ever accomplish. Calming down just enough to realise what was currently happening, Mick's anger was finally replaced by fear as Stolas said his next sentence.

"Michael... What do you think you're DOING!?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

A special shoutout to Guest Writer, Rexander134 for his contribution to this chapter