Author's Notes: Welcome to the chapter that boosted this to M!

~MC~MC~MC~

"I'm following you! I'm following you!" Cassie complained as I dragged her towards one of the newly made conference rooms at the hotel. Normally I wouldn't manhandle someone, especially a friend, but considering the insanity Cassie had just screamed at me I decided that it might be best to get the dragoness someplace where we could fucking speak. "Geez, there is- hey, this place looks really nice." She looked about the room and whistled, her complaining dying off.

During my first month at the Hotel I had quietly made notes on all the things that Charlie could do to help out with her mission to help the Damned. It ranged from little things like actually reading up on some therapy books to new classes that could help out the Sinners, like the Art Therapy sessions. Larger were things like the stores that would offer safe employment as well as safe shopping. And of course there were the conference rooms. I had argued that for certain things we NEEDED a professional place. Just like how scientists said that insomnia could be caused by people not creating a bed time ritual and instead doing things they would normally do when awake, like playing on their phone, so too would it be harder for them to feel safe and feel the need to dedicate themselves to working through their problems if they just did the meetings in the dining room or one of the many lounges.

"This isn't a sleepover," I had told her gently. "I'm not saying that we can't do things like sleepovers… honestly that might be nice for everyone. Maybe run it through me or Vaggie-" Because thanks through my force of will I had, without it ever being verbally stated, becoming Charlie's third partner in running Hazbin, along with Vaggie and Alastor, "-but it's something we can consider. But… when we need to get to the root cause of what is going on in group sessions we want people to automatically feel like certain areas are safe places. We can tease each other and have fun in the lounges and rec rooms. But the conference rooms are for business."

Charlie had finally seen the wisdom in that and agreed to my demands and, as part of the renovations that I had helped pay for when it came to setting up my jewelry store, we had converted several rooms into large comfortable conference rooms.

It wasn't like the ones you'd see on a show like the Office, with the hard chairs and the bad lighting and the carpet that had suffered through a trillion muddy shoes. No… the seats were all nicely padded and adjustable, the table was polished and cleaned daily, there was a wall that could retract to reveal a view of the city, and a built in projector that could hook up to a phone or a laptop. Rather than the reds that dominated Hazbin I had gotten Charlie to do the conference rooms in nice mild browns, so that there was a more peaceful feeling to the room. We hadn't had a real chance to use it yet, thanks to the workers still hurrying to finish everything up with the wiring and the like, but it was getting there.

Motioning for Cassie to take a seat I had Jackie seal off the room. Someone must have been trying to listen in because I heard a hiss just outside the door as Jackie passed by it, magic sealing us inside.

"…so is that a boy or a girl?" Cassie asked.

"Gender fluid," I replied. "They don't care if you call them male or female."

"Ah. That's… neat." She winced. "Okay, that sounded-"

I held up my hand. "Cassie… what the fuck?"

"I didn't mean for that to come out as sounding transphobic or the like I just-"

"Not that," I said sternly, glowering at the dragon woman before me. "I am talking about the whole 'buy my soul, Edwin!' thing!"

"Right. That." She squirmed a bit in her seat. "So… do we need a contract? Do I give you a receipt?"

I rolled my eyes. "I need a lot more information."

"So you do need a receipt."

"CASSIE!" I thundered… and flames shot out of my body like a corona. I hadn't been expecting that and grimaced as I checked to make sure I hadn't actually lit anything of fire. "Okay, we'll deal with that in a few minutes but first: Why do you want to sell your soul?"

"I don't want to sell my soul."

"…but you just said that you want to sell your soul."

"no, I said I want you to buy my soul. There is a difference."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I am going to walk away now. When you feel like stopping this 'Who's On First Bullshit'-"

"I am going to fuck up," Cassie said, causing me to stop and stare at her. "I know it. We're in Hell… I'm not sure what we did to deserve being in Hell-"

"There is a real good chance that you did nothing," I admitted. "Jesus told me that I shouldn't be in Hell but something is forcing me to remain here." Cassie frowned at that but I held up a hand. "Again, its on my list of things to discuss with all of you but before I could even ask for meetings you decided to demand I buy your soul. So we are dealing with that. So… spill."

