Loona walked through the corridors of the Sanders house looking for the study Balin and Matt were playing in.
As his older siblings hid in their bunked bedroom, rather scared by her appearance, the family's pet macaw Blood Orange noticed her as she walked past his birdcage in Matt's room.
*BAWK!* "Chick!" he squawked in his native Australian accent. *BAWK!*
Loona then heard him and showed a flummoxed expression on her face.
"Hello, Blood Orange!" he waved his talons to Loona, greeting her like a parrot ...and mimicking Matt's obedience training. "Hello, Blood Orange!"
"Blood Orange?" Loona then snickered hearing that. "The hell kinda name for a bird is that?"
She then peaked back into Matt's room to see the rare orange bird with the blood red crest. One that resembled another bird demon she knew once, a Goetia named Vassago.
"Oh. I see the resemblance." she then said to herself.
Loona didn't want to admit it out loud, but secretly, she admired this particular species of bird.
She walked into his room towards it, her human side not helping the feeling to pet him a little.
"Eh, I suppose one inspection wouldn't hurt." she shrugged inside her head before speaking aloud to the bird. "May I?"
*BAWK!*
"I'll take that as a maybe."
Loona then started giving Blood Oranges's feathery crest some little scritches, making him let out one trembly squawk as Loona then giggled. She soon stopped a few seconds later just to remain discrete then walked away from the bedroom.
...
Meanwhile, Balin and Matt were studying for their book reports, both of which were fairytales. Balin's fairytale was 'The Little Mermaid' and Matt's was 'Shrek.'
Loona peaked through the study door to see both of them reading quietly to their little hearts' content, using her hunter instincts to make sure they didn't see her.
But she had a cheeky idea on how to enter.
"Knock, knock." she sang, without actually knocking.
"Come in!" Balin and Matt said together.
Loona then strutted into the study room like a model, tracing her fingers down her chin and the doorway.
"Aren't you boys s'posed to be... studying?" she teased in a seductive tone, making the two 7-year-old boys dazed and bright-red in the faces. "I'm kidding with you two! Hehehehehehe. You dudes doing okay?" she then chuckled, sitting on the study-bed in between the two.
"Yes, Loona." replied Balin.
Loona then noticed her little friend reading 'The Little Mermaid' and decided to play around some more.
"Uh, Balin? Isn't that a girl's story?" she smirked at him.
"...Kind of?" Balin replied sheepishly.
Loona then gave him some cheek tickles with her little human nose to get him to change his mind. This just made Balin giggle instead, while Matt found the moment adorable.
"OK, OK, Loona." he finished giggling. "I'll read a different book."
Balin then started reading a different fairytale book: 'Gossip Wolf and the Fox.'
"What's this one about?" Loona asked him with a chuckle. "I never heard of this story before."
"Me neither." added Matt.
"It's about a wolf who gets to do a fox to do whatever she wants and threatens to eat him if he doesn't." explained the boy, winking at Loona.
Personally, she thought the story would either offend her or blow her cover to Matt or his family. If they found out she was a hellhound who, even as a contract killer, could maul anyone apart and maybe even eat them, they'd be running for the hills.
But since Balin was playing around as usual, she decided to use that to her advantage.
"Oh. I'm the wolf? If that so? I wonder..." she teased, then looked at Matt. "I wonder... how little boys would taste."
She got on her hands and knees on the study bed and pretended to unsheathe her nails, licking her lips and quietly growling at the sight of Matt.
"Aw, Loona!" Balin playfully scolded her.
"I'm only teasing, kiddo." she laughed and ruffled the boy's head, before gently swiping her nails at Matt like a cat. "Grr-Rawr!"
Matt just chuckled at this behaviour, and so did his parents, hearing the action from the living room.
...
"Heh." Mrs. Sanders was impressed. "Three IS company."
"Yep. But she still terrifies the shit out of me." Mr. Sanders said.
"What's shit?" one of the older kids asked from afar.
"Just a word!" responded the mother.
"One I'll teach you at the supermarket!" added the father.
...
