Co-writer BuckJohnson here. Before we get into the new chapter, I would like to explain what makes this chapter different. This chapter was not written by me and JP like the other chapters. This "bonus" chapter was written as a collaboration between me and Faroe_King, the writer of the fan fics Newest Pup in the Family and Loona Goetia as well as the creator of the version of Marchioness Marchosias that was introduced in the last chapter of Helluva Dad. Faroe_King has allowed me and JP to use several of his OCs from both Newest Pup and Loona Goetia, two fan fics that I highly recommend, and when I asked him if he was possibly interested in doing a collaboration with me involving his character Marchosias in the Helluva Dad setting where we went over the events of the previous chapter from her perspective, he was more than happy to do so. So if this chapter feels a bit different from the previous ones, it's because JP wasn't involved in this one, though he did approve. Big thanks to Faroe for this collab, which was really fun. This chapter only exists because of him.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Marchioness Marchosias

It was late at night within the keep of Marchioness Marchosias. Some of the guards had turned in for the night and there seemingly was not a disturbance to be found. And in her bedroom the lady of the house was fast asleep, her Hellhound lover by her side, enjoying the tranquility and warmth of the night after a long day's work.

Then, one of her ears perked up. It was faint but the marchioness knew she had heard some kind of unusual noise coming from the kitchen. Despite her reluctance to get out of her warm bed, the winged wolf let out a sigh and pulled herself up. She left her bed to get dressed causing the bed to shift a bit; enough to wake up her husband as well.

"W-what's going on? Where are you going?" Hunter asked groggily as he lifted his head off the pillow and half-opened his eye.

Marie just gently shushed him as she finished dressing. "Go back to sleep, Hunter. Just a small disturbance, I'll take care of it."

"Don't forget your sword, could be… intruder," Hunter grumbled as he tried to go back to sleep.

"More likely it's just Diana sneaking in another late night snack," Marie chuckled, but she grabbed her sword just to be safe. Before leaving she went to her lover's side and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. "I won't be long, get some rest now."

"You better. Bed's not the same… not as waaaarm," Hunter trailed off before finally succumbing back to sleep, Marie quietly leaving their room and going to inspect the disturbance.

As Marie walked down the hallway to the kitchen, she once again told herself that it was probably just her daughter out of bed trying to get into the kitchen, since she had already been caught several times in the past doing just that. Quite frankly, it was a habit that Marie was starting to get worried about, especially since Diana already ate a lot and although her daughter was certainly nowhere near as fat as Mammon, she did have a bit of a belly and Marie had been meaning to talk to Halley about possibly putting Diana on a workout routine, something she had no doubt Diana would complain about.

But while it was most likely Diana trying to avoid receiving grief from her mother for her late night eating, Marie couldn't help but worry… what if it wasn't Diana? As she got closer to the kitchen, she began to quicken her pace, worst case scenarios flashing through her head. After all, if it was an intruder, it had to be somebody that could get past all of her security. That was not a simple task, since security was not something that Diana or her staff took lightly due to how keeping Diana safe at all times was top priority. Not only were there the guards and the regular security systems, but there were also the spells that Marie had put up around the keep, spells that would have tipped her off if somebody had trespassed… unless that somebody had managed to bypass her spells, her guards, and her other security measures. And if they had the means to do that…

Marie tried to banish the thought. She could think of a few demons capable of getting past her security, but they wouldn't do it in the middle of the night. They wouldn't come unannounced. No, it had to be Diana. There was nobody else it could be.

Then Marie had another thought, one that made her almost break into a run. What if it was Tilphousia, the Fury that had promised to destroy everything that Marie had cared about? Yes, it had been many years since the Fury had been last seen and there was no reason to believe that she would pop up now, but if it was her…

Marie quickened her pace, her hands tight on the hilt of her sword as she rushed for the kitchen. If it was Diana, she could apologize for startling her daughter. If it was an intruder, she would be ready. And this was her mindset as she came bursting into the kitchen…

…to find her fridge wide open, with someone sticking their head in it as they fished around for something. After a few seconds, the figure pulled his head out of her fridge, a beer in his hand. When the figure saw the sword-wielding Marchioness standing there, he didn't even flinch.

"Hello, Marchosias,"Beelzebub, the Sin of Gluttony, said in a rather dull tone.

Maire didn't know how to react. Obviously she was relieved it wasn't Tilphousia, but she was not expecting Bub of all demons. She hadn't seen him outside of Gluttony in what felt like ages. The Marchioness didn't know whether to hug him, relieved he was finally out of his house or chastise him for almost giving her a heart-attack just to raid her fridge.

"B-Bub? What-what are you… what are you doing here?" she eventually asked, sheathing her blade as she approached her old friend.

Bub didn't answer her. Instead, he casually lifted one of his feet to kick the fridge door so that it closed behind him. Then he popped off the top of the beer in his hand, took a swig, and swallowed, all the while Marie watched him in quiet shock. Only after he finished his swig did he manage to look Marie in the eye and talk to her.

"Your beer tastes like shit."

Unfortunately for Marie, he still did not answer the question.

For many it was hard to believe that the bee-like beer-drinking intruder in front of Marie had once been an angel, especially when compared to someone like Marchosias. Despite having just gotten out of bed, she still carried herself like an angel with all the regality that would imply. This was in contrast to the slouched Beelzebub, who looked and smelled like somebody who had stopped caring about what others thought of him, a few of his flies buzzing around his head.

And yet both Marie and Beelzebub were fallen denizens of Heaven, which was something Marie had in common with only a select few other demons.

Marie's eye twitched at her fellow fallen angel's nonchalant reply. "Are you fucking-" She nearly screamed in anger, forcing herself to calm down before she woke up the rest of the castle.

"First of all, you damn well know I don't drink that shit," she said quietly but harshly. "And more importantly, I think I'm entitled to a bloody answer, considering how close I was almost stabbing you."

When Beelzebub didn't give her much of a reply, just going back to drinking her supposedly shitty beer, the marchioness let out a tired sigh and opened one of her cabinets. She pulled out a bottle of wine, hoping it would make him a bit more agreeable, pouring herself a glass and then one for Bub. She left the bottle beside the glass, took a drink of hers, and softened her expression. "I am glad to see you again."

Beelzebub glanced at the counter, at both the glass she had poured for him and the bottle of wine next to it. For a moment, it looked like Bub was going to take the whole bottle. But instead, he went for the glass, picking it up and silently sipping it.

"Not a lot of demons would say that these days," Bub finally muttered, the bee-like demon's eyes staring at the floor.

Marie sighed. She couldn't deny that Bub was right about that. Outside of her own keep, Beelzebub was considered a disgrace by her fellow Goetia and his fellow Sins. Although she couldn't really blame them for having that opinion either, since Beelzebub was guilty of neglecting his duties and intentionally causing his Ring to fall into squalor.

"Oh?" she asked him. "Did you learn that by breaking into their houses as well?"

The flicker of a smile actually appeared on Beelzebub's face for a quick moment at Marie's joke.

"I deserve that," he admitted.

