The New Employee

by Assassinace45

IMP has hired a new employee a young and skilled imp by the name of Dante, will he do well in his new environment or will things go horribly wrong?

45. Chapter 45

IMP office,

Loona sat at her desk and scrolled through her phone, bored out of her mind. Suddenly, she got a text. It was from Dante. Their mission was done, and they needed a portal. Sighing, Loona pulled out the Grimoire and quickly opened a portal. Dante, Blitz, Millie, and Moxxie stepped through it, the latter of whom reeked like rancid fish.

"Satan dammit Moxx you stink!" Loona shouted, covering her nose in disgust.

"Thank you, Loona, I know," Moxxie groaned glaring at the Hellhound.

"Fuck what happened why do you smell so bad?" Loona asked, trying not to puke.

"Our target was at a fish canning place and during the struggle, Moxx fell into a big vat of fish guts," Blitz explained, holding his nose in disgust.

He wasn't the only one bothered by the smell. Millie was holding her nose as well. The only one not bothered by the stench was Dante.

I've smelled way worse, Dante thought thinking back to the horrid stench he smelt back in the Somme.

Moxxie began to take off his jacket, he looked down at the article of clothing with a forlorn expression.

"Millie gave me this suit for my birthday," Moxxie stated sad to see his favorite suit ruined.

"Ahh sorry Moxx, it sucks but hey shit happens," Dante said patting Moxxie on the shoulder, only to pull his hand away upon remembering that his coworker was covered in fish guts.

"Hey Dante, when's your birthday?" Millie inquired; the mention of birthdays made her realize she didn't know her coworkers.

"No clue," Dante stated nonchalantly. This drew the attention of the other demons, except Loona, who already knew Dante didn't know his birthday.

"Wha- how the hell do you not know your birthday?" Millie asked, confused about how someone could not know about such an important day.

"I'm an orphan and last I checked most orphans don't know their birthdays," Dante replied crossing his arms.

"Wait, but what about the date you put on your application?" Blitz asked. He rushed into his office and came out a moment later with the document.

"Yeah, right here date of birth, June thirteenth, 1997," Blitz read off the paper.

"Ohh that's just a placeholder date I use, I have no clue what my actual date of birth is," Dante explained, before suddenly looking at the clock.

"Well look at the time the day's over so let's get out of here," Dante said heading for the door hoping to escape this uncomfortable conversation. Millie watched him leave a look of concern on her face.

"Hey Loona, have you and Dante ever done anything for his birthday?" Millie asked the Hellhound who was still sitting at her desk, scrolling through her phone.

"Uhh no, we've never celebrated his birthday before," Loona replied not looking up from her phone. That unfortunately was not the answer Millie was expecting.

"What! Why the fuck not!?" Millie yelled shocked that Loona would never try to celebrate her boyfriend's Bday especially since they were so close.

Millie's yelling startled Loona causing her to fall back out of her chair, standing up she glared at the Imp in frustration.

"We just haven't alright, besides like he said he doesn't know his birthday so it's kinda hard to celebrate that now isn't it," Loona replied growling at the Imp, who was she to criticize her and her relationships?

"Well then just choose a day and celebrate on that day, if you don't know a day then make one," Millie explained, Loona was about to reply but Millie's words began to sink in.

She was right why does not knowing the true date matter, birthdays aren't really about the day, it's about celebrating the person, and Loona didn't need a specific date to celebrate the man she loved. Suddenly Loona got an idea, smirking Loona sat down and sent the three Imps a smile.

"Well then, how about this weekend?" she asked her coworkers who looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?" Moxxie asked confused by the hellhound's words.

"What I mean fatty, is how about we throw Dante a surprise party for his birthday," Loona explained looking at the white-haired Imp with annoyance.

"Ooh, yes, we can hold it here. I can plan it. It'll be so much fun!" Millie said, wide-eyed and excited, but that excitement quickly faded when Loona held up a hand.

"I think I know someone who'd be better suited to party planning," Loona stated pulling out her phone and dialing Vortex.

Following Saturday,

Dante and Loona walked out of the café, Dante had a cappuccino, while Loona had a pup cup, which was basically a regular coffee with a dog treat in it. Loona drank her quickly finishing it in under a minute then tossed the cup away, Dante on the other hand chose to nurse his drink and savor it. As the couple walked down the street the couple noticed a large Limo parked by the sidewalk, as the two looked it over Loona got a mischievous idea.

"Hey, let's fuck in there," Loona stated gesturing to the Limo, at first Dante was gonna say she was crazy but when he thought about it, he decided he liked that idea.

"Alright let's do it," Dante replied making his way to the Limo he tried the door and found that it was open.

Climbing inside the two demons immediately started making out, as they kissed Dante's hand began to make its way toward her ass when suddenly someone cleared their throat. Pushing Loona away Dante looked around the dark Limo only for a light to suddenly come on revealing none other than Beelzebub the Queen of Gluttony herself looking at them with a smirk.

"Ohh don't mind me keep going," Beelzebub stated with a perverted smirk on her face.

"What the fuck, wha- what are you doing here?" Dante asked, surprised to see one of the Seven Sins in front of him.

"This is my Limo," She explained, Dante went pale at the knowledge he had just broken into the Limo of a Sin.

"Merda! We're sorry we'll leave!" Dante headed for the door only to find that it was locked.

"Hey, calm down I'm not mad, we planned this," Beelzebub said with a warm smile, Dante sent her a puzzled look.

"We?" he asked confused before looking at his girlfriend who he noticed had been silent through the whole thing. The hellhound sent him a mischievous smile.

"Surprise," Loona stated before the Limo suddenly took off down the road.

"Uhh Loona what the fuck is going on?" Dante asked utterly confused and somewhat uncomfortable.

"Well, the conversation you had with Millie, got me thinking we've never celebrated your birthday before so I thought it would be nice to have a little party for you," Loona explained, Dante didn't look too ecstatic.

"I appreciate the sentiment Loona but I'm not really in the mood for a party," Dante said rubbing the back of his head. Loona and Bee looked at him in surprise.

"ohh come on man, we set this whole thing for you," Loona stated gesturing to Beelzebub.

"Yeah, Loona called me yesterday and told me everything you like food-wise, we got a huge spread that I think you'll enjoy," The Sin of Gluttony explained with a smile.

"Yeah, not only that but I invited a bunch of people, you don't want to let down all your friends now do you?" Loona asked giving him a look, Dante replied with a look of his own.

"Wait friends, who did you invite?" Dante asked last he remembered he didn't have a lot of friends.

"Yeah, I talked to that Kate lady she said she'd invite some of your friends, I also invited that Mai chick she's coming," Loona elaborated, Dante looked at her in surprise he had a pretty good idea of who Kate was going to invite and he wasn't super happy about that.

I don't think Loona would be too happy to see me around a bunch of hookers, Dante thought to himself.

"Look, I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not huge on birthdays, so how about we call this off?" Dante asked nervously, and the two looked at him in surprise.

"What oh come on Dante everyone is really excited about this we got everything set up and everyone is already at the venue," Loona said leaning in close to her boyfriend.

"I don't know," Dante stated, Loona leaned in closer giving Dante puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, alright, let's do this," Dante relented. Loona smiled and hugged Dante, kissing him on the cheek. Dante smiled at her, but he felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Ten minutes later

The Limousine drove through Imp City and eventually arrived at the party's destination, a large club in Pentagram. Dante looked at the club's outside. It was a massive building about two stories, and it had a large neon sign that spelled out "Consent."

"Wait this is where my party is?" Dante asked, pointing at the club.

"Uh huh, rented out the whole place just for you bro," Beelzebub said with a smile wrapping an arm around Dante and pulling him into a hug.

Dante fought the urge to vomit, he sent The Sin a friendly smile, but she could feel the disgust coming off of him.

"Alright, enough standing around; let's get in there!" Beelzebub yelled enthusiastically, rushing into the club. Loona followed along quickly. Dante just stood there, reaching into his coat, pulling out his flask, and taking a deep drink.

"Finira Male," Dante muttered to himself before following the other two inside.

Upon entering the club Dante stopped and took everything in. The club was bathed in blacklight causing various things to glow with a neon light. The club had a very large dance floor with several booths along the walls as well as several large couches placed in various corner alcoves. The club also had a large stage with a stripper pole in the center, but what really drew Dante's attention was the large bar at the other end of the dance floor. Looking up Dante saw that the club had an upper level with several rooms, which Dante had a pretty good idea of what they were for.

Looking around Dante recognized several of the people Loona invited. Dante saw some of the employees of La Rossa, Kate, Soozie, and Julie sitting in a booth. Lorry and Nina were both chatting with a couple of guys. He saw Blitz, Millie, and Moxxie sitting in a corner booth Blitz was talking while Millie listened attentively and Moxxie just rolled his eyes. He also noticed Coco and Apple chatting with Vortex. Hell, he even saw some of the ladies from the orphanage and even Margo. Last but not least, he saw Mai sitting at the bar, she waved and sent him a sultry look. The rest were just a large array of Hellhounds and Imps whom he did not recognize most likely invited by Beelzebub.

"hey everyone, the birthday boy is in the house, can he get a howl from all of you!" Beelzebub shouted, the Hellhounds in the club all howled in response with the non-hounds cheering and congratulating him. Dante cringed, he hated being the center of attention, he made his way through the club dodging guests who were trying to wish him a happy birthday. Making it to his destination, the bar, Dante sat down and told the bartender some imp with curved horns and a handlebar mustache his order.

"The heaviest shit you got," Dante stated.

"I say, I say, Anything for the birthday boy!" the bartender who Dante found vaguely familiar said, much to Dante's annoyance. The bartender poured Dante a shot of whisky Dante down the shot then poured another.

"Woah, slow down, no need to go to the heavy stuff right away," Mai said putting a hand on his.

"Hey Mai, thanks for coming," Dante said, sounding frustrated.

"You don't sound so happy to be here, is something up?" the red panda sinner asked her former lover, she had known him long enough to tell when he was upset or in a bad mood and he was clearly in one now.