Cassie nodded, looking down at her taloned fingers. "I am going to fuck up, just like I said. I'm in Hell and unless you are able to pull something out of your ass this is my… forever. So any reason I had to stay on the straight and narrow is now gone." She shook her head and sighed. "So… why not live? For lack of a better word, I suppose. Why not just cut lose? Sex doesn't appeal to me though and I am willing to bet that violence will be common so… gambling and drugs seem like the things I will be gravitating towards." She got a, frankly, manic looking smile on her lips before she informed me, "I want to do ALL the drugs."

"Okay," I said slowly.

"no, you don't get it," she said. "I want to do ALL the drugs."

"I follow."

"I don't think you do!" she said with a fair too cheerful smile. "I am not going "Oh, I want to have a nice weekend where I snoke some coke and smoke some weed and maybe sample some of that nice black tar heroin". I mean I want to try ALL THE DRUGS. As in "Can I please make it that everyone goes into detox because I have them all, yummy yummy yum." I want to be like Cait from Fallout but after we do my entire affinity mission where I get detoxed instead of just being a feisty irish woman I'm the Englishwoman who goes right back to drugs because now I get to experience getting high all over again!"

I stared at her, rather concerned at how giddy Cassie was when it came to all this. It was… honestly, there weren't a lot of good words to describe what it felt like to watch someone gleefully talk about how they wanted to destroy their own lives.

"Cassie…" I said slowly, "this is HELL. That doesn't mean there isn't pain or suffering. You can still… you can still really fuck yourself up here."

"I know," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "But here's the thing… I did some talking with Angel Dust-"

"For fuck's sake if he is the one that suggested you do all the drugs-"

"no no, I already wanted to do that. Didn't even talking to him about that." Cassie suddenly perked up. "Should I? Does he know good people?" I shot her another death glare and she rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'll ask later."

"Uh huh," I said, making a mental note to talk to everyone about just WHAT they told my friends.

"I asked him about our durability. You know… we all look like bloody cartoon characters so just how much can we bounce back from. And he explained that unless its angelic steel anything that would kill us just makes us poof away and we reform outside of Pentagram, near the warehouse we all took over. So no need to worry about me choking on my own vomit!"

"…you ever see The Return of Jafar?"

Cassie at once deflated. "You'd be surprised what you can live through."

"You'd be surprised what you can live through," I echoed.

That lasted only a moment and then Cassie was back to her old self. "Right… but that's why it's a good idea you buy my soul. Because you'd be the… the gatekeeper! The warden! Making sure I don't go off the deep end."

I frowned at that. "Cassie…"

"Edwin… I am going to fuck up. I'm going to do all the drugs and I'm going to punch demons in the face when they try to fuck me because… I mean… hello!" She gestured at her body. "I'm Ace but if I saw another dragon walking around I would consider fucking it. I look fucking hot like this. And there is Duel Monsters here, Angel also told me that, so I'm excited to try that out and… and…" She let out a sigh and flopped back in her chair. "I'm not going to be thinking, I'm going to be living on the edge of a rush, and I'm going to do something stupid and sell my soul to someone. And Angel Dust warned me about that."

At that I amended my precious thoughts about a chat with Angel. Maybe he'd get a pat on the head and an attaboy.

"He told me about the demon that previously held his soul, Valentino. About how he abused him. He didn't go into details but… it was bad. I could tell it was bad. And then he talked about you. How you just demand Angel treat people with respect and not reveal your secrets. Otherwise you let him have the freedom to do whatever he wants. So he can live his life and so long as he is polite around the people you like… you let him be."

And she smiled.

"…damn it," I murmured to myself, Layla emerging from my body. "Contract," I muttered and Jackie made an opening for her to go to the door and rush out to get the documents.

"Uh… been meaning to ask…" Cassie said slowly, gesturing at the direction Layla had gone in.

"They are the souls of ancient Egyptians that were sacrificed to power up the Millennium Key," I said, gestured to the item that was embedded in my chest now, not that she could actually see it. "Our souls got merged together… we have separate thoughts and personalities but otherwise we are directly connected. Symbiotic. I provide them with a place to rest and a tether so that their forms don't… you know, disappear… and they aid me in building up my empire."