"Why are you really here, Bub?" Marie asked him. "Why unannounced? Why in the middle of the night?"

Beelzebub paused and Marie could have sworn that it looked like even he didn't know what he was doing here. "Maybe I just wanted to see you," he suggested while drinking from his glass. "And maybe, maybe I didn't want anyone else to know I was seeing you."

Marie's eyes widened a bit at the implication. She wondered if the Ring Lord had gotten himself into a bit of trouble, were it not for his undecided look. "Something you want to tell me?" she asked tentatively. "You can talk to me Bub; if it's something I can help you. You… you're not in any danger are you?"

Bub chuckled humorlessly. "Haven't you heard, Marie?" he asked her. "I'm crazy. Unhinged. Off my meds." He scoffed. "Even Belph thinks I'm being erratic because I refuse to take her pills anymore. I used to be addicted to those things, believing that they made me happy. But they didn't. Whenever they wore off, whenever I wasn't taking them, I felt even worse. And that made me take even more of them. Because they weren't actually making me happy. They were giving me the appearance, the illusion of happiness. And mainly that was for the sake of the Goetia and the other Sins. After all, Beelzebub can't throw his feasts if he's always depressed, right? That really kills the mood." His expression darkened as he looked down at his already empty glass. "And worse, those pills were clouding my mind. Making me forget…" He shook his head. "I'm not crazy, Marie. I'm just tired." He sighed and looked up at her. "Tired of forcing myself to be happy. Tired of pretending to give a damn. Because I fucking hate Hell. I hate how much it took from me. I hate how it's a fucking cycle where we do the same things over and over again. Nothing changes, nothing is new." His tone became desperate, his eyes pleading. "Surely you know what that's like, don't you, Marie? Neither of us were born in Hell…" He looked up, past the ceiling. "And there are days where I wish I never fell."

Marie didn't say a word, letting her old friend vent out, knowing he needed this. Once he was done, she paused for a moment, took a long drink from her glass and let out a long, tried, knowing sigh. "Of course I do, old friend." She joined his gaze up towards the celling, as if she was trying to look at the place she once called home. "I miss it too; Heaven. My old home and duties. I miss my friends… my parents… my family. Sometimes, I wonder if they're still thinking of me. What they would think of me now."

Though Marie felt happier now than she had in a long time, still she had to admit how tired she was of this fucking realm. Of her duties, the suffering, the cruelty and what it had done to so many of her old friends, including her own brother. Her family had helped, made it easier for her, but even then she still felt a longing for the life she once had.

"I've done my best to make the most of my life down here, to at least try and do some good, but it never feels enough," Marie continued. "For every good deed I manage, I make a mistake eclipses it. If I'm lucky, I can find a brief lifetime of love, only for me to lose them… or hurt them." Several people came to Marie's mind, each one feeling like a dagger to her heart. Phenex. Tilphousia. Alex…Clara. She fought back a sob at the thought of her, overwhelmed with guilt of how much she had failed her. "That pain, the loss… it never goes away, not really. I think you just do your best to live with it. Sometimes, I lie awake at night wishing I had never fallen for all that cock and bull they fed us. Is that selfish of me?"

Bub sighed. "I don't think I'm in any place to tell you if you're selfish or not," he admitted. "Considering all the suffering happening in my Ring right now as it wastes away." He shrugged. "Sometimes I wish I cared. But how can I? The lives of my denizens are so brief compared to ours. So insignificant. By design they're just a disposable workforce. How many passed away in just the time we've been talking? And I'm tired of playing the role that I resent Lucifer for giving to me. I don't get any satisfaction from it, despite all that power. Not without…" He paused, then looked at Marie. "I wonder," he said. "I wonder if you lost Diana, if something happened to her… would you be like I am now? And if I had not lost my son, would I have been the one you turned to when you had nobody else?"

The idea terrified Marchosias to her core. Diana, Hunter, they had been the one shining light she still had in all of the Rings. They gave her life meaning again, gave her hope things could be better. The idea of losing one or either of them…

"Honestly, I doubt I would even make it long enough to find out," she admitted somberly. "If anything were to happen to my daughter I… I can't lose her too, Bub. Not her too."

Bub stared at her in silence, appearing as if he was studying her. Perhaps he could have asked her about Clara, if she would have felt the same if she had lost her. But he supposed that she already had in a way.

"How do you care about them?" he asked Marie. "The lesser Hellborns? Whose lives are but flickering candlelight to our eternal fire?"

Marie thought about the answer while he looked at her hand. A small ring of silver around her ring finger.

"Yes, their lives are short. A drop in the ocean compared to us. But that does not make their lives any less important," she finally answered. "They know that their lives are brief and that is why most of them, try to make every day count. Every joyous moment, every loss felt, every victory won, they will take these treasured memories throughout their lives, and use it to motivate them for the short time they have. They'll share them with friends and family, who will hopefully tell them to theirs. In that way, they can achieve immortality, even if it's a brief one." Indeed, Marie could still remember several members of the old guard, battle buddies, mortal friends, even a brief lover; and she was certain their families still did in some way. "It's partly why I help the hounds; I don't want their brief life spent in so much misery. And I will try to do the same, with the mortal lives I do know. Because even though, they will leave me one day…" She stopped briefly, her heart heavy thinking of the day Hunter would possibly depart from her as well, her eyes becoming misty. "I, at least, will never forget their importance in life."

Bub was quiet for a long while. He seemed to be actually considering her words rather than immediately dismissing them. That was at least something, right?

"Sometimes I envy them," he finally admitted. He gave a dry chuckle. "I may not be Leviathan, but I can still envy, just like how Mammon can still stuff his fucking face." He sneered in obvious contempt, his tone briefly rising before returning to his dull, bored-sounding monotone. "But I do envy them. How brief their lives are, their ignorance. Sometimes… sometimes I even wonder if I would have been happier as a mortal." He paused, as if surprised by his own admission. "Do you ever wish that you could be one of them, Marie?"

Marie let out a small sad laugh at the thought. "On occasion," she admitted. "Heaven knows, it would be great to finally have a break from the royal life. To not have to worry about politics, or turf wars or having to live a certain way, just to appease the bottomless egos of a bunch of crusty old, bigoted shits. Instead of trying to get another bill passed or worrying about vengeful enemies gunning for my life, my only real concerns would be getting to work on time or whether or not I can afford a meaningless luxury on the weekend. Heh, imagine that."

Marie managed to get a small, genuine smile out of Bub for that. He looked down at his empty glass, trying to hide that smile, and Marie noticed that his body seemed to be shuffling awkwardly, an indication of how long it had been since he had spoken to someone like this.

"What do you think of me, Marie?" he asked, still looking down at his glass.

Marie was unsure how to respond at first, then she frowned and glared at Bub. "I… I can't overlook what you've done, Bub. I understand your grief and why, truly I do. But you've turned Gluttony, the home of most Hellhounds, into a wasteland! You've ruined uncountable lives, uprooted homes, dried up the forests and caused total upheaval with your apathy. The few living things remaining are forced to subside on scraps and possibly each other just to survive. Even if you hated your role, others shouldn't have to suffer for it. What you've done is inexcusable."