Loona heard the two speaking outside the study and chuckled with an eye-roll.
"Hey, Matt." she then spoke to him. "Could you guys keep this a secret? Gotta a reputation to maintain 'round here."
"I understand, Loona." smiled Matt. "Cross my heart."
"Thanks, kid." she gently patted his head. "So what're those books for? Book report or book WEEK?"
"We actually did Book Week last term." said Balin. "And we loved it." added Matt, nodding in agreement.
"Well... not that I'm intrigued or anything, but what did you two dress up as?"
"I have a picture on my phone. If you'd like to see it." Matt replied, showing his phone and smirking at Balin.
"Doh, Matt!" his BFF flushed.
Matt then showed Loona the picture of him and Balin at school dressed up as Things 1 and 2 from 'The Cat in the Hat.'
This made Loona laugh in awe of how adorable they actually looked.
"OK, I gotta admit, that does look pretty cute." she said. "And so do you two kiddos."
"Thanks, Ms. Loona." replied Matt.
"Please, just, call me Loona." she insisted. "Any friend of the kid's is a friend of mine. ...Once they gain my trust, that is."
"Have I gained your trust?"
"Sure, whatever." Loona slowly ruffled Balin's BFF's head as a sign of acceptance, while Balin just chuckled seeing this. "You know, I was told of how you two met. I can see how you two are the best of friends."
"Thank you, Loona. It's just like... old times." sighed Balin, soon feeling a little melancholy inside.
"Yeah. We used to play every couple of days at the island we used to live in." Matt explained with a smile. "We'd meet up for cartoons, walk around the wharf, heck, we even had sleepovers."
"Those sound fun." said Loona. "I-I mean, for kids."
This then gave Matt an idea.
"Hey. We should have another sleepover sometime." he said. Maybe here, since you said Loona doesn't like visitors."
"Oh, it's okay, Matt." she replied. "Balin was just trying to look out for me, since I'm more of the independent type, you know?"
"So... I can sleepover at your place?" Matt then asked her.
"I'm sure we'll find sometime." replied Balin. "Or maybe even this weekend, if you're free." he then suggested.
It was gonna be difficult to find a way to make up for the fact that they couldn't bring yet another human child into Hell. Who knows what'd happen if Matt saw how it existed? It wouldn't be in the way he hoped, but he'd still run into terror and blather everything to the kids' world.
"Maybe. We'll let him know what we'll be up to by then." shrugged Loona casually.
"Okay." replied Matt. "Maybe... I could even invite someone else?"
"Who?" Balin asked, before widening his eyes at who Matt was talking about.
Despite being defensive inside about two more kids in Hell, Loona noticed Balin's wide eyes straight away and knew what they meant.
"Ooooh. Do you have a crush? Balin?" she sang.
"What? No!" the kid flushed. "There's a girl named Amy, and we're just friends."
"Friends since you eyed her in Pre-K, mate." added Matt cheekily.
"...Okay, back to homework time." Balin quickly wrapped things up, as Loona chuckled at his blush about his crush. "Would you like to see our Italian skit, Loona?"
"Italian skit?" Loona cocked her head in curiosity.
"Yeah. One of our projects is a role-play, where we have to act out a scene in Italian."
"You two sure like Italia, don't you?" the hellhound then grinned at the two boys.
"Well we've always wanted to see the world. Didn't we, Balin?" Matt nudged his friend's shoulder, who nodded still feeling a little melancholy on his mind.
Deep down, Loona could sense some lying in his facial expressions. She could tell he was a little sad, but what about?
Matt then handed her the script to help them out in case they got stuck on their full Italian lines.
...
ITALIAN SCENE: 'Shopping for Clothes'
As the two began acting with Balin strutting out in his school hat, pretending to be fancy, Loona pulled out her phone and began recording.
BALIN: "Buongiorno. Sto cercando un vestito per una festa?" (Good morning, I'm looking for a dress for a party.)
MATT: "Certamente! Che tipo di vestito sta cercando?" (Certainly. What kind of dress are you looking for?)