"And the jackal?" Cassie asked.

I frowned, looking at Jackie. "Admittedly that-"

"He is your Ka," Qeb said in my mind and I blinked at that.

"Huh… he's the physical manifestation of my soul, or a part of it. My Ka." Before I could continue on Layla returned with the documents and I looked them over. "This is the most basic of the Soul Claiming Contracts. You are getting a Millennium Eye-" Layla held out the golden piece and Cassie slowly took it, "-and in exchange I get your soul."

"Right," Cassie said slowly.

"You can back out any time," I told her.

"No… no I can't." And with that she thrust out her hand and I, with a grimace, grabbed hold of it. There was a flash of blue fire and then a golden bracelet appeared on Cassie's exposed wrist, another appearing on her other hand. "Huh… like the Genie from Aladdin."

"Yeah," I muttered, feeling sick to my stomach. Before I had claimed souls from the desperate and the wicked. People that honestly deserved to be in Hell and have their souls traded like currency. But now… now I had made a deal with a friend. Someone I cared for. I could feel the connection to Cassie, the power to torture and harm her simply with a thought. I could force her to do anything. Drive her to self harm. Make her stay still as I flayed her. Rape her to my heart's content. And she could do nothing about it.

Cassie was saying… something… but I quickly moved to the corner… and threw up in a waste basket.

~MC~MC~MC~

Lute slowly rolled out of bed and grumbled.

She wanted to be angry. Annoyed. Frustrated.

She wanted to be filled with righteous anger.

She was second in command of Heaven's mightiest force, the Exterminators. Trained in all forms of combat. She walked with saints and the divine on a regular basis. She was powerful, strong, smart, and capable. And what did she receive from the so-called goddesses? A quick meeting so that they could pledge themselves to Heaven? No! They gave them some trite about being busy searching for a mortal who had died and that they would meet in the morning!

It was disgusting! Insulting!

Lute WANTED to be angry.

…but the bed had been amazing.

Just the right mix of firm and soft, so that it supported her body. That was the problem with a lot of beds in heaven… they were literally made of clouds. And that was nice at first but one began to realize how it made it hard to get comfortable if you constantly felt like you were sinking.

But this bed wasn't so firm that it was like lying on a plank either. Just the right mix. And the blankets had been so heavy! But in a good way! When she'd gone to bed the room had become chilled and at first she had been worried but the blankets made it that she couldn't toss and turn and instead she felt like the bed was hugging her, comforting her and allowing her to drift off into the most pleasant of sleeps.

'I hate to admit it… but they have been respectful in everything other than meeting with us,' Lute thought to herself. They had been shown last night to a dining room where a grand feast was laid out, featuring all manner of earth foods. Modern and ancient too… Adam had moaned over some kind of apple pudding that he said hadn't been made in centuries and no one in Heaven could get the spices quite right. And Odion had been pleased with a curry that had been on the table. It had been easy to gorge themselves, though Lute had made sure that she was always respectable while she did so, aware that the moon goddesses might have been watching them despite claiming they were busy.

Getting up she stretched, doing the limbering up exercises that had been a routine for her for years, all designed to allow her to quickly fall into battle stances if needed. The view was amazing, allowing her to see the entire earth dangling in the darkness of space, the sun beyond it and Mercury and Venus also there. Yes, Heaven had its clouds and blue skies but… but there was something about the beauty of space…

There was a knock at the door and Lute jolted out of her thoughts and hurried to it, grabbing her sword and readying to attack the intruder.

"Yes?" she said in a low voice.

"My mistresses wished to inform you that the baths are ready, so you might clean yourself before breakfast," a voice said and Lute, after a moment, cracked the door open to see that there was a masked attendant standing outside, hands folded in front of them.

Lute pressed her lips together. A… a bath wouldn't hurt. She preferred showers but… well, she wasn't going to be the rude one. Let them make the mistakes, not her.

"Very well," she said, "if you will give me a few moments?"