Marchosias was blunt in her reply; she had to be. Part of her curse for defecting Heaven, was a compulsion to always answer a question truthfully. And though she had gotten better at working around it and finding loopholes, an answer like that deserved her honesty. When she was finally done, Marie calmed down. Placing her half empty glass on the counter, she sighed: "But you're also one of my oldest friends, the few that I still have. The same one who helped me more times than I can count. The few good things I had in Hell for the longest time. I could never hate you, because part of me wonders if I would've been any different under the same circumstances. I wish you had done things better… but I still care about you. I hope you know that."

Bub didn't flinch once during Marie's rant. He seemed to have been expecting it, to have been prepared for it. He even seemed to appreciate her honesty. In a place like Hell, a little honesty could be incredibly refreshing. And he seemed to also appreciate the sentiment she added at the end.

He was quiet for a long time, letting her words sink in. Then he placed his empty glass down on the counter, picking up the bottle of wine instead.

"Thank you, Marie," he said. And before Marie could get another word in, Bub turned into a swarm of flies and vanished… taking that bottle of wine with him.

"Bub? Where are you-Bub!" Marie called out as the Sin disappeared from view, leaving her alone. Left alone with her thoughts, the marchioness wondered if his sudden appearance had really just been for a talk. He had seemed so melancholic during their chat, part of Marchosias wondered if. perhaps, there was another reason for his unexpected visit. If he was planning something.

"My lady?"

A rough female voice pulled Marie out of her thoughts. She turned to see Halley, Hunter's Hellhound second-in-command dressed in black and red regalia, entering the room with a serious look, her hand near where she kept her gun. "I heard you talking to someone; do you have a guest here? Or an intruder?"

Marchosias just finished her glass and shook her head. "Stand down Halley, there was no intruder Halley, just an old friend," she answered before walking towards the door. "It's late, you may go to sleep now. Satan knows we all need it."

Halley reluctantly did as asked while Marchosias returned to her room, where the warm side of her sleeping husband helped to ease her back to sleep.

At first, Marie wasn't sure if she should tell anyone else about Beelzebub's unexpected visit to her home. It had been a very personal talk, after all. But as more time passed, the more she thought about their talk and the more worried about him she became. She attempted several times to reach out to him again, only to get no response. She even visited the Gluttony Ring, which always broke her heart seeing the Ring in its current state, but was unable to find Bub. He was just... gone, which left Marie no choice but to raise the alarm by going all the way to the top.

Sometime after that, a meeting of the Sins was held where she was asked by Queen Lilith to tell them everything that she had told her by recounting her final conversation with the rogue Sin of Gluttony.

And now that meeting had ended. But while most of the Sins immediately returned to their home Rings, Marie hoped to catch one of them before she left.

And luckily for Marie, she knew just where to find. It didn't take long for her to find the old courtroom. It wasn't the first time she had been there after all. On occasion, she would be summoned there as a jury, and had found she often became nostalgic during her visits. The room was not unlike the one in Heaven; the place where she, Bub, and Sam among others had been sentenced to their eternal fate. The last time she ever saw Heaven in all its glory.

She quietly entered the courtroom, where indeed Samael was lost in thought. He and her had a complicated history. Much like Bub, she had once been friends with the fallen angel. But time and Hell had changed them both, so much that she could almost not recognize her old comrade, even with all their history together.

"I thought I would find you here," she said softly.

Marie heard Samael let out a sigh of resignation, as though he knew this moment had been inevitable when he saw her during the meeting of the Sins.

As he turned around to face her, Marie thought about how she could sometimes see the other Sins in the members of the Seven. As Bub admitted, he was guilty of Envy. And she obviously saw Gluttony in Mammon.

But in Samael? She saw Pride, a pride that could rival Lucifer's. While Marie knew that Sam missed Heaven just as she did and sometimes regretted falling, she also knew that he was too stubborn to admit it unlike her and Bub. He was proud, too proud to ever accept that he was wrong. It was one of the things about him she found frustrating to deal with.

For a moment, the two just looked at each other, feeling the weight of their long, shared history.

"Marie," Samael finally spoke, giving her a respectful nod.

"Sam," Marie said as she returned the courtesy. "I was hoping to talk to you after the meeting."

"Of course you were," Samael sighed. He gave her a quick look over before responding. "You look good."

While Marie was never one to be proud of her appearance, she had to agree. She had been younger when she fell and since then it felt like she had hardly aged a day now. Millennia had passed and yet she and the rest of the Fallen looked as young as ever. Although most of them certainly didn't feel young anymore, Marie included.

"So do you," Marie replied. Unlike her Sam looked more of his age. With his hunched over back, the grey in his otherwise red fur, the cloak covering his body and slightly gravelly voice, one could almost mistake him for an elder at a glance. She remembered a young Diana calling him grandpa during their first meeting, much to Samael's chagrin. But Marie thought Sam had managed to make it work, all things considered.

"It has been a while since we've last seen each other, hasn't it?" Samael asked.

"Yes, it has," Marie admitted. She briefly tried to remember when was the last time they saw each other, let alone speak to each other, but she quickly gave up. "I have been… busy lately."

She expected Samael to make some derogatory comment toward her charity efforts in the next breath, but instead he actually surprised her.

"So have I," Samael simply said, not even bringing up her charity acts. "How is… your daughter, Diana, doing?"

"She's doing alright, thank you for asking," Marie replied, politely. "How's your wife and Damian, your youngest?"

Of course, she barely knew Damian and he barely knew Diana. Truth be told, Marie only remembered Damian because he was Samael's most recent child. He had so many that Marie had lost track of them. Not that Marie was in any place to judge Samael for how many children he had, considering that she had once been no better than him even if now she only had two surviving children.

But while she didn't judge him for the number of children he had, she was never fond of how he treated them, tossing them out into the wastes of Wrath when they were old enough and telling them to make a name for themselves. He called it tough love.

Marie called it abuse.

Damian did seem to be getting different treatment, though Marie wasn't sure if that was because Samael had realized his past parenting methods were wrong and regretted them or just because he had actually married the mother of his youngest son.

"They're both doing well," Samael told her. "Narissa's sister and her son are visiting at the moment."

"That's good," Marie said before she paused, wondering how long she was going to beat around the bush before getting to what she wanted to really talk to Samael about.

There was a long pause before either of them spoke again. Marie was considering simply being blunt about what she wanted to tell him when Sam finally let out another sigh: "I know that there's something bothering you, Marie. If you want to say something to me, just say it. Stop dancing around the issue with pleasantries."

For a moment, she was taken aback by the response, surprised that her old friend had figured it out so quickly, after so much time apart. It seemed even now, he knew her better than she gave him credit for. Letting out a deep breath, she told him what was troubling her. Something that had been weighing on her mind for some time now, only just coming to the surface due to the recent development. "It's just… just that I feel like… that we could have done more to help Beelzebub."