"Well, it's just, this whole thing wasn't really my idea and I'm not big on-" Dante stopped explaining when he felt a pair of arms draped around his shoulders.

"Hey handsome, happy birthday," a smooth sultry voice said into his ear, a voice Dante was quite familiar with.

"Hey Verosika, what are you doing here?" Dante asked surprised to see Hell's biggest popstar at this party, mainly because he doubted that Loona would invite her, especially since Blitz was at this party and he really didn't want them to bump into each other.

I really don't need that drama, Dante thought rubbing his head in frustration.

"what's wrong aren't you happy to see me?" she asked, trying to sound playfully hurt but he could tell she was genuinely hurt by the question.

"It's not that I'm not happy you're here I just figured you'd be too busy for something so plain and simple as a birthday party," Dante explained trying not to upset her, she perked up at that.

"Are you kidding of course I'd come to my best fuck buddy's birthday!" she stated in excitement pulling Dante into a hug, Dante felt his skin crawl.

"Wait Dante you're sleeping with Verosika Mayday!?" Mai shouted in surprise, not expecting her ex to have scored such a hotty.

"Well yeah, I mean we hooked up a few times but," Dante explained nervously he really didn't want his fling with Verosika to get out, he had enough problems.

"Well, who's this cutie?" Verosika asked looking at the sinner who blushed at the comment.

"This is Mai she's an ex-girlfriend from a couple of years back," Dante explained gesturing to the Red Panda.

"Hmm never took you for a Sinner fucker Dante but I have to admit she is pretty," Verosika explained leaning closer and looking Mai up and down, Mai's blush grew deeper as she did so.

"Yeah, she is, just like when she was alive," Dante stated absentmindedly then quickly shut up when he realized what he had said.

"What was that?" Verosika asked confused not sure she heard him right.

"Nothing! I'm gonna go find Loona see you around," Dante stated nervously getting up and walking away from the bar. When Dante was out of sight Verosika turned her attention back to Mai.

"So, you used to date Dante?" Verosika asked the Sinner, who nodded in reply.

"Can you tell me more about him!" she asked desperately leaning in close much to Mai's discomfort.

Back to Dante

Dante walked through the club weaving his way through the crowds of people eyes peeled for his Hellhound girlfriend, eventually, he found her standing by a large snack table. As he made his way over Loona looked up from the beef rib she was gnawing on and smiled.

"Oh, hey babe, enjoying the party?" Loona asked her boyfriend as he approached.

"it's… fine but I've gotta ask, did you invite Verosika?" the Imp asked the Hellhound, whose eyes widened at hearing the pop star's name.

"Wait she's here!?" Loona asked sounding surprised, clearly, she didn't invite her.

"Yeah, she's here talking with Mai at the bar," he said gesturing back to the direction he came.

"Fuck this isn't good," Loona stated she knew that damage Blitz and Verosika could do when they fought.

"Yeah, it is but if you didn't invite her then who…" Dante trailed off realizing who was probably responsible. Grabbing Loona by the hand he made his way through the club until he found Coco, Apple, and Vortex.

"Oh, hey Dante Loona what's up," Vortex asked upon seeing the Imp and Hellhound couple approach.

"Oh, hey, birthday boy, what's up?" Apple asked cheerfully, but the cheer faded when she saw the angry looks on their faces.

"Which one of you invited Verosika?" Dante asked the three annoyed, they both looked at him surprised.

"Ohh shit sorry Dante that's my bad," Vortex explained looking to the floor in embarrassment.

"Tex what the fuck!?" Loona asked glaring at the bigger Hellhound.

"I'm sorry she overheard me talking about the party and I had no choice but to invite her," Vortex explained looking guilty.

"What's the problem, yeah V can be kind of a bitch but she's fun and she really likes you two so what's the issue?" Apple asked the two demons confused at their discomfort with Verosika attending the party.

"Because Blitz is here, and Don't you remember the last time Blitz and Verosika crossed paths?" Dante asked frantically.

Flashback, two weeks ago

The staff of IMP and Succ Inc. stood in front of their office building which was now engulfed in flames. The various demons stood and watched in horror as the flames consumed their workplace. In front of said burning office building were Verosika and Blitz, both of whom were trying to tear the other apart. Both were being held back by their staff, with Vortex holding back Verosika, and Loona and Dante holding back Blitz.

Flashback ends

"Oh yeah right," Apple muttered as she remembered that fateful day.

"Look, look, let's just calm down I know they don't get along we just have to keep them apart it shouldn't be that hard," Coco stated trying to calm everyone down.

"Look, me and Apple will stick by Verosika you guys just watch your jackass boss," Coco explained to the demons who nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so where is she?" Coco asked Dante, who pointed to the other side of the club.

"By the bar," he explained, nodding Coco grabbed her girlfriend and they began making their way toward their boss.

"Sorry again," Vortex apologized again, walking away from the two.

"Alright now that that's over, let's find the others, Blitz, and M said they had some surprises for you," Loona explained grabbing her boyfriend and dragging him to their booth.

Back with Verosika and Mai,

Verosika leaned against the bar resting her head in her hand, she was bored, very bored, and the reason why was sitting right in front of her. Earlier she had asked Mai to tell her more about Dante, what she meant was personal stuff, like his interests and personality, something that might help her win him over and get him to fall for her. Instead, Mai was just telling her random little facts like his favorite color and what his favorite foods were. Right now, she was telling a long-winded story about the time he went on a thirty-minute lecture on why Communism was the superior form of government.

"And then I said hey, look man if I wanted to hear someone go on, and on, about communism, I would just talk with my brother," Mai stated with a nostalgic smile as she told the story.

"hey look that's fascinating and all but that's not really what I was asking for," Verosika said as she cut off the Sinner.

"Oh, then what did you want to know?" Mai asked, confused. Just then, Coco and Apple arrived, sitting near their boss.

"hey V what's up?" Coco asked her voice sounding kind of strained.

"Yeah boss, how's it going?" Apple asked her voice also sounding strained. Verosika looked at them confused but then turned her attention back to Mai.

"You see what I wanted to know was more intimate details about Dante," Verosika explained the sinner just sent her a confused look.

"You mean like the stuff we did during sex because I have to tell ya the guy knows how to eat a girl out," Mai stated biting her lip as she remembered.

"Yes, he does," Apple mumbled to herself as she also thought back on the sex she and Coco had with Dante.

"Yeah, I know trust me but that's not- wait what did you say Apple, oh never mind, just tell me!" she reached forward and took Mai by the shoulders.

"How can I get Dante to love me!?" she asked sounding kinda desperate. Mai just looked at her for a moment before she started laughing hysterically.

"If I knew that then he wouldn't have left me know would he," Mai stated between laughter.

Back to Dante and Loona

Dante and Loona sat in the corner booth with the rest of IMP, the three Imps looked at Dante with large smiles on their faces.

"Happy birthday Dante!" Millie shouted in her usual cheerful, excited voice.

"Yeah, happy birthday!" Moxxie chimed in following his wife's lead.

"Happy birthday man remember to thank Loonie and Beelzebub for setting this whole thing up," Blitz stated smirking at his younger coworker.

"So, this was your idea?" Dante asked looking over at Loona.

"Guilty," Loona said with a smirk before leaning in to kiss Dante.

"ohh hey that reminds me, Millie and I got you a gift!" Moxxie stated excitedly, reaching under the table the Imp pulled out a large box and handed it to his younger coworker.

Taking the box Dante opened it and was amazed by what he saw inside, it was a Lute, an actual Lute. Taking the instrument out of the box Dante looked it over inspecting every inch of the thing, the look of amazement never leaving his face.

"Sante Merda! Moxx, Millie, where did you get a real Lute!" he asked his married coworkers with a huge smile.

"Well Loona mentioned you played the Lute and the music store I go to for my guitar I saw one was on sale, so I got it for you," Moxxie stated proudly.

"Enough talk play somethin' already!" Millie ordered.

Dante looked down at the instrument and began strumming the cords closing his eyes, he listened to the sound each one made and promptly tuned accordingly. Once he felt that the Lute was properly tuned, he began to strum, before finally starting to sing.

"Alas, my love, you do me wrong, to cast me off discourteously,"

"And I have loved you oh so long, delighting in your company,"

"Greensleeves was my delight, Greensleeves was my heart of gold,"

"Greensleeves was my heart of joy, and who but my Lady Greensleeves,"

Dante finished his song putting down the Lute and looking at the rest of IMP who all looked at him in surprise.

"What?" he asked in confusion at their expressions.

"Damn kid I didn't know you could sing," Blitz stated trying not to sound too impressed.

"Well yeah, I was in choir as a kid," he explained somewhat embarrassed.

"Well, you're pretty good," Moxxie said happy to see that he wasn't the only one who appreciated music at IMP. It was just then that Mai walked up to their table.

"hey Dante," the red panda woman said as she stood before the group her eyes fixed on Dante her hands behind her back.

"Oh, hey Mai, what's up?" Dante asked, happy to see her.

"Hey, Dante who's this bitch?" Blitz asked pointing to the Sinner.

"This is Mai an old girlfriend," Dante explained, Blitz narrowed his eyes at the Sinner fearing that the girl was here to steal his daughter's boyfriend.

"I just remembered I got you a gift!" Mai said excitedly, removing her hands from behind her back and revealing a very large book. Taking the book, Dante looked it over, flipping through the pages. He read a few words, his eyes going wide when he realized what it was.

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms!" Dante shouted excitedly as he flipped through the pages.

"Romance of the what?" Blitz asked, confused, staring at the book.

"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it's a legendary epic, really good story I read it years ago," Dante explained flipping through the pages.

"I remembered how much you liked it," Mai stated, she thought back to when they were together, how he used to read it to her since she couldn't read it herself. The memory made Mai smile, Dante was so kind and loving, he was the only guy who treated her like a person.

Suddenly the Red Panda got a devilish idea, she smiled as it popped into her mind.

"That's not the only gift I got for you," Mai said in a sultry tone of voice a light blush covering her face.

"Oh, what else did you get me?" Dante asked curiously, Mai bit her lip.

"This," Suddenly Mai lunged across the table and pulled Dante into a deep kiss.