The attendant nodded and Lute moved to quickly remove the silken pajamas she had been given and grab a long robe that had been hung near the door. Her clothes had been cleaned by the attendants and left for her and she snagged those as well, along with her boots, before finally slipping her feet into some soft gray slippers. Settled she dropped the pajamas into the same basket where she'd left her clothing and moved towards the door once more, opening to find the masked attendant still waiting for her. It made her wonder if it was an actual living creature or something that had been born of magic, following the orders of the goddesses that ruled the moon.

'I suppose it doesn't matter, so long as it isn't a threat,' Lute thought to herself, wishing she had her sword on her; Adam had told her they couldn't bring weapons, as they were supposed to guests and also trying VERY hard not to enrage the moon titans. 'I could still end it with my bare hands.'

They moved through a hallway and she noticed that there were paintings that depicted the same man in different moments. Not poses… no, even though they were clearly painted the images were more like photos, capturing him in different moments of unawareness. Him laughing at something. Him holding up a Duel Monster card. Him sleeping on a couch. Nothing dramatic. Nothing epic. Just moments in life.

"That is the master of the house," the attendant stated.

"I was unaware there was a god living here," Lute said, surprised. 'I swear, if Adam left out important info-"

"Oh no," the attendant said lightly, "he is no god. He is Edwin Chaos."

At once Lute understood. 'So… this is the mortal the goddesses are searching for.' According to what Adam had been able to dig up Selene, upon the death of her love, had decided that she would not wait for him to be reborn. She and her sister (and Lute was still unsure where this 'Tea' fit into everything) were desperately searching for him. She had assumed it was because Edwin Chaos was just someone the two cared for, like a pet. But to call him the master of the house… "Has he been here?"

"No, not yet," the attendant stated. "But the mistresses are quite clear that when they find him they will bring him here. They are already selecting which gods will be drained to make him immortal."

Lute didn't say a word. They wanted 'gods'. Not God. Thus it was no matter to her what they did. So long as they didn't meddle with Hell or Heaven (the True Ones and not the fakes and frauds) she could care less about their actions.

After a few minutes of walking the attendant motioned towards a door and Lute stepped into a warm, steamy room. It was made of the same gray stone as the rest of the palace but here there were green plants all over. Long drooping vines fell down from the ceiling and creepers wrapped around pillars. There were ferns with thick bushy leaves and palm fronds all over. In the center of the room was a large fragrant bath, more like a swimming pool than a tub, and a thin waterfall silently sent water into the pool, the excess entering into grating on all sides.

And the two goddesses, completely naked, were washing themselves.

"Ah, finally awake," Selene said, her long silvery blond hair falling down her back. She smiled as she lifted up a leg and used a loofah to suds it up while her sister, Tea, was seeing to her arms.

"What… I was told…" Lute said, hating how she was stammering. She lifted her arm up to shield her eyes only to hear a laugh.

"Oh… I remember when I was a prude like you!" Tea declared. "It took Selene a while to get such… human… emotions to be bled from me."

Lute glowered at that, still trying to avoid staring at the naked women. "I will go someplace else."

"Why?" Selene asked. "I don't see the problem."

"You are naked!" Lute snapped.

"So? Do you not claim that all of humanity is crafted in God's image?" Lute heard the goddess chuckle. "Is God offensive to you?"

"This is sinful-"

"God had no problem with Adam and Eve wandering the Garden naked. It was only when they sinned by eating from the Fruit of Knowledge that they were ashamed."

Tea chimed in. "One could argue that nudity is a blessed thing."

Lute grit her teeth. "I am in no mood for your disgusting sexual advances-"

"Sexual advances?" Selene tittered. "Tea… were you thinking about sex?"

"Not at all. I'm just bathing."

"So am I." Lute heard Selene moving through the water. "So… that leaves YOU with the dirty, dirty mind…"

Lute's nostrils flared. She knew what they were doing. She knew EXACTLY what they were doing. What they wanted her to do…

…but she also knew that if she turned around and left then they would have won.