Sam was not remotely surprised by this, the man letting out a groan in response: "Marie…"

"Sam, we're all fallen angels. We all fell after Lucifer, with Beelzebub being the very first to follow him to Hell. I think that's why he came to me. Because he wanted to speak to me as a former angel. We had both fallen from Heaven and all three of us have had similar experiences since our fall." She frowned in regret, cursing herself for not doing anything sooner. For not putting more of an effort to try and make amends with Bub, something she possibly could never do again, now that he was gone. She felt like a failure; not helping her fellow fallen despite knowing full well the pain he was going through. "I think… I think that maybe we should have realized how serious Beelzebub's issues were. That we should have made more of an effort to reach out to him, to help him. He's not that different from us, Sam."

"No, we are not like him," Samael said with a bit of a growl in his voice. He seemed to take offense at her remark. "Beelzebub is the only one who is responsible for his actions, Marie. That's on him, not us."

As much as Marie hated to admit it, Sam did have a point. Bub was ultimately responsible for his own actions. But instead of feeling reassured, Marie found herself frustrated with Sam's inability to admit he could have done something different. He always had to be right.

"And I think that is why he came to me and not you," she pointed out. "Do you ever remember when was the last conversation you had with him? What it was about?"

"I don't know, since I don't remember," Samael replied with an uncaring tone that frustrated her even more. "And I don't care to remember. I have no sympathy for Beelzebub. He is nothing but a coward." He scoffed slightly. "You have gone too soft on him, Marie. It's the damn Fury kid thing all over again…"

The mention of Tilly, said with the same indifference as all those years ago when he helped sentence her, was enough to light a fire in her throat. Even years later, she hadn't forgiven him for that. She had pleaded with him to reconsider, desperately tried to make him see the Fury as something beyond who her mother was, and he had dismissed it all without an inkling of sympathy. "That was a completely different situation," Marie fired back angrily, spitting a bit of flame at the proud goat. "And you know that I was right then. You should have supported me."

Samael's temper rose to match Marie's as he asked: "Are we really going to have this argument again?"

"No," Marie said, calming down, not wanting to start and fight and rather get back onto the matter at hand. "Because this is about Bub. And Sam, you know full well what Bub's been through." Her tone turned sympathetic as she reminded him of his fellow Sin and fallen angel's loss. "He lost his son." It was a loss Marie knew all too well, one she hoped would resonate with the Ring Lord.

Samael just scoffed. "So what? That's no excuse for his behavior."

The response angered Marchosias. Sure, she could agree on that point, but the way Sam dismissed her point as if Bub had just lost a toy caused her to growl in annoyance. Of course HE would think that. Considering the amount of his own children he had neglected and abused over the years, she had expected nothing less from the prideful bastard. And yet he still found ways to piss her off. She was a fool to think he had changed. "Of course. That's easy for you to say, Sam," she retorted in disgust. "I doubt you would care if you lost one of your own, considering how many children you've had and then tossed them aside, leaving them to fend for themselves in the wastes of Wrath!"

Marie had expected Samael to burst into rage at that comment like he was prone to do on occasion. She was prepared for that, but what she wasn't prepared for was Samael surprising her again. For instead of responding in anger... he only laughed.

"Kahahahahahahaha!"

Marie looked at Samael in confusion as the goat demon threw his head back in laughter like he had just heard the funniest joke in the universe. A joke that Marie wasn't in on.

"Do you really think that you can take the moral high ground here, Marie?" Samael asked, looking slightly giddy as he laughed again. "There might be some Heaven in you after all, because you're just as hypocritical as the higher-ups are by chastising me for how I treat my children!"

Marie was taken aback by this, blinking in surprise. She opened her mouth to fire back. "Now you see here-"

But before she could even finish her sentence, Samael cut her off with a single question that left her completely speechless.

"Tell me, Marie, how is your oldest, Clara, doing?"

Sam may as well had stabbed her in the throat, as his words left Marie silent, her body tense and her gaze lowered. Even with her curse, she had no words, because what could she say to something like that? How could she truly claim she was better, when she had been responsible for so much that had happened to her oldest daughter? She could still remember their last encounter, the hateful glare she sent her before disowning her on the spot. Just the thought filled Marie with guilt.

Samael just grinned, proud of how he had managed to hit her sore spot and fun their little argument. "That's what I thought," he chuckled as he left the room, unsympathetic to her pain. "Give Diana my regards, by the way, hehehe…"

His taunting laugh faded as he exited the room, leaving Marie alone with her thoughts and guilt.

Why? Why did she agree to that STUPID proposal from Nolas? Why did she agree to let him raise Clara? How could she have just… abandoned her like that? Her firstborn in ages, and she had left her in the care of that… bastard! And when she needed her most, Marie had left her, later on only contributing to her suffering, under the foolish thought that she was helping her. She deserved all the hate Clara had given her, but they still hurt her all the same.

Marie closed her eyes as she felt tears beginning to well up. "Fuck…" She quickly left the courtroom after that. It always had a habit of bringing back bad memories.

After that, Marie had no reason to stay in the Morningstar palace. She quickly made her way back to her own keep, trying to get the conversation with Samael out of her head. If she had to give that bastard any credit, it was that he knew how to get the final word in.

There were days when she thought about reaching out to Clara, who she heard was now working for Prince Gaap at his resort in Pride. But she wondered if that would do her or Clara any good, especially since Clara made it clear in their last encounter that she wanted nothing to do with her. There was also the possibility that visiting her unannounced and trying to force herself back into her daughter's life would only make things worse and Clara resent her even more. So instead she respected Clara's space and independence, hoping that when enough time had passed, Clara would give her another chance. And since they were both Goetia, time was something that they had an abundance of. And in the meantime, she could focus all of her attention on the younger Diana.

When she returned to her keep, she was about to ask for her daughter when she was informed by her staff of a letter that had been sent to her. Marie took the letter and read it, her eyes widening when she saw who it was from and what it was asking for. Perhaps Diana could wait...

Marchosias stepped into the bar, cringing a little at the foul smell. She remembered why she so rarely went to bars, let alone ones in the Ring of Wrath. The place reeked of vomit and blood, a small group of imps getting into a fight in the corner over a card game while no one batted an eye, more focused on their drinks.

The marchioness was in disguise, one of a few spells she knew, often using it to blend in with the common Hellborn, whenever she was spying or needed a moment's escape. Her wings had retracted and her snake tail was replaced with a white tail covered in dark markings. She wore a black wig that extended to her back and contacts to make her eyes red and more hound-like. She had shrunken down as well and had left her sword at home. She now wore a red buttom up blouse, along with brown jeans and some light make-up.

Scanning the various patrons, she tried to pin down the one who had sent her the letter.

"What are you doing here, Alex?" Marie whispered to herself as she searched the bar, which was hardly the first place she was expecting to find the son of Duke Alloces after all these years.