The rest of IMP looked on in shock all except Loona who scowled at the Sinner, quickly ripping her off her boyfriend.

"The fuck is your problem!" the Hellhound shouted at the Sinner, holding her up by the back of her dress.

"What can I say old habits die hard," Mai stated the smile on her face made it clear she did not regret her actions.

"you're gonna die pretty hard right now for that!" Loona shouted, growling at the Sinner preparing to tear her to shreds, it was then that Mai actually started to look scared.

"Loona put her down!" Dante ordered glaring at his girlfriend.

"What why?" Loona asked staring at Dante as if he had gone insane.

"Because while I get that you're mad at Mai for what happened, and trust me I am too, but I really don't want to see her get ripped apart, especially at my party so please just put her down," Dante asked his girlfriend in a pleading tone.

Loona looked at Dante then at Mai and sighed, dropping the Sinner she fell to the floor with a thud. Standing up Mai dusted herself off then looked at Loona who was still quite angry, then turned to Dante who sent her an annoyed look. Realizing that she had crossed a line Mai took off deciding to give Dante some space to cool off.

"Alright now that that shit is over time for you to open my gift!" Blitz shouted pulling out a medium-sized cardboard box, similar to the kind people get in the mail.

Taking the box from his boss Dante looked it over noticing the shipping label on it and seeing his home address printed on it.

"Hey, wait a minute. I ordered this weeks ago. Blitz, did you swipe this from in front of my apartment?" Dante asked the loud Imp, who tried to look offended but did a bad job of it.

"What? No, of course not. I would never do something like that," Blitz replied, crossing his arms incredulously.

"Then why does it have my name and address on the label?" Dante asked, holding up the box for everyone to see.

"Well, it's obviously a misprint," Blitz replied, everyone just rolled their eyes and realized that he wasn't going to admit to shit.

"So, what did you order anyway?" Moxxie inquired, trying to steer the conversation away from Blitz's antics.

"Wait is that the thing you ordered while out with Mai?" Millie asked, taking a closer look at the box, noticing an Asmodean seal on the label.

"Wait he did what?" Loona asked her coworker, not sure what she was referring to.

"Me and Moxx followed Dante when he was hangin' out with Mai, we saw him order somethin from Asmodeus's Secret," Millie explained to the Hellhound.

"Wait the lingerie and sex shop?" Loona asked, Millie nodded in agreement, and suddenly a lustful smile spread across Loona's face.

"Ooh, Dante what did you get?" Loona asked leaning in and reaching for the package, Dante quickly moved the package away from her grasp.

"I-it's nothing seriously, nothing you'd be interested in!" Dante stated nervously a blush spreading across his face. This just made Loona more curious to see what her boyfriend had bought.

"Oh, come on let your Piccolo Lupo see," Loona stated reaching for the box, but Dante kept it out of her grasp.

Frowning Loona suddenly came up with a great idea, reaching out not for the box Loona's hands found their way to Dante's sides and began tickling him. This sudden assault took Dante completely off guard, unable to stop himself Dante began laughing, and during this, his grip on the box loosened and Loona was able to snatch it from his hands.

Fuck, Rose used to do the same thing, Dante thought annoyed realizing he fell for this trick once again.

Using one of her talons Loona cut open the box and opened it and saw that that it was full of packing peanuts. Reaching inside Loona dug around in the box before finally pulling out the toy. The toy was a whip, but it was no whip any of them had seen before, the whip was flat like a belt and twice as wide. What got their attention was that the whip was covered in several rows of spikes, these weren't small dull studs like over whips usually had these spikes were large and extremely sharp. To say that the members of IMP were shocked would be an understatement, they were thoroughly horrified by the medieval torture device before them.

"You are not using this on me," Loona stated sternly glaring at her boyfriend whose blush had spread across his whole face.

"Oh, um looks like they made a mistake I never would have ordered something like this!" Dante explained nervously, quickly taking the whip and box and then climbing out of the booth.

"Hey, where are you going!" Loona called after her boyfriend.

"I'm gonna toss this thing!" Dante yelled back in reply heading for the back exit.

"But wait if you throw it away you won't get a refund!" Moxxie replied, and the other three demons gave him looks.

"What?" he replied upon noticing the looks they were giving him.

Back alley behind the club

Dante, package in hand looked around the alley for a place to stash it. The demon had lied when he said they made a mistake, this is what he ordered, though it wasn't a sex thing, far from it he ordered it for atonement something to use as a form of repentance, punishment for his horrible deeds. He had waited forever to get his hands on this thing, and he wasn't gonna just throw it away.

"Stupid Blitz of course he had to steal this package," Dante muttered angrily at his boss's actions. As he looked around the alley, he spotted a pile of trash sitting by an overflowing dumpster. As Dante moved the trash aside, he saw that it was hiding a rotting corpse.

"Dio dannazione, well beggars can't be choosers," Dante muttered to himself in disgust as he tucked the box by the corpse and then returned the trash to its proper place.

Once he was done Dante lit a cigarette and leaned against a wall, taking a drag Dante blew out a cloud of smoke and then sighed. Dante hated birthdays; the anniversary of his endless existence wasn't something he wanted to celebrate. Looking toward the end of the alley Dante thought about going home, yeah Loona would be pissed, and Tex, Verosika, and Bee would give him shit but it's better than having to deal with the crap in there. Dante was about to head down the alley towards the street when suddenly the back door opened and out stepped none other than Beelzebub herself.

"Ohh there you are, what are you doing out here?" the Queen of Gluttony asked looking at the startled demon.

"Oh uh, just having a smoke break," Dante explained gesturing to the cigarette in his hand.

"Gotcha, well finish up and come back inside, don't want to miss your own party, do ya?" Bee asked Dante sighed.

"I guess not," Dante explained tossing the cigarette aside.

"Great come on!" The Sin yelled excitedly grabbing Dante by the arm and dragging him back inside.

Back in the club

Dante walked through the club with Beelzebub at his heels, as they moved through the crowd many people came up and wished him a happy birthday much to his discomfort. As the two moved through the club Bee put a hand on Dante's shoulder, Dante felt his skin crawl at the contact.

"So, Dante how are you enjoying the party?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"It's great, hey Beelzebub, could you get me a drink, please?" Dante asked both wanting a drink but also wanting to get The Sin to leave him alone. Instead of leaving Beelzebub just created a glass of red wine and handed it to Dante.

"Here you go, Loona said red wine is your favorite right?" she asked, Dante nodded, taking the glass then quickly finished it.

"Got any more?" the Imp asked holding out his hand expectedly, Bee smirked then instead of creating a glass she created an entire bottle and handed it to him.

"Grazie," Dante replied taking a drink, it was then two ladies one an Imp and the other a Succubus both wearing black and white robes akin to a nun made their way to them.

"Feliz cumpleanos Dante!" the Imp woman Maria said happily.

"Yeah, happy birthday Dante!" the Succubus, Shiela, followed pulling Dante into a hug, breaking from the hug the Succubus sent Dante a warm smile.

"We have a surprise for you," she stated reaching into her pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper.

Taking the paper, Dante unfolded it and saw that it was a crude drawing done with marker and crayon. The drawing showcased Dante and several Imp children. The top of the drawing said, "Thank You, Dante, Happy Birthday!" in glitter glue.

"The kids at the orphanage made it for you!" Shiela stated, Dante looked down at the card and smiled.

"Wait orphanage?" Beelzebub asked the two ladies realized who was standing next to their boss and went rigid.

"Oh Lady Beelzebub, sorry we didn't realize you were there, not that you're forgettable or anything I-," Maria muttered nervously before being cut off by The Sin.

"Hey, don't worry about it, and just call me Bee," she said to the two ladies before leaning in closer.

"So, what's this about an orphanage?" Beelzebub asked the two ladies, who shared looks.

"Oh, you see a few months ago Dante started an Orphanage for lost children in Imp city we work at it, I run the place, while Sheila here looks after the toddlers and babies," the Imp explained to the Queen of Gluttony who had hearts in her eyes. She immediately reached out and pulled Dante into a hug.

"Wow Dante, I didn't know you were so sweet, we've got a lot in common," The Sin said as she hugged Dante. The Imp on the other hand scowled at the larger demon.

How dare this bitchy little party animal compare herself to Dante. How dare she act like their anything alike, especially with how she runs her own orphanages for Hellhounds. Dante heard stories from Loona and other Hounds about how horrible the Hellhound Adoption Centers were, from the way they described them they sounded more like prisons. Eventually, Dante had to check it out himself, going with Maria under the guise of a couple looking to adopt a pet they went to one in the Gluttony Ring, and what Dante saw horrified him. The pups were all kept in cells with five or six sharing one cell, the cells were filthy, and their beds were just dirty mats on the floor. The kids were all wearing dirty, worn-out clothing and they all looked like they had barely eaten in days. Dante nearly tore the old bag running the place to shreds, luckily for her Maria had pried him off. Dante ended up adopting several of the youngest hounds and brought them to his orphanage in pride where they are doing much better. Dante's experience at the adoption center caused him to develop an even deeper hatred for the Sin of Gluttony than he already had, this woman spends all of her time partying and stuffing her face while her creations, her subjects suffer, there was no other type of noble Dante hated more.

Beelzebub suddenly felt a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. Looking down at Dante, she saw the Imp looking at her with a very angry expression. Letting go of the Imp, she stepped back.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about your no-touching rule," she said apologetically. Dante schooled himself, pushing his anger down. He forgot about her empathic abilities.

"Hey, Bee, do you want to see some pics of the cuties we got at the orphanage?" Sheila asked Beelzebub, trying to defuse the awkward situation.

"You bet your ass I do!" Beelzebub shouted excitedly pulling Sheila in close and glancing down at her phone as she flipped through her photos.

Seeing an opportunity to escape Dante slipped away from the three, making his way to the bathroom Dante slipped inside and then made it into one of the empty stalls. Taking a deep breath Dante pulled out his flask and took a very long pull, once he was done Dante leaned against the stall and rubbed his temples. Dante always hated celebrating his birthday, it always brought up bad memories, and the fact this party was full of people he didn't like just made it more unpleasant. Feeling his headache starting to worsen Dante remembered he had something else that could help. Reaching into his jacket Dante pulled out a small vial full of brown powder, pouring a small amount into the palm of his hand Dante quickly snorted it.