So she selected the best path and dropped her arms from her face, staring right at Selene and Tea. The latter had purposely swum up to the edge of the pool, resting her breasts upon the tiled floor, while Selene was lazily reclining on her back, floating without a care in the world. To her surprise there were no smirks or looks of victorious mockery. No… while they had been teasing in their tones now they looked… like they were just bathing.

Somehow that was even worse. Lute wanted them to be arrogant and cocky. She knew how to deal with that.

'I won't let them win,' she thought as she set her clothing down in a cubby near the door, each one with a glass door that made sure the garments didn't get wet. Then she removed her slippers and robe; despite how warm it was in the room she still felt like shivering. Not that she allowed herself to. No… she willed herself to remain steady and firm. To not dare even tremble as she walked towards the pool. She moved with the grace of a predator. Lute didn't smile, didn't smirk, didn't even bat an eye. She just moved towards the waters and slowly lowered herself in.

"Very good," Selene said to her left, gliding through the water and handing her a soft cloth. She gestured towards a basket near her that was filled with different soaps, lotions, shampoos, conditioners, and pumice stones. "You hold yourself like a goddess."

Lute refused to react to that.

"We've sent Adam and Odion away," Tea replied calmly just as Lute dipped the loofah into the waters. "They are off hunting snipes."

Lute frowned at that. "Are… those even real."

Selene shook her head. "Not in the slightest. But it will keep them busy. Adam… he is a bit too brash for my tastes. I think I'd rather deal with you first when it comes to discussing things."

"We merely want you not to interfere with Heaven or Hell."

Tea shrugged before, to Lute's surprise, she suddenly grabbed her foot and lifted it up. "So long as-"

"What are you doing?" Lute demanded, moving to kick the woman only to find she couldn't move. Tea's grip, while seemingly gentle, was like steel, her fingers refusing to bend or release.

"Its so hard to get to all the rough spots," Tea said. "And wearing boots like yours for too long can cause you to get such callouses." She reached down and slowly peeled Lute's toes open, running a finger along the inside, shaking her head. "Oh, that won't do."

"Relax," Selene said as she came behind her, running wet fingers through her hair. "You are our guest… allow us to treat you."

"I don't-" Lute began but Selene pressed a hand to her shoulder and pushed and for a moment the angel was terrified she was going to be drowned.

"Let. Us. Treat. You." Selene said and Lute, realizing that she had no choice, forced herself to yield.

Lute waited for it. Waited for the moment they would try and seduce her. When their touches would become caresses and kisses. When they would try and lure her into their sinful acts.

It never came.

The two goddesses merely helped her bathe before finally letting her go and leaving her to her own devices. They would occasionally ask her a question about Heaven, but it was all so casual that she honestly didn't mind answering, though her replies were curt and short. And they did give her openings to join in with their conversations but never pressed. Eventually they left and Lute was left alone, it finally dawning on her that the two had made no move to seduce her.

And as she dried off and got dressed… she felt oddly… disappointed.

~MC~MC~MC~

"I'm just saying I'm a touch insulted."

Charlie frowned as she saw Cassie following after Edwin, who was looking rather pale. No… incredibly pale.

"Edwin!" Charlie said, rushing over to him and grabbing onto his arm. She could feel the tremors running through his body and at once Charlie twisted her head and yelled, "NIFTTY!"

"Yes?" Niftty said, popping out of an air vent.

"Get a bed ready! And warm some water… maybe some compresses…"

"I'm not having a baby, Charlie," Edwin said, his tone a touch grumpy but she was willing to forgive that because she could tell he was in pain. "I'm fine just… ugh, does it count as throwing up if its just stomach acid?"

"From my experience," Angel Dust said, appearing from around the corner, "yeah."

"Okay, then I've thrown up 4 times."

"Niftty, electrolytes then!"

"Angel Number 2 or Number 5?"

"Number 5 I think."

"HEY!" Angel complained, realizing that they had a gauge for how bad he was coming off a night of using. "Why not Husk!?"

"I don't get hungover," Husk replied.

"That's my secret, Captain," Edwin muttered, "I'm always hungover."

"I got that reference," Cassie said.

But Charlie glared at the stone dragon woman. "What, exactly, did you do to my friend?"