BALIN: "Vorrei qualcosa di elegante ma non troppo formale." (I would like something elegant, but not too formal.)
MATT: "Abbiamo una vasta scelta di abiti. Qual e la sua... taglia?" (We have a wide selection of dresses. What is his... size?)
...
"Whoa, whoa, time out! Where'd you two learn such foul language?" teased Loona. "I oughta wash your mouths with soap."
The little human boys stuttered and blushed at Loona's playfulness again.
"Hahaha! Double whammy!" she laughed, making the other boys laugh too. ...But only a little from Balin. "Alright, keep going. You're getting good."
Loona kept on recording as the two continued their little Italian project for the next few minutes.
THAT NIGHT...
At the I.M.P building, Blitzø was on the roof cooking sausages for dinner, courtesy of Matt and his family's butchery at the local No-Name Town markets.
A few rocs (giant birds of prey) swooped down trying to snag them, but Blitzø always managed to duck when he wasn't looking or cover the sausages from their talons with his blazer.
"Ha! How's that for a dinner rush! Stella!" laughed the boss as he flipped off the last roc, before whistling to the gang. "Y'all get your asses up here for some good ol' brats!"
Moxxie, Millie, Loona, Neptune and Marijiana walked up to the roof having heard Blitzø's 'dinner's-up!' shout.
"Loona, would you mind prepping the bread and butter, please?" he then asked his daughter-on-paper.
"Well, since you asked nicely. For once. Like the kiddo does." she replied, scooping the butter in her claws and spreading it along the slices of bread.
This made a disgusted Moxxie nearly gag, taking only one sausage with his tail.
"I am not fucking eating the bread." he seethed to Millie.
"Carbohydrates? I get it." teased Loona, as usual.
"Now, now, let's all get along and DIG IN!" Blitzø calmly said before cheering at the end.
Everyone grabbed a sausage sandwich form the BBQ, and as they took a bite of the small supper, they instantly fell in love with the sausages.
Loona was yet to try one, but examined what everyone else thought about it just in case. But since their reaction was good, it was good enough for her to take a bite. And once she did, she widened her eyes.
"Oh my Satan."
...
Meanwhile, Balin sat in the meeting room. He finished the last of his book report on 'Breakfast of Champions' while watching a recorded episode of 'Imagination Castle.'
"Imagination Castle will return, after these fucking messages." the TV broadcaster said.
Balin then looked up at the TV as it began showing the commercials. ...Some rather, sad, commercials.
First, there was a charity ad supported animal abuse on bears, white tigers, and monkeys. Soon, Balin changed the channel to see a breaking news bulletin of a human who poured broiling hot coffee on a baby before fleeing the cafe AND the country. Changing it again, he finally saw a Coca-Cola commercial with kids wishing for a better world as a Xmas present whilst sitting on Santa's lap. There was even a news report that a kid died from a terminal illness as he sat on his lap.
As this went on, he saw some of his other TV favourites having scandalous moments and emotional scenes with fighting, crying, and sad music.
Finally, he saw a music video for the Moby song 'Are You Lost in the World Like Me?' made by Steve Cutts, showing people on their cellphones 24/7 until they went to sleep or died, with only one little boy amidst the chaos.
Staring deeply into the music video, it all reminded Balin of his tragedies before meeting Loona, how cruel life in the open world really was outside of a child's perspective.
He looked through the windows to see Hell in its real night-time beauty. More of those bad people and lifestyles may've existed down here, but he started getting more love from the demons here than anyone else in his world.
But he still thought about his family, and all the love he'd received from the media there since he came back.
Sitting down in silence and sadness, Balin had enough of the TV. He bowed his head and started sniffling.
Millie soon came into the office to remind the little boy of the chow-down on the roof, but walking into the meeting room and hearing his sniffles, she figured with all her aunty senses that something was wrong.
"Balin?" she softly spoke. "Are you okay, sugar-booger?"
"No, Aunty Millie." his voice croaked, like he was about to cry again.
"Awww. Baby." Millie then picked him up, sat in his chair, then cradled him back and forth on her lap as they hugged. "Tell Aunty Millie how you feel."