"ah questo è il punto," Dante muttered as the heroin coursed through his system, shuddering with pleasure.

Feeling better, Dante left the stall and made his way to the sink, Dante washed the remaining heroin powder off his hand and face. He didn't need Loona noticing and giving him shit, she was always vigilant in case he relapsed, which made using hard. Leaving the bathroom Dante walked through the club more cheerfully than before.

Huh, I wonder how Sheila and Maria are handling Beelzebub? Dante thought to himself before deciding that he didn't care.

Back to Beelzebub

"This is Isaac, this is Lawrence, this is June, and this is Emily," Sheila stated swiping through her photos showing Bee the various children at the orphanage.

"Aww, they're so cute!" Bee exclaimed happily as she looked at the photos. Suddenly, Sheila swiped to a photo of a little Hellhound pup with golden fur.

"Oh, my Lucifer who is this cutie!?" Beelzebub asked enamored by the cute little pup.

"This is Aurelia she's a pup Dante found in an alleyway," Sheila explained to the Sin who couldn't take her eyes off the little pup.

"Wait he found her?" Beelzebub asked shocked that anyone would abandon such a cute little thing.

"Yep, Dante found her crying in an alleyway one night. His discovery of her inspired him to help set up the orphanage in the first place," Maria explained. Beelzebub looked at her in surprise.

"I didn't realize Dante was so altruistic," Beelzebub stated amazed by the Imp's kindness, not something you see often in Hell.

You know he'd get along pretty well with Charlie, Bee thought with a smile.

"Want to see more?" Sheila asked the Sin.

"fuck yeah!" She replied with a smile. Sheila swiped through more photos, mostly picks of Dante with Aurelia and some of the other kids but as she swiped through her album a different kind of picture popped up.

It was another picture of Dante, but he was not with any of the children, instead, he was standing in a vacant lot. He was shirtless, wearing work gloves, and holding a shovel, Dante was wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Ooh, what's this?" Bee asked, looking at the photo with a smile on her face. Shiela looked at the picture, her eyes going wide, and her face turning bright red.

"Oops, how the fuck did that get in there?" she asked embarrassed, putting her phone away. Maria scowled at the Succubus.

"Oh, come on, like you weren't checking him out too?" Sheila asked accusingly. The older woman blushed but maintained her stern look.

"At least I don't take photos of him," she replied the two ladies glared at each other while Beelzebub tried not to laugh.

Back to Dante

Dante moved through the club with a smile on his face looking around and he spotted Loona chatting with another demon. A devious smile stretched across Dante's face as he slowly made his way over to his distracted girlfriend.

"So how are things going between you and Dante?" Nina asked the Hellhound curious to know how her boss and former client's relationship is going.

"We're doing pretty good, I mean we've had some bumps here and there but we're doing really well, I'm happy to be with such a great guy," Loona explained a warm smile on her face she really was happy to find such a kind sweet guy.

Suddenly a hand reached out and grabbed Loona's ass, the Hellhound yelped and turned around to see who it was ready to rip the fuckers head right off. But as she turned around all she saw was Dante with a smirk on his face.

"Dante what the fuck?" Loona asked her boyfriend only half angry.

"Hey, what can I say that ass is just irresistible," he explained with a smile, Loona rolled her eyes and then pulled Dante into a deep kiss. Breaking away Loona looked at the Imp and thought he looked a little off.

"Hey, you alright man?" she asked, somewhat worried.

"I'm fine why do you ask?" Dante replied raising an eyebrow at his girlfriend.

"You just seem kinda… off," Loona replied looking at her boyfriend, she could tell something was off about him physically, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I think he looks fine," Nina stated, Dante nodded in agreement.

"I'm fine Loona," Dante stated sternly.

"Alright, if you say so," Loona replied but she still thought something was wrong.

It's probably just my imagination, she thought pushing the worry away.

"So, what do you want to dance or-" Loona's question was cut off by someone calling out to them. Looking to her right Loona saw Verosika Mayday waving and making her way toward them.

"I wonder what she wants?" Dante asked before his attention was drawn to someone else calling out to them. Looking at the other end of the club the two saw Blitz making his way to them.

Dante and Loona both started to panic here were Blitz and Verosika two individuals who despised each other making their way to them, this was not going to be good.

"Oh, fuck this isn't good what do we do?" Dante said as looking at both the Imp and Succubus panic began to set in.

"Look don't freak out I'll distract Verosika while you distract Blitz," Loona explained heading in the Pop Star's direction.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Dante asked after her.

"You're a smart guy figure it out!" Loona replied. Looking around Dante wondered how he would distract Blitz when suddenly his eyes fell on Nina.

"Perfect," he muttered smiling at the Imp woman.

"wha?" Nina asked before Dante suddenly took her by the arm and dragged her over to Blitz. As Dante approached his boss Blitz noticed the woman by his side.

"Dante, who's this bitch?" Blitz asked, pointing to Nina.

"This bitch is Nina a… good friend of mine," Dante explained, Nina smirked at the Imp.

"Okay, so why are you introducing her to me?" Blitz questioned, not sure what was going on.

"Well, I thought you'd like to have a little fun, after all, you've been working hard these past few weeks so I thought you might like a stress relief," Dante emphasized the last two words allowing Blitz to figure out what Dante meant.

"Oh, I get it," Blitz turned his full attention to Nina, sending her his most charming smile, the one that always got Stolas in the mood.

"So, this is the hansom Imp you told me about Dante?" Nina leaned in closer taking a closer look at the Imp.

"His description doesn't do you justice," Nina explained biting her lip, Blitz waggled his eye at her.

"So, want to go upstairs, hansom?" Nina asked leaning in closer, giving Blitz a generous view down her dress.

Blitz was about to grab Nina and drag her upstairs but stopped when he suddenly thought of Stolas. Despite being on a break, the Owl Demon suddenly popped into his mind and suddenly made him hesitant to hook up with the hotty who was basically throwing herself at him.

"Uh well I don't know I kinda need to talk to Dante about something," Blitz explained shakily, Nina looked surprised she was not used to men turning down her offers. It was then that Dante leaned down close to Blitz.

"her backdoor is open for business," Dante whispered to his boss.

That was all Blitz needed to hear. Grabbing Nina, he lifted her into his arms bridal style and carried her up the stairs to an empty room. Dante sighed. He knew that Nina would distract him for a while, but once he was sure Blitz wouldn't cause any issues, he made his way to Loona to see how she was doing with Verosika.

Loona and Verosika

"So yeah, that's what I use to keep my hair so soft," Verosika explained giving her hair a quick flip.

"Wow, that's good to know," Loona stated trying to sound interested. It was her job to distract Verosika, so she didn't see Blitz but not sure how to do that, so Loona just asked her about her hair. It was then that Dante returned much to Loona's relief.

"Hey Loonie, how's it going?" Dante asked, pulling his girlfriend in close.

"Better now that you're here," Loona stated kissing Dante.

"hey Dante, I've been looking for you!" Verosika shouted, stepping closer to the Imp.

"Hey Verosika, what's up?" Dante asked hoping whatever she wanted wouldn't be too crazy.

"I just wanted to give you your gift," Verosika explained cheerfully.

"Oh cool, where is it?" Dante asked looking over the Succubus but not seeing any gift or package. Suddenly Verosika leaned in wrapping her arms around the Imp.

"It's me, I'm your gift so why don't you take me upstairs to one of those private rooms and unwrap me," the pop star explained in a sultry tone moving in closer so that her face was only centimeters from his. Loona moved closer to the Succubus a furious expression on her face and a soft growl emanating from her throat.

"Don't be jealous Loona you can join in if you want," Verosika said noticing the Hellhound's unhappy disposition.

"Well, you want to open your present now or what?" Verosika asked pressing her breasts against Dante and burying her face in his neck, Dante's face started turning red.

Now normally Dante would have said no and pushed the Succubus away, but at the moment he was genuinely considering her offer. Maybe it was the Heroin in his system, maybe it was all the drinks, or maybe it was because he wasn't having a good time and looking for something to dull the discomfort. Whatever it was Dante was having a tough time resisting the bright pink slut in front of him. Despite all these factors Dante was able to resist the popstar gently removing her from himself much to her surprise.

"Look while I'd love to indulge myself in you, I can't at the moment," Dante explained to the shocked pop star.

"What why not I know you want to?" Verosika asked, looking down at Dante's groin and biting her lip when she saw just how much he wanted to.

"It's because… I promised Loona that I'd dance with her for a little bit. Sorry, but you're just gonna have to wait your turn," Dante explained taking Loona by the hand and dragging her to the dance floor.

Upon arriving on the dance floor, the two demons began dancing to the rhythm of the electronic music being blasted from the sound system. Now Dante didn't really like dancing, especially to this crappy electronic music but Loona liked this music, and she liked dancing to it so here he was moving to the beat in synch with his girlfriend. As they danced Dante saw an Imp walk by with a bottle of beer, Dante quickly snatched it from the Imp and downed it in one go, ignoring the glare the Imp sent him. Dante did this again with a Bloody Mary, a Gin and Tonic, and finally a Margarita.

"Yo maybe you want to slow down on the booze," Loona said noticing all the drinks Dante has had.

"What why I haven't had that much," Dante explained taking another drink from someone and chugging it.

"Really, you had a beer and four cocktails, and Satan knows how many drinks before that and that's "not much" to you?" Loona asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"not for me," Dante explained, a thought came to mind.

"And who the hell are you to comment on my drinking when you drink a lot yourself?" Dante asked his tone becoming very angry.

"Yeah, but nowhere near as much as you!" Loona shouted not liking Dante's tone.

"Oh, so being slightly less of a drunk gives you the right to judge my drinking habits?" Dante asked his girlfriend angrily; a crowd had begun to form around them.

"I do when your drinking is threatening your life!" Loona shouted, pointing a finger accusingly at Dante. She remembered what that doctor said when he was in the hospital because of his overdose, how his liver was shot to hell. The Hellhound was very worried for her boyfriend's health at times.