She then spotted a figure sitting over at the counter of the bar, their back turned to her. Although she couldn't see the figure's face, she did spot a mane and a lion's tail, making it easy for her to recognize him. As she walked over to the figure, she worried about how he might react to seeing her again, especially considering the note they had ended on the last time they had seen each other. And that was not even considering how Alex might have changed since then. This was, after all, the first time she had even heard from Alex since he had vanished. According to his father, Alex had been sent to an undisclosed location to lay low while the humiliation he and his family had endured blew over, but now she wondered how true that was and if even Alloces knew where his son was.

Once she was close enough, Marie took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever Alex had to say to her, whether it be good or bad. "Alex," she said, getting his attention.

The feline Goetia turned around in his stool and Marie was initially taken aback by how much rougher he looked. She would almost not recognize him if not for his blue eyes.

His mother's eyes.

Alexander finished his drink before placing it down on the counter. "Hello there," he greeted her, his expression difficult for her to read.

She grabbed the stool next to his, quietly sitting down as she faced the young boy she used to teach, now matured into a grown, and from the looks of it, weathered man. There was so much she had wanted to do… so much she had wanted to say. She may have considered hugging him, if it would blow her cover. That and their history together. They hadn't departed on the best of terms, and a large part of Marie feared he had come to resent her over the years.

"I… I got the letter you sent to me," she eventually said, swallowing back the emotions a bit. "You… wished to tell me something?"

Alex stared at Marie in silence for a few moments, maintaining a neutral expression that made it difficult for Marie to tell if he was surprised she actually showed up or not.

His gaze shifted slightly, eyeing some of the nearby imps that had been watching her since she came in... and some imps that had been watching him for a while.

"Not here," he whispered, just low enough for her to hear him. He then broke into a charming, confident smile. "I don't think I've seen you here before," he said in a completely different tone as his entire demeanor suddenly changed. "If I did, I think I would have remembered. A pretty lady in a rough place like this?" He chuckled. "But I'm not complaining. I could use some fun. I know a back room we can go to if you're interested."

It took every ounce of control in Marie's body to not break her cool. Alex, her pupil since childhood, was asking her for sex! Sure it was just an act but still? The idea was almost enough to make her break into hives at the idea.

She slipped for a second, forcing herself to calm down and force on a fake smile, before anyone got too suspicious. "Oh my, how very forward of you. Luckily, I was looking for some relief. Why don't you lead me there and I'll see if you're up to task."

Alex chuckled cockily, getting up from his chair and draping his arm around her waist as he lead her away from the bar. "Oh trust me ma'am. I'm all that and then some."

Marie allowed her to be lead into the room, doing her best to pick up the pace to get the awkward situation over with. Once they were inside, Alex had locked the room and they were sure no one was watching, Marie let out a long held breath and cried out: "Fucking HELL Alex, was that necessary? Surely there were better ways to get me along, without jumping straight to… THAT!"

Alex just shrugged. "It was the best way to make sure that we wouldn't be disturbed without earning any suspicion," he told her as he sat down in a chair. "These walls are thick. Nobody will hear us in here." He sighed. "I couldn't take the risk. There are spies everywhere, Marie."

His cocky, confident demeanor from outside was gone, replaced by something... a lot more world-weary. Alex was still young by Goeitia standards, only in his twenties, but he still looked a few years older than he really was and from what she had been expecting him to look like. Then there was the outfit he was wearing...

As she studied him, Alex looked off to the side, growling. "And you can stay quiet," he whispered, although not to Marie.

While briefly confused by her old pupil apparently talking to no one, Marchosias was much more concerned by his mention of spies. His guarded brow and insistence on privacy made her realize he was likely being hunted. She was worried but sadly not overly surprised. Wrath was a violent, dangerous place, filed with people who always seemed to have an ax to grind with someone else. She knew that Alex could take care of himself, so if he was taking so many precautions even with her, then things must really be dire.

"Alex are… are you in danger? Is there someone after you?" she asked worriedly, wishing she had brought her sword after all. She sat down across from him. "Is that what that letter was about?"

"What?" Alex asked, turning back to Marie. He quickly shook his head. "No, no. I'm not in danger. Nobody is after me. I just couldn't take the chance that we would be listened in on. That's not why I asked you to come here." He sighed. "I can take care of myself, Marie. I have for years. I actually debated over whether I should write to you or not, but I felt like you should know. And that I should tell you in person."

He took a deep breath. "It's about Tilly," he revealed. "She's here in Wrath."

Marie felt the room turn ice old at the news, as she looked horrified at the news. She lost her breath and felt herself shaking at the mention of the name that still haunted her in her nightmares.

Tilly. Tilphousia. The Fury she had orphaned, the one who swore to kill her and everything she loved… was here. She fell to her knees in shock as Tilly's last words to her played back in her mind.

"I WON'T BE LOCKED IN HERE FOREVER, DO YOU HEAR ME? I NEVER STOP UNTIL MY MOTHER IS AVENGED! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I WILL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING DESTROY EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE AND MAKE YOU WATCH! YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"

"Tilly is… but-but-but that's impossible! S-s-she should be-How did she-" She struggled to form words, still unable to believe what she had been told. She looked up at Alex, her eyes narrowing as she rose up to her feet. "Where? Where is she, Alex? Where did you find her? I need to stop her now!" she demanded desperately, her wings sprouting from her back as if she was about to take flight.

Alex sighed, unsurprised by her reaction. "And this is why we needed the private room," he told her, indicating the wings sprouting from her back. He crossed his arms and sat back. "I'll tell you, but don't do anything hasty, okay?" He took a deep breath before continuing. "She's thrown her lot in with a Spawn of Satan," he explained. "Some big dragon guy named Marcus who probably plans to kill his dad. He's been doing a lot of recruiting, which includes Tilly. I have no idea how he found Tilly or how he convinced her to work for him, but she's become one of his top enforcers."

As if Marchosias wasn't worried enough. She was not surprised one of Samael's never ending line of spawn was trying to kill the Lord of Wrath; Sam had lived through plenty of attempted patricides before. But from the sound of things this 'Marcus' sounded like he was plotting to gather up a whole army. And if he had managed to convince Tilphousia to join his cause, someone who hated most other demons with a boiling passion, than who knows who else he had gathered under this thumb.

Marchosias forced herself to calm down, though was still visibly troubled by the news. "A Spawn of Satan gathering allies? That does not bode well. No doubt he's plotting something big, perhaps even an attempt on Satan's life. And if he's managed to recruit Tilly then-" Then she stopped herself, as she thought of something. "Wait… Alex how do you know all this?"

Alex let out another sigh. "That's a long story," he admitted. "But the short version is that I helped kill one of Marcus's other enforcers, who was causing a lot of trouble in Wrath, attacking villages and slaughtering Hellborns. I'm still not completely sure what kind of deal Marcus had with this guy, but Marcus definitely wasn't happy about one of his own being killed, so he sent Tilly after me and I fought her. Almost killed her too." He glanced at a corner of the room before continuing. "But I didn't. And from her I learned about Marcus. Now I've met some of the Spawn of Satan before. You spend enough time in Wrath, you're bound to run into a son or daughter of Satan at some point or another. But Marcus... he's different. He's not just tough, he's smart. Pragmatic. I think he's been working on something for a while now, building up his resources. Probably for some attempt to overthrow his father, like you said. But it's not like his other siblings and their attempts. He has resources that they never had. And not just Tilly. Somehow he got his hands on a Terafrost..."