Cassie at once held up her hands. "I don't know why he is like this!"

"Does this have to do with you demanding he buy your soul?"

"WHAT?!" Angel screeched while Husk looked just as startled. "Why would you DEMAND he buy your soul?"

"Because I'm looking for protection, okay?"

Cassie began to explain things to Angel and Husk but Charlie focused on Edwin, leading him over to a chair and setting him down in it. "What happened?" she asked softly. "You don't normally react this way to claiming a soul… right?"

"No," Edwin said with a humorless chuckle. "But this was different."

"How so?" Charlie asked. "I mean… I never did the soul buying thing. Never saw the point, you know? I get for many Sinner Demons its all about power but I'm the princess of Hell annnnnnnd…" she trailed off but Edwin just smiled faintly.

"Normally when I claim a soul there are two possible reasons. First is that the person is desperate for something and are willing to treat their soul like its napkin on the street. Those people annoy me. Its your SOUL. Its your very existence. You don't go giving that up, especially for some jewelry. So my thought process is if you are so willing to give up the most precious thing in existence just a bit of gold… then I'm going to show your soul the same respect and treat it like a prize."

Charlie winced at that. "Yeah… I can… kinda see that." She rubbed her left arm awkwardly. It was something she had noticed too, how there were demons that just saw their soul as meaningless and were willing to sell it away to get a momentary good thing. She knew that Angel had sold his for fame, and there were others that had done it to get nice apartments or to work for the likes of Vox. She'd never heard about jewelry though…

Edwin must have seen her disbelief because he sighed and said, "It wasn't common. And there were some who thought I would only demand souls but because they were clearly nervous and scared and not wanting to do it… I didn't press them. I worked with them or I turned them down. It was only the ones that were so materialistic about it that I claimed."

"Right," Charlie said. She wasn't happy period he claimed souls but she understood.

"The majority though," Edwin continued, "I hunted down."

"…hunted?" Charlie asked, having a feeling she wouldn't like what he was about to say.

"There are horrible, evil, vile people in Hell, Charlie. I know you want to redeem Sinners and yeah, there are ones I think can be redeemed." He paused. "Hmm… there is this one school teacher who totally got screwed over by her cheating husband…" He shook his head at that and continued on. "But a lot of them? Monsters. Disgusting, repugnant monsters. They torment others and get off on it. The cannibals. The serial killers. The sadists. So… I find out their secrets. Their weaknesses that they have long tried to hide. And then I use them to claim their souls. And then I decide what to do with them. Sometimes I let them be, if their vileness is restrained to other vile people. Others…"

He suddenly held up his hand and squeezed and Charlie would forever swear she heard someone scream out in the far distance.

"There are only a few who don't fit that pattern. Husk and Angel Dust are the main two. I am holding their souls because I know if I return them now they'll just gamble them away again. Maybe, in a few years, when I trust them and they've proven that they truly understand how precious they are? Yeah, I'll surrender them. No cost."

Charlie was startled by that. He had hinted at it, mentioned it to Husk… but she had thought it was him just giving lip service. But she could tell in that moment he was being honest.

'That… that doesn't happen,' she thought. 'People don't just surrender souls!' It had happened a few times that she knew of, where someone regained control of their soul. But it always came at a heavy cost. Her ex boyfriend's family had really been into claiming souls and she knew of at least one time they had given a Sinner back their soul but only after they had managed to get them 1000 souls in exchange. And it had taken nearly a century to do that. Edwin just flippantly being willing to surrender Angel Dust and Husk's souls?

"But Cassie? This is her putting that power in my hands. Telling me she wants me to protect her soul because she doesn't trust herself. And… and I don't know what to do with that, Charlie. I don't honestly know what to do with that…"

Charlie winced, hating how lost Edwin sounded. So all she could do is sit down on the bench beside him and rub his back as he stared at his hands.

"…baby dragons are basically me," Cassie said, Charlie finally tuning into her conversation, "and I know that they will sell our souls in a heartbeat."

"I don't know about that…" Husk said just as Niftty showed up… followed by three baby dragons wearing long red robes.