"My health is fine Loona my drinking isn't gonna kill me!" Dante shouted.

"Although I wish it would," Dante muttered under his breath, one of Loona's ears perked up.

"I'm sorry what was that?" Loona asked leaning in she wasn't sure what Dante had said as the music made it hard to properly hear. Dante looked startled by the fact she had heard him, which made Loona worried.

"It was nothing, look I need to take a piss," Dante explained walking away from Loona who watched him nervously.

In the men's room

Dante stepped out of the stall zipping up his fly, made his way to the sink, and began washing his hands. As he washed his hands Dante sighed.

He was really rude to Loona, he knew she just wanted to help him, she was concerned for his health and wanted to keep him safe. While yes it was hypocritical for her to criticize his drinking when she drank a lot, but she was right she didn't drink nearly as much as him and it was dangerous to his health. The fact that whenever he vomits there is always blood shows that she may have a point. Dante wasn't sure why he suddenly snapped at her; he had felt that way for a while, but he understood where she was coming from so he never wanted to actually say that to her. Thinking for a moment Dante guessed being forced to celebrate his birthday something he honestly didn't enjoy doing was putting him in a sour mood.

"Dammit man stop acting like a child you're… you're…," Dante trailed off, he had just realized something very important, he didn't know his own age!

Now Dante had a rough estimate of how old he was, but he had no idea what his actual age was, and that fact made Dante very uncomfortable. Rubbing his head in discomfort he decided he needed something to take the edge off. He was about to reach into his jacket for his Heroin when suddenly the door opened and in stepped a Hellhound in a red hoodie. Dante stopped and hid his hands behind his back nervously, the Hellhound looked at him and recognized him.

"Hey, aren't you the birthday boy?" the Hellhound asked the Imp.

"Yep, that's me," Dante replied, nervously.

"Want some pills?" the Hound asked pulling out an orange bottle and popping off the top.

"Fuck yeah," Dante stated excitedly the Hound dumped some pills into his hand Dante popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them, he then made his way out of the bathroom and went to find Loona.

Loona's POV

Loona walked through the club angrily grumbling to herself as she thought back to her argument with Dante. She couldn't believe he would snap at her like that, after setting up this party for him, she was just looking out for him and yet he acted like she was some controlling bitch.

"Loona!" a familiar voice calling out her name drew her attention, turning her head, she saw Jessi and her boyfriend Hades sitting at a table. Jessi waved excitedly at the Hellhound while her boyfriend waved more calmly.

Loona made her way over to the couple and greeted them excitedly. She was glad to see that some of her Hellhound friends were able to make it to the party. The event was so short notice that many of them, like Russ, Gigi, Nina, and Sophie, couldn't make it.

"Hey guys, I'm glad you can come!" Loona said with a warm smile as she stood before their table.

"Of course, I never say no to a Beelzebub party!" Jessi yelled enthusiastically, a large grin on her face.

"Yeah, any party hosted by the Queen of Gluttony is always gonna be a good time," Hades added putting his arm around his girlfriend.

"So, where's the birthday boy?" Hades asked looking around for the Imp.

"Oh, he's-,"

"Right here," Loona jumped letting out a yelp of surprise, turning around she saw Dante standing right behind her.

"When the fuck did you get here?!" Loona asked putting her hand to her chest.

"Just now," Dante explained, Loona looked at him confused.

Loona had a great hearing and an even better sense of smell no one's ever been able to sneak up on her before normally she would hear or smell them before they got even close. So how Dante was able to get this close was surprising.

The music is really loud, and there are a lot of people here; it's probably confusing my senses, Loona thought to herself. The reality is that Dante knows how to walk very quietly and thought sneaking up on her would be fun.

"Hey Dante, happy birthday!" Jessi exclaimed cheerfully a huge smile on her face.

"Oh, hey Jessi, hey Hades, how are you?" Dante asked upon noticing the two Hellhounds.

As Dante and Jessi talked, Hades looked over Dante and thought something about him looked… off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something just seemed wrong with the Imp.

"Hey Loona, I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. You were just trying to look out for me, and it was rude of me to get upset like that," Dante explained, looking down to the floor in shame. Loona smiled, taking Dante by the chin she lifted his head so that he was looking her in the eye, Loona then leaned down and kissed him.

"It's cool I forgive you, and besides it's your birthday you should be allowed to go a little crazy," Loona stated, Dante smiled and pulled the Hellhound in for another kiss.

"Sorry to interrupt," a familiar voice said, breaking apart Dante and Loona turned to see both Beelzebub and Vortex standing in front of them. Hades and Jessi stiffened at the sight of one of the Seven Sins standing before them, Dante and Loona on the other hand weren't phased whatsoever.

"Oh, hey Bee Tex what's up?" Loona asked the Queen of Gluttony casually much to the couple's shock.

Since when are Loona and Beelzebub this close? Jessi thought to herself amazed by the fact her friend and Beelzebub were so chummy.

"Well, if you remember, at the last party, I challenged Dante to a drinking contest, but he turned me down. I was wondering if he would be willing this time around?" The Sin asked, looking down at Dante with a confident smile.

"Diavolo Si!" Dante shouted in Italian, seeing that he agreed Beelzebub grabbed Dante and dragged him off to the club's center with Loona, Jessi, and Hades following them.

Stopping in front of two large kegs filled with top-grade Beelzejuice, both Dante and Bee each stood by a keg.

"You ready dude?" Beelzebub asked the Imp a confidant look on her face.

"You bet your ass I am!" Dante stated returning her expression.

Suddenly the two kegs started to glow and floated up into the air with two long tubes descending from the top of each.

"Then let's fucking do this!" Bee shouted, taking her tube and beginning to chug the Beelzejuice, with Dante following suit.

As Dante drank the sweet honey-flavored concoction his mind quickly flashed back to a better time. It was the day of his seventeenth birthday he was sitting with Francesco and their friends Claudio, Emilio, and Jacopo. The five were laughing and smiling and sharing a big fancy bottle of wine that Giovanni had gotten them for the celebration. Dante poured a glass full of the crimson fluid and downed it in one go, seeing that Claudio challenged Dante to a drinking game. Getting two large cups they filled both cups to the rim and the two proceeded to drink neither one stopping as they gulped down the sweet wine. It was a close match but, in the end, Dante finished his cup first, he remembered throwing the cup to the floor and shattering it to bits, and the others cheered at his display.

"Yo, Dante. Are you there?" someone asked, pulling Dante out of his memory and back to the present. Looking around, he saw everyone staring at him confused, wondering why he had suddenly stopped drinking.

Remembering that what he experienced was just a memory, that all of his former friends and family were either dead or had turned their back on him, Dante felt pain and anguish welling up in his heart. Not liking this feeling of agony in his chest Dante grabbed the keg yanking it out of the air, much to everyone's surprise. Dante then tore the top off the keg, lifted the thing, and started chugging. The crowd watched and cheered as Dante downed the Beelzejuice straight from the keg, golden liquor spilling from the side falling to the floor and or staining his clothes. Eventually, Dante finished the Beelzejuice tossing the empty keg to the side much to the shock of everyone especially Beelzebub who had stopped drinking to watch the whole thing. Dante gripped his chest the pain still radiating through him, like being stabbed with a dozen knives. Seeing that Beelzebub's keg still had liquor in it he marched over grabbed it and quickly downed the contents like he did his keg.

"Yeah, that my man!" Loona shouted, rushing forward and pulling Dante into a tight hug.

While the crowd cheered in excitement all amazed by Dante's amazing drinking skills, all except Beelzebub she could feel Dante's anguish she could tell he was in pain and trying to drown them in booze. Beelzebub wasn't the only one who noticed Dante's discomfort, two others noticed as well. One of them was Hades, as a trained therapy dog he was quite good at reading expressions and body language. Dante's face and posture during the drinking contest finally told him what was off about the Imp. It was his eyes; he saw the smile on his face never reached his eyes. He suspected as much during the contest, but the fake smile on his face while Loona gave him a victory hug cemented it for him. The other who noticed Dante's issues was Mai, while their relationship was brief, they were very close, Dante opened up a lot to her she saw him in pain she saw him when he was overwhelmed and depressed, and right now, he is depressed. Pulling away from Loona Dante headed toward the bathroom Mai followed him and seeing that Loona was alone Hades and Jessi headed in her direction.

"Hey Loona, can we talk?" Hades asked the Hellhound.

"Yeah, sure what's up?" Loona asked not liking the uncomfortable look on his face.

"I think there's something wrong with Dante," Hades stated. Loona was taken aback by this. Yeah, Dante wasn't super happy having a party, but he was definitely having a good time now.

"What do you mean?" Loona asked confused by this sudden statement.

"Well, it's just Dante doesn't really look happy right now, in fact, he looks like he's in a lot of pain," Hades explained remembering the expression on the Imp's face.

"What the fuck are you talking about Dante's having the time of his life, did you not see him in that drinking contest he's in his element right now!" Loona replied to the fellow Hellhound not taking what he said seriously.

"I get that it's just the expression and the way he moved during the contest was just off," Hades elaborated his face taking on a concerned expression.

"You should listen to Hades Loona if he thinks something's wrong with someone then something is wrong," Jessi explained backing up her boyfriend, but all this did was make Loona angry.

"Oh, so he knows my boyfriend better than me huh, he thinks he can tell when the love of my life is unhappy, but I can't?" Loona asked Jessi glaring at her baring her fangs.

"Look Loona I'm not saying that I know him better than you I'm just telling you what I've noticed," Hades said trying to calm Loona down.

"Well, how about you mind your own fucking business!" Loona shouted at the dark gray Hound; it was then Jessi spoke up.

"Hey, don't talk to my boyfriend like that!" she yelled back, getting between Hades and Loona, but before things could escalate Hades pulled Jessi back.

"Jess chill, look Loona I'm sorry if what I said came off as rude or condescending, I'm just saying that I'm worried about him," taking Jessi by the arm he led her away from the white and gray Hellhound looking over his shoulder at her as he did.