"A Terafrost?!" Marie asked in shock. "But-but those things have been extinct for centuries, how did he-"

The day was getting worse by the second. Indeed it seemed Marcus was far beyond any usual spawn of Samael. Possibly he was the strongest and most dangerous of them all by far. "We need to do something Alex," she declared seriously, already thinking of potential moves against this new foe. "The longer this Marcus is allowed to operate, the more damage he will cause; to Wrath and to Satan. It might not be long before he tries to kill Satan himself. And if he's as powerful as you say, perhaps he could do it too." The thought troubled her. Even at his worst, Marie would never want to see her old friend dead. Especially not in that manner. "Should we warn the others? At the very least Satan should know right? If Marcus really is this dangerous, it won't be long before he grows bold enough to act."

"If we warn others, if we even warn Satan, what do you think is going to happen?" Alex pointed out, not liking this idea. "Satan doesn't mind that his children plot against him. I'm pretty sure he encourages it. And I've been down here long enough to know that the other Goetia don't care about what goes on in the Wrath Ring. You would have to give them a reason to intervene. And the only thing that could get them to intervene... is Tilly." He paused for a brief moment. "But I think we both know what would happen to Tilly in that case, don't you?"

Marie paused at Alex's reasoning. Loathed though she was to admit it, he was right. Even if this Marcus could kill Satan, none of the royal idiots would lift a finger. They all thought they were too invincible to be hurt by 'lowly Wrathians.'

And then he mentioned Tilly, and that caught her off guard. Because she knew exactly what would happen if Hell learned that Tilphousia was alive and in Wrath.

For a moment Marie wondered if that would truly be so bad. Afterall, as long as she was alive her family was in danger and despite her best efforts, Tilphousia had refused to let it go. If it meant her family would be safe, perhaps she should just-

Images flashed in her mind.

Images of her comforting a young crying Tilly after she had learned what happened to her family. Images of Tilly drawing her a crude crayon picture of her and Marie together, Marie watching her with a proud smile. Images of Marie telling Tilly a story as she gently put the young, innocent Fury to sleep.

No. No even after everything Marie didn't want that to happen to Tilphousia. The same child she had grown to care for in the brief moment she was a part of her childhood. Even now, though Marie hated to admit it, she cared for her too much.

Marie let out a defeated sigh. "So… what do we do then?" She asked.

Alex visibly hesitated before he continued. "I cut a deal with Marcus," he admitted. "He was threatening a village, so I offered to take the place of the demon I helped kill as long as the village was left alone."

"You did what?" Marie asked, shocked by this news. She frowned at Alex's reckless decision and sternly reprimanded him. "What were you thinking? Do you realize just how dangerous this-" She stopped herself, realizing she was slipping into her old mentor role. One that her old pupil had long outgrown. Forcing herself to calm down, she let out a sigh: "No, I have no right to lecture you. You did what you thought was best, I understand." She gave him an apologetic nod, but still frowned determinedly.

"It isn't ideal," Alex admitted. "But this buys me time to figure out something better, it puts me close to Marcus so I can learn more about his operation... and it puts me close to Tilly." He paused, then looked up at Marie. "I can keep an eye on Marcus and Tilly. But I think we can both agree that you going after her right now would not end well for either of you.

"Then what can I do to help?" Marie asked, quickly adding: "And DON'T tell me to just leave it to you! I won't try to fight Tilphousia, but I am not just going to stand by and do nothing, while she's out there plotting the demise of my loved ones. You brought me into this and I am going to do my part!"

"You can help," Alex confirmed. "I need to know more about Marcus and what I'm dealing with. You have the resources to look into that. I don't. I'll also keep you in the loop, but besides that, take the necessary precautions. Keep your daughters safe."

Marie nodded; she could definitely do that. Might take her a while to find anything on Marcus, but she was more than willing to do the work. "Thank you Alex, it will be done."

Alex nodded back, but then he paused, remembering something. "How are your daughters, by the way?" he asked. "How's Diana?" He hesitated for only a moment. "How's Clara?"

"Diana is doing well. A bit too well if I'm being honest," she admitted thinking of her daughter's eating habits. "I'm hoping to get Halley to help get her exercising more or at least take up fencing again, but something tells me she'll be… less than receptive to the idea. As for Clara…"

Marie felt guilty just thinking about her oldest, looking away in shame at the thought of her. "I… I haven't talked to her in years, not since the wedding. I want her to have space from me. I know she's working at Gaap's resort but I doubt she wants to see me again. Understandably so." She turned back to Alex, an unreadable expression on her face. "Alex… do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

Alex was silent for a long time, thinking about his answer. And as she watched him, Marie suddenly wondered if she should ask him if he'll ever forgive her as well.

"I don't know," he finally admitted. "It's not my place to speak for Clara. That's between the two of you. But if you want my advice, giving her space could also backfire on you, since it might give the wrong impression if you don't even try to reach out to her and just wait on her, because if you wait too long, it might be too late. You don't have to explain yourself, but you should... let her know that you do think of her. That you do care. Maybe... write her a letter. That's a start, at least. It's... what I do for Alice."

Marie considered Alex's words and realized he had a point. She hadn't even considered that risk and cursed herself for not doing it sooner. "You might be right. No you are; it's been too long since I've spoken to Clara. I'll write her a letter as soon as I come home," she promised him. "It might take a while, but hopefully it might help. Perhaps she'd even let me see her again. I miss her."

The marchioness was becoming a bit emotional at the thought of her daughter, of potentially talking to her again after so much time of silence. She then turned towards Alex, her former pupil and the boy who was like a son to her, and a sad smile spread on her lips. "And… I've missed you, Alexander. I don't know if you still hate me or not; and I won't blame you if you do but-"

She couldn't hold herself back any longer. Closing the distance, she pulled Alex into a hug. Perhaps it was selfish of her, perhaps she was overstepping his bounds this once, but she couldn't stop herself. Not after all this time. Her voice cracked as she held him in his arms, the first time in too long. "It is so good to see you again."

Alex was... shocked. And for a moment, it appeared like he was going to hug her back. That he wanted to hug her back. But then he looked over his shoulder at something, or someone, that only he could see before he pulled away from Marie, slipping out of her grip.

"I... don't go by that anymore," the lion demon said while looking down at the floor to avoid meeting her gaze. "It's not Alexander or Alex now." He took a deep breath. "These days, I go by Cain."

Marie looked confused by the name. "C-Cain? Like the first murderer?" as he asked, not understanding why he was called that. "Al-what are you talking about? Why in Hell would you call yourself that?" All of her questions for him came out at once. "Just what exactly have you been doing here in Wrath? Is this where you have been all this time?"

Cain turned away from her and walked over to something that had already been in the room, something that Marie had overlooked.