"I gave them a cookie and now they worship me as their goddess!" Niftty said brightly as everyone stared at her, the babies bowing to her.

Husk grimaced. "Okay, I retract my statement."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Well my dear, where would you like to go next?"

Octavia smiled as she and her father left the museum. Normally looking at dusty exhibits wasn't her thing; her mother had always been trying to force her to look at the paintings in their home and the statues and the other useless knickknacks, saying that she needed to learn the history of their family. Which was something Octavia didn't get, at least when it came to her mother; after all, it wasn't like the figures depicted were her blood family, so why did she care? Octavia might have enjoyed it, but her mother's pressure for her to pay attention and recite all sorts of facts and focus on what SHE wanted her to see, rather than what interested Octavia, had drained all joy she might have found in it.

But her mother wasn't there. It was her and her father, disguised as humans, and they were able to do whatever they wanted.

So they had been able to go through the museum and look at all sorts of displays. They had seen the giant dinosaur bones, which had been very exciting for Octavia as, as everyone knew, all dinosaurs went to Heaven. They'd seen displays about ancient Egypt and the romans and one great exhibit about how the British Museum kept stealing things from Italy and Egypt and the like.

"I believe," her father said as he looked over the phone he had gotten, Octavia having a matching one, "that there is one of the taxidermy shops you like nearby-"

"Actually?" Octavia said with a slight bashful smile. "I was wondering if we could go to the aquarium? I heard some people talking about it and it might be fun to see the animals… alive."

"Oh. Oh!" Her dad lit up at once. "That would be wonderful, my dear! And perhaps if you like it we could see about the zoo…"

As he chatted away Octavia found herself thinking about just how HAPPY her dad sounded. So… stress free.

'I wonder if we could stay here forever,' she thought to herself. 'I wouldn't mind living amongst the humans…' She glanced at her reflection in a storefront window. It was so ood, seeing herself as a human. Her father had shown her the transformation spell and she had been delighted to try it out… but it was still odd to have hair instead of feathers. She did like the way she looked… tall and lean like her dad… but she did wish she were a bit more… well… up top- "OOMPF!"

Octavia let out a cry as she hit something and fell down, her father at once rushing to help her up. But when she looked up it wasn't her father she saw… but the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

He was tall, for one thing. And he was the right mix of lean and muscular too. Not bloated with muscles like a lot of demons in Hell, but also not a rail thin stick either. Just… right. Perfectly proportioned. He had brown hair and as he leaned down to offer her a hand she couldn't help but gaze into his kind eyes.

"I am so sorry about that," he told her, gently helping her up when she gave him her hand. Octavia had to remind herself to let go, as all she wanted to do was grasp his fingers til the end of time.

"M-my fault," she stammered. "I ran into you, after all."

"I should have jumped out of the way."

"oh my," her dad said, gesturing at the bags on the ground. "Here, let us help you…" Octavia nodded and helped her dad and the stranger gather up the… books? On… hell gateways?

The teen smiled, clearly embarrassed. "Sorry… my friends and I… anyway, no big deal."

'Don't go. Don't go. Don't go.' This thought raced through Octavia's head. She didn't want him to leave! She could tell he was preparing to and she didn't want that at all! "We're going to the aquarium!"

The teen blinked at that and she grimaced. She felt so stupid! So-

"Really?" he said with a grin. "I once had a duel there at the whale exhibit. They are getting ready to release him, you know. Finally ready to go out to sea."

"You… you did? I mean duel." She rubbed her arm awkwardly. "I… I like to duel."

"Were you in Battle City?" he asked and Octavia's heart leapt into her skull as he began to walk with them. She glanced at her father, mentally pleading with him not to say anything that would make him go away.

"I… no, we weren't. We… we actually just arrived in Domino."

"Well, it would be rude of me not to be a bit of a tour guide."

"Lovely!" her father declared. "That would be most helpful. I am Stolas of the Ars… I mean-"

"That's our last name!" Octavia said quickly. "Ofthears." She paused. "its Greek!" And then she added in a rush. "I'm Octavia."

"Tristan. Tristan Taylor."