"Watch his eyes," he called back to her as he left, Loona stood there pondering what Hades had told her.

I should find Dante; she thought to herself as she went to go find the man she loved.

In the men's room,

Dante stepped out of the stall wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he had just spent the last few minutes puking. While Dante could usually hold his liquor Beelzejuice was strong and chugging several gallons of the stuff was too much even for him. Making his way to the sink he washed the bile from his mouth before a sudden sharp pain shot through his abdomen. Gripping his stomach Dante knew what was up, his liver had been acting up lately he had thought he had gotten it under control, but he guessed all the booze wasn't helping matters. Taking several deep breaths the pain slowly receded. Regaining his composure Dante stood up and made his way to the door when it suddenly opened, but instead of another guy it was Mai. The red panda stood in front of the door and looked at Dante with a stern look.

"What's this you looking to screw around?" Dante asked, not sure why else she was in the men's room with him.

"What? No! well… No, No!" Mai stated shaking her head.

"I came in here to ask what's wrong," Mai explained a concerned look overtaking her beautiful features.

"Nothing I just had too much to drink that's all," Dante explained gesturing to the stall he had thrown up in a minute ago.

"That's not what I meant," Mai replied narrowing her eyes at the Imp.

"Come on what's wrong you can tell me," she stated taking a step toward Dante.

"I'm fine Mai now if you'll excuse me," Dante tried to walk around the Red Panda, but she stepped into his path.

"Look Dante, I know you I know when you're not ok, you're acting the way you did… that night," Mai shuddered holding herself.

The night she is referring to was during the early days of their relationship. Dante was a soldier serving in a local civil war. He had finally gotten some leave after several months and as usual, he came to Mai to acquire her "services". But that night Dante was different instead of being his usual friendly and kind self he was quiet moody and constantly drinking from a big bottle of vodka. Mai tried everything to cheer him up, but nothing worked, she wasn't sure what happened, but something suddenly caused Dante to snap. He started screaming and shouting, flipping her furniture, knocking over shelves, and smashing bottles. It was terrifying. Mai had tried her best to calm him down, but nothing worked. Eventually, she was forced to knock him out with a pan. He woke up several hours later, back to his old self and not remembering a thing. Dante had apologized and given her money to replace what he had broken but Mai was still kinda scared of him after that. Mai was pulled from her flashback when Dante grabbed her and pulled her in close, the Sinner closed her eyes and buried her head into the Imp's chest, smiling at the familiar embrace.

"I'm sorry for that night, I'm sorry a million times over, but I promise this is not turning into a repeat of that night I'm not going to lose my cool, like before," Dante explained brushing a hand through her hair.

"I'm just worried you seem so unhappy right now; have you been thinking about your family again?" This made Dante tense up.

It's true that memories of Dante's family of Giovanni, Francesco, and, of course, Rose have been popping up ever since he got here. Celebrating his birthday always reminded him of what he had lost—another year without them, another year all alone. Dante shook his head. He needed something to distract him from these sad thoughts. He looked down at Mai, still pressed against him.

Perfect, he thought with a lustful grin.

Dante's hand suddenly reached down and groped Mai's ass, the Red Panda squeaked in surprise.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Mai asked looking down at the hand squeezing her ass.

"There's something I always do when celebrating my birthday, want to help me with it?" Dante inquired pulling the Sinner closer her face now inches from his, she blushed.

"Wh-what is it?" Mai asked though she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"One of the ways I like to "celebrate" is by spending time with lots of pretty ladies, and I got plenty here in this club," Dante explained sending her a lecherous grin.

"B-but what about your girlfriend, won't she be pissed?" she asked thinking back to Loona's earlier reaction to her kissing Dante.

"She won't mind if she joins in," Dante explained, Mai smiled she couldn't wait to be with Dante again but suddenly she shook her head and pulled away from the Imp.

"Okay we've gotten off track, you're not gonna trick me into joining in some orgy just so I'll stop prying into what's wrong," Mai stated firmly.

No matter how much I want to, Mai thought secretly her resolve not as firm as it appeared.

Suddenly Dante pulled her in close, burying his face into her shoulder and running his tongue along her neck. The Red Panda moaned in pleasure, her knees buckled, and she wrapped her arms around him, her resolve beginning to crumble.

"Come on I can make it like that cold January night," Dante whispered in her ear, Mai's face went even redder.

The night in question was the night they became an official couple before Dante was just another client who only saw her as a toy. Their time together boiled down to Dante using her as a form of stress relief, but that all changed one night, it was cold, much colder than typical in Nanjing with snow falling in big, thick, clumps. Dante was there but couldn't leave due to the snow, so Mai offered to let him stay the night. They spent the whole night talking and getting to know each other the night culminated in the two making love, not having sex, but making love. It was the best sex of Mai's life unlike every other man she'd been with Dante wasn't focused on pleasing himself but on pleasing her, he did things to her that no one else ever had and she loved every moment of it. Afterward, they spent the whole night cuddling, she had never felt so safe or loved.

"Do you want to do it here, or do you want to meet upstairs?" Mai asked, the last of her resolve gone, her eyes filled with a lustful haze.

"Upstairs, but I want you to gather some others to join in." Dante listed several names. Mai nodded her head and then quickly ran out of the bathroom to prepare.

Dante stepped out of the bathroom only to feel someone tap on his shoulder. Turning to his left, he saw Vortex giving him a serious look.

"Hey Tex, what's up?" Dante asked, noticing the look on the Hellhound's face.

"Hey man do you think we can talk?" he asked, touching Dante's shoulder.

"Uh sure, what do you want to discuss?" Dante asked curiously.

"Not here," Tex stated gesturing for Dante to follow him. Following behind the large Hellhound the two entered a backroom where he saw Beelzebub standing with her arms crossed a worried expression on her face.

"Alright I'm here so what do you want?" Dante inquired, barely containing the venom in his voice.

"Hey sorry to take you away from the party but I gotta ask are you doing, okay?" the Queen of Gluttony asked, her voice tinted with concern.

Gesù Cristo sulla sua maledetta croce! Why the fuck do people keep asking me this, am I really that obvious? Dante thought to himself in frustration.

"Look Beelzebub I'm fine okay there's no need to worry," Dante explained despite this Beelzebub didn't believe him still feeling the pain and anguish radiating off him.

"Okay first of all call me Bee, two I know for a fact you're not," Beelzebub stated firmly giving Dante a serious look.

"And what makes you say that?" Dante asked crossing his arms in annoyance.

"I can taste people's emotions, remember? I can taste your pain, I can taste your sadness; it's just like Blitz was at my last party," Sin explained, leaving out all the anger and hate she felt from him.

"Look, I know we're not that close. You don't really like me, but if something's wrong, you can tell me," Beelzebub said, leaning down and putting a hand on his shoulder. Dante shook her off, then looked up and glared at Sin.

"And why should I do that?" Dante asked the queen.

"Because I care, because I want to help you," Beelzebub explained a compassionate expression on her face.

Dante stared at her his eyes wide, a smile growing on his face. Then he snorted followed by laughter, and even more laughter. Eventually, Dante was holding his sides as tears of mirth leaked out of the corner of his eyes, this continued for another five minutes much to the discomfort of both Beelzebub and Vortex.

"Okay, what the fuck is so funny?" Vortex asked both confused and annoyed at Dante's behavior.

"I-it's it's just the idea that Beelzebub, the Queen of Gluttony, one of the Seven Sins and one of the elites of Hell actually cares about someone. It's hilarious!" Dante shouted as he continued to laugh at the absurdity of Beelzebub caring about anyone but herself.

"What the fuck is so hilarious about me caring about you!?" Beelzebub asked angry and a little hurt by Dante's reaction.

"What's hilarious is that you want me to think you actually care about someone other than yourself," Dante said, schooling himself and smiling at Beelzebub. However, despite his happy look, his eyes were brimming with hate.

"I do care about you! I'm not some selfish asshole like Mammon who only cares about themself and treats everyone else like shit!" Beelzebub shouted the look of confusion on her face morphing into rage, her body slowly growing in size.

"Really because from what I've seen of your domain that's exactly what you are!" Dante shouted back, not intimidated by The Sin's growing anger.

"I've seen your Ring Beelzebub, I've seen the adoption facilities you set up for your subjects, if they can even be called that," Dante said, sending Beelzebub an icy look.

"What the fuck are you talking about the adoption centers are fine?" Beelzebub asked defensively.

"Fine? Fine! Those adoption centers are fucking hellholes, the kids there are crammed into cages, they wear filthy rags, and their dirty and hungry. Most look like they haven't eaten in days, not only that but there is just a miasma of misery and despair in those places. Those children look like they've given up on life, on finding happiness," Dante explained clenching his hands in frustration.

"And the worst part, the people running those places treat these children like animals, like thier not people deserving of love or kindness," Dante gritted his teeth in anger, he knew that pain all too well.

When he was homeless people never viewed him as a person, they always just saw him as a thing, a pest, or just part of the background. This dehumanizing behavior was one of the most painful things he experienced, and seeing other children receiving the same treatment, and feeling the pain, broke his heart and filled him with rage.

"hey there not all like that," Beelzebub stated, glaring at the Imp.

"ohh really, the one I visited was like that, Loona's was like that, my Hellhounds friends on Sinstagram say theirs were like that too," Dante explained crossing his arms over his chest his attention then falling on Vortex.

"Hey Tex what was your adoption center like?" Dante asked the large Hellhound. Vortex looked surprised not expecting the question, but then looked away from the two who were staring expecting an answer.

"Well, it wasn't... that bad," Vortex stated weekly rubbing the back of his head. Beelzebub stared at her boyfriend with wide eyes she knew him well enough to tell that he was lying, and through her abilities, she could feel his discomfort with the subject.

"See, even your boyfriend thinks they were horrible," Dante said somewhat proudly, proving his point was correct.

"Okay I admit that some of the adoption centers are bad but that's not my fault!" Beelzebub stated defensively.

"It's absolutely your fault!" Dante shouted, arms at his sides, his voice filled with so much rage that even Beelzebub took a step back in surprise.