A mask. A mask with horns coming out of the top and cracks around one of the eyes.

Cain picked up the mask and looked at it with a resigned expression. "A lot has happened since we last saw each other," he admitted. "I've changed." He looked around the room and eventually met her gaze. "We probably shouldn't stay in here too long." He then remembered something. "Oh, you know, I actually saw someone the other day that reminded me of Diana. A Hellhound that looked a bit like her. I initially mistook her for Diana, but I know you'd never let her come here." He shrugged. "It's probably nothing, but I thought it was worth mentioning at least."

Marie didn't quite understand. She knew things had changed, but for Alex, or Cain as he now liked to be called, had gone so far as to disown his own name… it worried her. So much so, that she almost forgot about this mysterious Diana lookalike he had encountered. She made a mental note to look into that, already considering a few theories as to what was going on, but she focused on her old pupil as he seemed to be exiting the room. Retracting her wings and reassuming her disguise, Marie gave him a concerned frown: "Where will you go now?"

Cain put his mask on and gave one last look at Marie, his blue eyes seemingly glowing through the mask. "I'll be keeping a close eye on both Marcus and Tilly," he told her. "We'll stay in touch. Don't tell anybody you've seen me. Especially not my father or my sister.'" He was about to leave, but then he paused, if only for a moment. "And Marie... take care of yourself. And your family."

And with that, Cain was gone.

Marie watched her pupil disappear from her life for the second time, though thankfully not the last.

She lingered in the room for a while, even after he had left. So many thoughts in her mind it was easy for her to become lost. Before now, she thought telling the Sins about Bub would be the high point of her day. And now, she had been slapped in the face with so many new revelations and unexpected turns, she didn't know which one to focus on first. And to think her biggest worry that day, had been trying to get Diana on a diet.

Eventually she left the room, walking past the fighting patrons and took the nearest bus back to the Pride Ring. All the while never shedding her disguise wondering what to do next and which concern was more important. But one thing she knew for certain, was that once she got back home, there was something she had to take care of first.

Over one decade ago...

When Marie had been asked by Duke Alloces to watch over for his son for the first time, Marie had thought the task of baby-sitting to be slightly beneath her. But now she actually looked forward to young Alex's visits to her keep, having become quite fond of the boy, who was still but a cub back then, his mane having not grown in yet.

Alex especially loved her library and always wanted her to read to him whenever he was visiting her, particularly stories of noble heroes from the world of the living. When Marie had asked him to pick out another story for her to read to him, the young lion cub immediately ran to the nearest book shelf and excitedly began to search for a story to choose. Marie gave a small smile of amusement as she watched him pick out a book from her collection, but as she saw him pull it from the shelf... something fell out of it. His blue eyes shining with curiosity, Alex bent down to pick it up and Marie felt her heart stop when she realized what he was holding.

It was a crude child's drawing, depicting with crayons Marie and a young winged child playing side-by-side in a field, both of them having child-like smiles.

"Marie," Alex said as he turned to her. He held up the drawing in confusion. "What is this?"

It had been so long since she had seen the picture last, the marchioness had almost forgotten it. Her heart ached with sorrow as she was reminded of one of her greatest failings.

"It's nothing," she said, taking the picture from Alex's hand, stuffing it into her pocket, trying the mask her guilty frown. "Just something from someone I used to know."

Alex looked up at Marie, his young eyes wide and inquisitive. Despite her best efforts to hide her guilt, he seemed to notice it and this only made him want to know more. "Who?" he asked. "Who was it that you used to know?"

Marie shifted uncomfortably at his curious question as she thought of her old friend. It had been a lifetime since she mentioned her to anyone. "I… I don't know if I should tell you Alex. It's not a story I think you'd enjoy; let alone one for someone so young."

"Hey, I'm not that young!" Little Alex proclaimed, annoyed by his babysitter's words. "My birthday is in two months, remember?"

Despite her guilt Marie couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle at the child's innocence, as he looked at her with a cute little pout. She was still unsure if she should even tell him. She had never really told anyone else about her history with Tilphousia; not since it became painfully clear there were none sympathetic towards the poor child's fate. But the way Alex looked at her with innocent, curious eyes, just wanting to know and help her, the marchioness eventually gave in.

"Perhaps it's better if I show you." Marie scanned through the library, eventually finding the books she had been looking for. Pulling out Greek Myths and Legends and The Secret History of Hell, she sat down and mentioned Alex to do the same. She turned the pages of the Greek myths book until she eventually came to a page with a picture. It showed a group of demonic women, wielding whips with long wings, sharp talons and snake-like hair.

"Long ago, there was a group of demons named The Furies. They were created by the Morningstars, shortly after the war with the First Satan. During that time Hell was fractured, chaotic and lawless, it's people doing whatever they could to survive; most using the chaotic to profit and do unspeakable acts towards others. Soon, they became too much for even the Reapers to handle, and thus Hell needed something stronger to combat the growing unrest and restore order to Hell."

"The Furies, right?" Alex asked, realizing where this was going.

Marchosias nodded, gesturing to another image showing Lucifer and Lilith Morningstar and Samael creating the first Furies from a pit of blood and darkness. "Exactly. Birthed from the darkest pits of Hell, some say with help from the Greek Titans themselves, the Furies were tasked to restore order by any means necessary, and were given complete reign of all the Rings as long as peace was restored. And they did, their campaign was brutal, laying waste to hundreds of dangerous demons, scaring the others to fall in line and restoring order through blood and fear." Marchosias initially hid the more graphic pictures from Alex's eyes, instead pointing to another showing a single Fury. A tall, muscular warrior woman, dressed in regal looking armor with a crown-like helmet on her brow. "Their leader was her. Tisiphone, the appointed Queen of Furies."

Alex gave a small frown. "I've never heard of her," he admitted. "Or the Furies. Or any of this."

Marie gave a small unsurprised sigh. Of course Alex wouldn't know about this. Why would he? It wasn't exactly something that Lucifer wanted taught, not to the lesser demons and not even to the younger Goetia. She had no doubt that the type of history books Alex would get in school would present a completely whitewashed version of the history of Hell with no mention of the Furies or the Horsemen or Kur or the true nature of the First Satan or even the Black Goat. And Marie knew that was intentional. With the passage of time, the only ones who remembered the Furies were the Sins and the oldest Goetia and Sinners while the rest of Hell was force-fed Lucifer's propaganda. And the less demons remembered, the less demons cared.

"There is a lot of history that's been forgotten. Intentionally so," she told him somberly. "Sometimes the people in charge don't want people knowing about the mistakes they've made or how things used to be, so they lie. They tell the teachers and history makers to preach to the children a falsified version of history, where they're infallible, so that they will grow up believing that they are. So that they won't question their laws even when they are unfair or try to oppose them even when others are hurt by it."

"But… but that's wrong!" Alex declared, outraged by this revelation.

Marie gave him a sad nod in agreement, knowing full well how awful things were. And how often the attempts to improve things, had only ended in more failure. "Yes, it is. Which is why I tell you this Alex, so you'll know not to trust every word the ruling class tries to tell you. Never be afraid to question something, if it sounds wrong."