Balin then pointed at the TV to show Millie all the sad stuff he was seeing on Earth's TV cable.
"Ohh, cute little darling." she rubbed his hair as she planted his face into her chest. "I'll be alright. Aunty Millie's here. She's got you."
Loona then walked into the meeting room with Blitzø and Moxxie peaking through the door.
"Is he okay, Mills?" she asked her gently, before Millie nudged her at the TV set and all the painful shit it was showing.
She then turned it off by the knob and soon opened her arms to the boy. Millie then handed him to Loona, who sat down next to her placing him onto her lap next.
"I take it the TV got the better of you, squirt?" she said. "All that stuff about seeing the world too, I guess."
"Is this what life is?" sniffled Balin. "Not nice?"
All the four demons heard that loud and clear, their hearts melting for him.
"Hey, don't be sad. It's okay." Loona soothed him. "Sometimes it can be. Take it from me."
She then softly made Balin look up at her with one of her claws.
"Say, Loona, let's find the sweetheart better channel for him to watch." said Millie.
The tomboy imp grabbed the remote with her tail and began to scroll down the guide for a better channel, from a kids' cartoon to an appropriate comedy one, until she landed on the perfect one:
The 'One World: Together at Home' channel, featuring performances from Elton John, Lady Gaga, even Jimmy Fallon during the pandemic.
But one performance that was currently being played was:
...
"WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD" by LOUIS ARMSTRONG. Covered by SHAWN MENDES & CAMILA CABELLO.
Everyone immediately got indulged, watching this soulful cover performance, while Balin was still nuzzled in Loona's warm fur as he slowly stopped crying.
As she warmly smiled, Loona cradled him in secret during the first verse.
And Millie began singing from Camila's first section of the song.
MILLIE:
I see, skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day
And the dark sacred night
And I just think to myself
What a wonderful world...
With a smile and a guitar from the weapons room, Moxxie joined in too.
MILLIE and MOXXIE:
The colours of the rainbow
So pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces
Of people going by...
I see, friends shaking hands
Sayin' how do you do
They're really just saying 'I love you'
MOXXIE:
I hear, babies crying
I watch them grow
MILLIE:
They'll learn much more
MOXXIE and MILLIE:
Than I'll ever know...
LOONA (whispering / singing):
And I think to myself
MOXXIE, MILLIE, and LOONA:
What a wonderful world...!
As the song slowly came to its ending, Balin started growing a little tired, feeling a very moved smile from the demons' singing.
MILLIE and MOXXIE:
What a wonderful world
It's still a wonderful world
All the pain that we've been through
All the fears and doubts
I still think to myself
What a wonderful world.
SONG ENDS
...
The song now over, Balin was fast asleep in Loona's arm as his tears stained her fur.
"Thanks guys." she whispered. "I... can't believe I'm about to say this, but I... couldn't have, ugh, done it without ya."
"Anything for our babe." Millie replied.
"You're not the only one who cares about him." added Moxxie.
"Right. Well, I think I'll take him home for the night." Loona whispered again.
She then slowly walked past her adopted dad, who was moved by what he just saw.
"Good night, Loonie." he softly smiled to her.
No answer. She just walked out of the building, with the child still in her arms.
The office grew quiet for the rest of the evening that it was open for.
LATER THAT NIGHT...
After tucking the little guy in bed, Loona was in hers about to go to sleep, when she went to her contacts app on her Hell-phone to call Via.
"Loona?" she groggily responded, like she was sleeping.
"Princess. Put your dad on." she asked.
"Certainly."
Loona just waited a few seconds as she heard Via get out of bed and walk out of her room to find Stolas.
"Ms. Loona?" Stolas then spoke softly. "What is the meaning of this call?"
"Your Highness, it's about the kid." Loona then spoke to the point. "He's okay, but only in Hell. I think he's starting to lose his faith in the home he came from."
"Oh. I see..." the demon prince replied with a little sorrow.
"But I have an idea on how to raise his spirits up there." Loona continued.
A/N: See y'all in the next chapter.