"You're the Queen of the Gluttony Ring, and the Hellhounds are your subjects, your people, you could easily fix this problem but you don't instead you just spend all your time partying and stuffing your face!" Dante said to the Sin, who was too taken aback by this brazen act of disrespect to reply. Not only that but Dante had knocked down the emotional walls he had put up when around the Queen of Gluttony and she could finally feel all the anger, all the hate, all the resentment he felt towards her.

"You're no different from all the other nobles in Hell you're a selfish, lazy, pretentious, and narcissistic piece of shit who doesn't care about anything but indulging in your pointless little vices while the rest of Hell suffers!" Dante finished his rant by spitting in Beelzebub's face much to both her and Vortex's shock.

"fuck you, fuck the other Sins, fuck the Ars Goetia, and fuck Lucifer and Lilith, you're all shit, you're the ones who should be suffering in this Inferno not the rest of us," Dante said with a grim finality voice taking on a deeper octave than before.

He turned to leave the room, but he stopped when Vortex started growling at him. Turning around Dante saw the Hellhound making his way towards him fists clenched fangs barred in an act of aggression. Dante turned to face Vortex, tensing his muscles readying for when the Hellhound would strike, but suddenly Beelzebub grabbed him and held him back much to his surprise.

"Bee what are you-?" he asked but Beelzebub just shook her head. Confused but not wanting to be around the Sin for one more second Dante turned and left leaving Vortex and Beelzebub alone in the backroom.

Main club floor

"Dante! Dante!... Dante!" Loona yelled above the music. She had been searching for her boyfriend for the past half-hour with no luck, and she was starting to get worried. After her conversation with Hades and Jessi, she started to notice some red flags. His heavy drinking, how tense he was, and his general discomfort with the whole thing made Loona more than a little concerned about her boyfriend's mental health.

His mental health is already not in the best situation, I don't need it getting worse, Loona thought as she looked around.

"DANTE!" she shouted one more time. Suddenly, she heard someone call out to her. Turning her head, Loona saw Dante making her way towards her.

Smiling, the Hellhound began to walk toward her boyfriend and suddenly stopped when she saw his face. He had a smile, but there was something off about it. Remembering what Hades said, Loona lifted her hand and covered the lower half of Dante's face, giving her a clear look at his eyes. His eyes were filled with pain and anger, making that anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach get worse and worse.

Making her way toward her boyfriend she was about to ask him if he was okay when suddenly Dante grabbed her face and pulled her into a deep kiss. Loona was too stunned by the sudden kiss to pull away, the surprise quickly melted into pleasure as she began to return the kiss. Her eyes became half-lidded, then fully closed as she wrapped her arms around Dante running her hands through his thick black hair. Just as Dante's hands began to make thier way down her back toward her ass Loona came to her senses and pushed Dante away.

"No, No, you're not gonna distract me," Loona said firmly sending Dante a serious look which was somewhat nullified by the fact her face was bright red.

"What's up?" Dante asked, staring at his girlfriend confused.

"Are you okay?" Loona asked her voice filled with concern and worry.

Gesù Cristo sulla sua maledetta croce, dalla Vergine Maria, dai dannati Quaranta Santi Ausiliatori, not more of this shit, Dante thought to himself once more the frustration from earlier beginning to set back in, it was making his head hurt.

"Look Loona, I'm going to tell you what I told Mai, Beelzebub, and Vortex, I. Am. Fine," Dante stated with finality making it clear that he was done talking about this.

"You might have them fooled but you can't fool me babe," Loona stated not deterred.

"I can see you're in pain, you have that same look you have when you're talking about Rose or your family," she explained, Dante winced at the mention of his lost loved ones, only solidifiying the Hellhounds fears. Reaching out she put a hand on his cheek lifting his face so that he was looking into her eyes.

"Remember the conversation we had at Bee's party? I'm here to listen, you don't have to keep everything bottled up," Loona explained sending Dante a warm smile. Dante's expression softened opening his mouth to say something but he immediately closed it.

"Loona that night I promised I would be more open with you, but you promised that you wouldn't push me into opening up before I was ready, well I'm not ready right now alright," Dante stated removing Loona's hand from his face.

Instead of letting go of her hand Dante instead pulled Loona in close burying his face into her breasts and placing his hands on her ass. Loona yelped in surprise at this sudden physical assault from Dante.

"Dante what the fuck?!" she asked her boyfriend who pulled himself out from her tits and looked up at her with a lecherous smile.

"Come on Loonie how about you and me go upstairs and have a little fun?" Dante asked giving Loona's ass a firm squeeze.

"Seriously? Look Dante you're not gonna get out of this that easily," Loona stated firmly but Dante could hear a tremor in her voice.

"We can talk later, but first let's have some fun," Dante said and proceeded to kiss Loona's neck and chest. Loona wanted to resist, she wanted to push the point and find out why Dante was so upset. Unfortunately, she had also wanted to use one of those rooms on the upper level, her plan was to end the party there.

"You know what yeah let's have some fun, we can talk when we're less tense," Loona replied, smiling Dante took her by the hand and guided her to the stairs leading to the private rooms.

As they made their way through the club Dante pulled out his phone and discreetly texted Mai;

Dante: what room are you in?

Mai: Room 7

Putting his phone away, Dante led Loona up the stairs, but as they reached the top, he stopped. Grabbing his head with his right hand, Dante leaned up against the wall as he felt a flashback coming. It was the first birthday he had after his marriage to Rose. He remembered the day they spent together, just the two of them, and how happy he was to spend the day with her basking in her love and affection.

"Dante you alright?" Loona asked concerned, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm good," Dante muttered. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out his flask and quickly downed its contents.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Loona caught a glimpse of his pained expression. Upon seeing this look, the lustful haze that had distracted her was gone, and she was starting to think clearly again.

"Okay, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Loona asked taking a step towards her boyfriend.

"Nothing, Loonie. I'm fine," Dante confidently stated. Of course, Loona didn't believe him.

"No, No you're not. Giving me any more of that bullshit, you are gonna tell me why you're so upset, now!" Loona demanded leaning in close her voice filled with anger laced with concern.

"Nothing! I'm good. Now let's get back to what we were doing," he explained, grabbing Loona and pulling her towards one of the private rooms.

"No Dante I'm not gonna fool around with you, not until you tell me what's wrong," Loona stated firmly breaking from Dante's grip.

"Nothing now, let's-," Dante said once again, grabbing Loona and trying to drag her toward one of the rooms. This time, Loona didn't just pull away; she actually pushed Dante back.

Unfortunately, Loona used a bit too much strength in that push that combined with all the drugs and alcohol in his system caused Dante to lose his balance and stumble backwards over the railing. Dante shouted as he fell over the railing of the second-floor balcony, plummeting onto the food table. Shattering it to splinters spilling food everywhere and on everyone nearby.

"Unholy fucking Satan! Dante are you alright!?" Loona asked having run down the stairs to check on her boyfriend.

"Yeah I'm good," Dante explained casually standing up and dusting himself off. As he got up Loona noticed two things. One, his face was covered in blood, and two his right arm was hanging limply from his side.

"Oh, my Satan!" Loona exclaimed covering her mouth in shock.

"What?" Dante asked confused by her reaction.

"you're... you're bleeding, and your arm is," Loona explained pointing a shaky finger and Dante's head and right arm.

Reaching up Dante touched his face with his good arm and saw thier was blood on his fingers. Touching his scalp he felt something sharp pointing out from within his hair, grabbing it he yanked it out revealing it to be a large shard of glass.

"Ah, here we go," Dante said tossing the shard away and then looking down at his limp right arm. Shaking the limb around he laughed as the limb flailed around like a limp noodle.

If I wasn't so high right now this would hurt like hell, Dante thought with a smirk, before grabbing his shoulder and forcing it back into its socket with a loud pop.

Dante let out a scream, which slowly morphed into a laugh, once he was done Dante moved his arm in a circular motion testing it out and seeing that it was fine. Once he was sure his arm was in working condition he turned his attention to Loona who had a stunned expression on her face.

"Yo Loona you there girl?" Dante asked snapping his fingers in her face but the Hellhound did not react. Shrugging Dante walked away from his girlfriend, after several minutes Loona finally snapped out of her stupor with a fierce shake of her head.

"Dante?" Loona asked looking around for her boyfriend but finding no trace of him.

"Fucking dammit!" Loona shouted in anger as she looked for the love of her life.

Twenty minutes later,

Loona had been looking all over the club for Dante, who had suddenly vanished after his little fall from the top floor. She had searched every room, but she didn't see him in the bathrooms. She didn't see him there. She looked in the backroom but all she saw was Beelzebub crying, thank Satan she got out of that before she got dragged into whatever was going on there. She even tried some of the private rooms most were locked, except one, she went in that one and saw Blitz screwing around with some skank.

I'm gonna wash my eyes with bleach when I get home, she thought shuddering in revulsion.

Giving up Loona made her way to the bar and asked the strongest drink they had. Pouring her a shot of Wrathian whisky, which Loona downed in a second.

"Dammit Dante, where the fuck are you?" Loona asked, slamming her head into the bar.

"He's on the roof, I say, I say," the bartender said. Loona's ears twitched. She lifted her head and saw Wally Wackford looking right at her.

Where the fuck does this guy keep coming from? Loona asked herself looking at the Imp in confusion.

"wait he's on the roof?" Loona asked Wally, wondering how he knew where Dante was.

"Yeah, I say I say, he asked me if there was any place quiet he could go, said he had a headache," Wally explained as he polished a glass.

"he wasn't lookin too good I say I say," Wally looked over the glass for any remaining stains or smudges.

"Thanks, so how do I get to the roof?" Loona asked standing up from her seat.

"Just go up to the upper level and go to the door near the back there's a staircase," Wally explained putting the glass away.

"You know it's been a while since I've seen you IMP guys so how about we hang out some... and she's gone. Fuck I say, I say,"

The roof of The Consent

Dante sat at the edge of the roof, his feet dangling over the street below. He had a bottle of red wine in one hand and a gun in the other, chugging the entire bottle Dante finished it and then tossed it into the air. Raising his gun Dante fired and shattered the bottle into bits.

"Haha got it, OW!" Dante shouted as a shard of glass fell from the sky and cut his cheek. Dante could feel blood welling up and running down his face but he honestly couldn't care less.

He stood up and turned towards the door back down to the club, but came face to face with Loona. The Hellhound stood before him arms crossed, the look on her face made it clear she was done with his shit.

"What is wrong?" she asked but from her tone, it was clearly more of a demand. Dante sighed seeing that he couldn't get out of this.

"I hate celebrating my birthday," Dante explained, his voice sounding tired.

"Why, what's wrong with celebrating your birthday?" Loona asked not sure why someone wouldn't want to celebrate the day of thier birth.

"because my life isn't worth celebrating! My life has been a nightmare, I've lost everything my friends, my family, I'm all alone and celebrating such an awful life, rejoicing that horror. I... I just," Dante clutched his head and suddenly lost his balance, Loona rushed forward and caught his before he could fall to the ground.

"I... I want to go home," Dante muttered fighting back tears.

This had all been too much, the memories, the constant reminder of what he lost, and the good times he'd never get back had finally overwhelmed him. No matter how much he drank or how high he got, these memories would go away.

"Alright I'll take you home," Loona explained helping him to his feet.

"NO!" Dante shouted pushing Loona away.

"That apartment is not my home, Imp City is not my home! I want to return to the home I had with my family! I want my parents back, I want Giovanni and Francesco back, I want my old friends back!" Dante shouted flailing his arms around in frustration.

"And, and, I want my wife back!" Dante shouted before breaking down into tears, falling to his knees.

"W-wife?" Loona asked her voice no louder than a whisper. This sudden revelation absolutely stunned her, the fact that her boyfriend, the man she loved, kept something so big from her.

"Was... was it Rose?" Loona asked her voice still shaky.

"Yes Rose, Rose was my wife for many years, I loved her more than anything, our marriage was the happiest time of my life," Dante explained through his tears.

The Imp attempted to stand up but once again lost his balance and fell, Loona didn't catch him this time. Dante tried to get up again but found he still couldn't find his feet, suddenly he vomited and then collapsed to the ground unconscious. Signing Loona scooped Dante up slung him over her shoulder and carried towards the door back to the club. Dante briefly regained consciousness looking up at the sky he saw Heaven through bleary eyes. Reaching out he tried to grab the shining sphere with no success.

"Please come back," Dante muttered before passing back out.

Meanwhile in room 7

"Dammit, where is he?" Verosika asked blowing out a breath in frustration. The succubus lay on the large bed naked as the day she was born and she was not alone. The room was filled with numerous naked ladies, from Imps, Succubi, and even a Sinner. Looking around she saw Mai, Coco, and Apple, the latter two were busy making out, clearly tired of waiting. The rest were Imps, there were about five of them named Kate, Soozie, Julie, Lorry, and Margo.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Kate replied putting a hand on Verosika's shoulder.

"Of course, he will, our master has never let us down before," Margo stated proudly, Verosika rolled her eyes but something Margo said got her attention.

"Wait did you just call him master?" the Succubus popstar asked the Imp woman, Margo flushed and looked away embarrassed. Margo had forgotten that Dante didn't like it when she called him master in front of others.

"Ooh, I didn't realize Dante was into that kind of stuff," Verosika asked the Imp woman sending her a sultry look. Suddenly there was a ringing noise.

Recognizing it as her phone, Mai got off the bed and pulled the device from her purse. Reading the message, became angry and began swearing in Chinese.

"Geez Panda girl calm down, what wrong?" Kate asked the Sinner woman.

"I just got a text from Loona, Dante's apparently not doing too well so she's taking him home," the Red Panda explained rolling her eyes, a collective groan escaped from the assembled ladies.

"Dammit, I was really looking forward to this," Verosika complained crossing her arms.

"I know same," Coco stated looking down at the floor in disappointment.

"Hey just because Dante couldn't make it doesn't mean we can't still have fun, right?" Apple asked, trying to cheer everyone up. The other ladies thought about it for a moment before nodding their heads in agreement, all except Mai who was busy getting dressed.

"Hey, were you going?" Apple asked as she saw the Sinner heading for the door.

"Sorry but if Dante's not involved then I'm not interested," Mai stated matter-of-factly, leaving the private room and slamming the door with way more force than necessary. As Mai made her way down the stairs and out of the club Mai wiped her eyes.

Why did I think this time would be different, why did I think that this might lead to us getting back together, Mai thought frustrated as she climbed into a cab.

Epilogue

When Dante awoke the next day, he felt like someone had just split his skull open with a sledgehammer. Dante was not one for hangovers but with the massive amounts of booze he drank combined with the withdrawal from the Heroin and pills, that was enough to incapacitate him. Dante lay in bed waiting for the pain to subside after what felt like an hour the pain finally went down to something manageable. Sitting up, Dante looked at his clock and saw it was almost three in the afternoon. Carefully got up and headed for the bathroom, after taking a very long shower and brushing his teeth Dante headed for the kitchen for breakfast, which was basically a bottle of wine. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, opening it Dante saw Loona holding a box full of stuff.

"Hey, Piccolo Lupo what's up?" Dante asked his voice sounding strained.

"I just thought I'd bring your gifts since I didn't grab them last night when we left," Loona explained walking inside and placing the box down. Even through his near-inebriated state, Dante could tell something was wrong. Loona's walk lacked the usual calm cheerful spring she usually had when entering his apartment, and her tone was strained, not the relaxed friendly tone she usually had when talking to him.

"Thanks," Dante replied as she set the box down on his coffee table.

"So sorry about last night I know I can get kinda crazy when I party too hard," Dante, didn't really remember what he did at the party. That was pretty unusual for him since he has a pretty good memory, showing just how much he drank and how much he used.

"I'm glad you brought that up 'cause there's something I need to talk to you about," the Hellhound stated turning to face her boyfriend's arms crossed over her chest.

Uh oh, Dante thought to himself recognizing her "mad" posture.

"Alright what do you want to talk about?" he asked nervously.

"I want to know why you didn't tell me you are Rose were married?" Loona asked her voice angry but tinged with pain. Dante's eyes went wide, his face growing pale as the truth of the matter sank in.

"Who the fuck told you that!?" Dante asked wondering who blew the whistle on just how deep his relationship with Rose really was.

If it was Stolas I'm going to wring his scrawny neck, Dante thought to himself as anger rose in his heart.

"You did, last night, remember?" Loona asked raising an eyebrow at the Imp.

"What! No, I-," Dante stopped as memories of the argument on the roof came to the surface.

"Cazzo," Dante muttered.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me you were married!?" Loona asked her voice raised halfway between a shout and her normal inside voice.

"I- I don't know I never really planned on telling you or anyone about Rose or my life in general so when she came up I guess I panicked," Dante elaborated it was a lie, and Loona could see right through it.

"You panicked, you panicked, you lied to me, told me that Rose was just a past girlfriend, you failed to tell me the truth until you were so drunk you could barely stand, and you expect me to believe that it's because you "panicked"," Loona questioned glaring down at the Imp.

"I was afraid if I said I was married it would make things awkward between us, and damage the relationship," Dante admitted, his voice filled with regret.

"Did you think I'd break up with you if I knew you were married, that I wouldn't want to be with you?" Loona inquired the anger gone from her voice and replaced instead with hurt. Dante didn't say anything he just looked at the floor ashamed.

"I'm sorry," Dante finally said after several minutes. Taking a deep breath Loona wiped her eyes and then gave Dante a serious look.

"Look Dante I- I need to think about this, you hiding this from me is a big thing, and I need some time to myself to really process this," Loona explained pinching the bridge of her snout.

"So you want to break up?" Dante asked sounding worried.

"No! No, no, no I just need a break to think things through okay this is a break-up... yet," Loona muttered the last part under her breath.

"Wait Loona come on let's-," Dante was interrupted when Loona held up a hand to silence him.

"Look don't make this any harder than it needs to be okay, this is happening alright," Loona stated sternly Dante wanted to protest but the look she sent him told him that that would just be a bad idea.

"Alright, if you need some time apart then I can respect that," Dante relented though his tone made it clear he wasn't happy about this situation.

"Thank you," Loona said relieved, then no sooner had she arrived than she left leaving Dante all alone.

"Cazzo," Dante muttered plopping down on his couch head in his hand.

"Way to go Tony you fucked up another relationship, how many does that make now a ten, fifteen, Christ on his Cross I'm a mess," he said to himself.

Remembering the box Loona left him Dante began rummaging through it. Inside Dante found the Lute M had gotten him, the book from Mai, but there was something else, a large bottle of wine. Looking at the label Dante saw it was a really fancy brand made in Gluttony, on the kneck of the bottle Dante saw a tag that said it was from Beelzebub. It was then Dante remembered the fight he had with the Queen of Gluttony, he smirked at the memory. It was then Dante remembered something else, pulling out his phone he made a quick call.

"Hey James can you grab something for me?"

Ten minutes later

Hearing a knock at his door, Dante opened it and saw the large Hellhound standing before him with a box in hand.

"here you go sir, right where you left it," James said proudly holding out the box, Dante quickly snatched the box from him and slammed the door in his face.

Opening the box Dante pulled out the custom whip, looking it over Dante pressed one of his fingertips against one of the spikes. A satisfied smile spread across his lips as he saw and felt blood seep from the wound. Taking off his shirt and pants Dante sat down on his knees raised the whip and drove it into his back. There was a loud CRACK as the whip made contact the spikes digging into his flesh drawing fresh blood. Dante then proceeded to do it again, and again, and again, he didn't stop he kept whipping himself allowing the spikes to slice up the skin on his back turning it into a mess of cuts and shredded skin.

"This is what I deserve, this is punishment for everything I've done," he muttered to himself whenever he thought about stopping. Soon memories of Loona came to mind the memory of her sad heartbroken face made Dante go even faster.

END

I hope all of you enjoyed reading, this chapter took me quite a while and I've been really looking forward to it. Thank you all for reading the next two or three chapters should be ones I think you all will enjoy. Again thanks for reading and I hope you all had a great holiday season and a happy new year!