Alex nodded, promising to never forget the lesson. "What happened to Tisiphone?" he asked, still curious to know who had drawn the picture that was making Marie so upset.

The marchioness returned to her story, flipping through the history book as she did. "She, alongside her sisters Megara and Alecto, soon managed to bring back order to Hell, and thus their main use was no longer required. Their tasks were now that of prison guards, torturers and on occasion, being sent to the Living World to punish those who attempted to flee a demonic bargain. Sometimes they were even lent over to the Greek Underworld. But that all changed, when the Exterminations began."

Marie's frown grew more serious, as she flipped the page to another section. "The annual purges of Hell by Heaven caused unrest and outrage among the demons, Sinners, and Hellborn. Soon there were riots and protests against the royal family, with most demanding Lucifer abdicate the throne. Eventually not even Hell's Reapers could quell the growing masses, who soon spread out throughout the Rings, and thus under the recommendation of Lord Satan and King Paimon, a decision was made to bring back the Furies for their original purpose."

"And once more, the Furies were unleashed upon the unprepared masses, with holy arms under their command, led by their queen they tore through protestors and gatherings throughout the Rings, reestablishing compliance through violence. But in all that time something had changed within Tisiphone," Marie explained. "For centuries, Tisiphone had been experiencing the worst Hell had to offer, and almost none of the good. Whether it was the depravities and selfishness of Sinners, the pointless bigotry amongst the Hellborn and the apathy, greed, and corruption of the ruling class, Tisiphone had seen it all; and soon she grew to hate. To hate everything living and unholy thing in Hell, seeing them all as unworthy of saving. Undeserving to continue to exist. A hate that soon spread to her sisters and the rest of the Furies. And so, once the mobs had been dealt with, Tisiphone led her kind and turned their anger… towards all of Hell. Including the Ars Goetia."

Marie saw Alex visibly shift uncomfortably. As a Goetia, he was likely used to the idea that he was untouchable, that he was safe. He was exempt even from the annual Exterminations, since the Exorcists were not allowed to trespass on the property of Hell's ruling class while the lesser Hellborn was free game, something that Marie was disgusted by but could do very little about. There was a part of Marie that wanted to spare Alex from all of this, but now she felt like she would do him a disservice if she didn't tell him the truth.

"Did they... succeed?" Alex asked. "Did they... go after the Goetia?"

Marie nodded. "Have you met Marbas?"

Alex slowly nodded. "A few times, yeah," he admitted.

"So you've seen his... injuries?" Marie asked him.

"You mean his messed up face?" Alex asked before gasping. "Wait... the Furies did that to him?"

"Yes. Took his arm off as well," Marie confirmed with a grim nod. "But that was not the worst of it. You're familiar with President Glasya-Labolas yes?" Alex quickly nodded. "Very few remember this, but before Glasya there was her father President Glasidos-Labolas. He was the first Goetian casualty of the Furies' rampage and the one that made Hell take the threat more seriously. It was during the night, Tisiphone led her sisters on an assault of the president's home. While Alecto and Megara dealt with the guards, she alone fought Glasidos, eventually overpowering him and killing him."

Marie still remembered the shock of all of Hell, when that day came. While she hadn't been at the mansion personally, she still remembered the pictures of the aftermath, the orderlies wheeling out the barely recognizable remains of Glasidos, while Glasya, still just a young precautionary heir, sobbed. It was bloody wake-up call to all Hell, that even the mightiest of them could still die.

"You mean... Clara's grandfather?" Alex asked as he processed this information. He looked a bit shaken, even a little afraid. "These Furies... they're no longer around, right?" he asked, looking like a frightened child asking if there was a monster under their bed. "Are they... gone now?"

Marie frowned sadly at the young cub, now frightened by her story. Extending her wing, she carefully pulled him closer to her side, giving him a small pat hoping it would calm him.

"Yes. After Glasidos' death, the Sins and the Goetia agreed enough was enough," she said, letting out a bitter chuckle. "Sure, they were fine with watching countless Sinners and Hellborn being killed, but the moment one of their own gets-" She stopped her rant before it become more unhinged, turning back to her story. "All of the strongest and bravest warriors were assembled and tasked with finally ending the Furies' rampage. I was among them."

Alex's eyes widened at that. "You fought those scary things?" he asked, eyes shining in awe of his babysitter's bravery before he frowned worriedly. "Did they hurt you?"

Marie remembered back to war against Tisiphone, her in front of the battle lines alongside Samael, Beelzebub, and many others pushing back against the Furies, barely surviving most of the time. "It was a long and brutal war, the worst since the war with the First Satan, that left many of us dead and most of us scarred…" Instinctively, her free hand went to her left eye, fingers trailing down her scar. "The war nearly threaten to destroyed the Rings and most of Hell itself, but we slowly managed to turn the tide, dwindling down their numbers until only the first three remained. On that day… I was the one to kill Tisiphone." She said the last part with a hint of regret.

"Good," Alex said, sounding relieved. "I'm glad they're dead. They deserve it."

Alex didn't seem to pick up on the regret in Marie's tone and while Marie briefly wanted to chastise him for his comment, she knew that if Tisiphone didn't have a daughter, she likely wouldn't think twice about the act of killing her. She would have believed, like Alex did, that she deserved it after maiming Marbas and killing Glasidos. Besides, she had no choice, right?

Truthfully, Marie had revisited that day over and over again, wondering if there was something she could have done differently, wondering if she could have spared Tisiphone. But every time she revisited that moment, she came to the same conclusion. Even if she had spared the Queen Fury, another Goetia or one of the Sins would have killed her. They wanted her head, Marie's hand had just been the one holding the sword. But she wouldn't have even been thinking of this in hindsight if it wasn't for... if it wasn't for Tilly.

"Well… not all of them. Not entirely," Marie admitted, her voice becoming more sad and quiet at the thought of the one survivor.

Alex blinked, confused by the sudden drop. "But… but you just said they were all gone."

"The Furies working with Tisiphone died, but there was a survivor," Marie sighed as she continued her story. "After the war, we had to start rebuilding. Most returned to their post and began their aid in picking up the pieces, but I was tasked with finding any surviving Furies still loyal to their old queen and killing them before they could plot a rebellion. During one of these searches, I found an abandoned house near the outskirts of Pride that Tisiphone and her sisters had used as a lair. I led a small team of Reapers to investigate and found a hidden room. But it wasn't what I had expected at all… it was like a room meant for a child; one not even old enough to be schooling age.…"

Thinking of that day still brought Marie no end of pain. It was there she found one of the most important people in her life and the source of no end of guilt and regret. Steeling herself, she started turning to one page in particular. One with a picture of a young demonic girl, barely five years of age and just as innocent, looking at the reader with sad, mournful eyes. "And there… I found the last living Fury; Tilphousia."

Alex's eyes went wide when he saw the drawing and Marie could see the gears in his head quickly turning as he put it all together. "That girl... that's the same girl from the drawing I found," he realized while looking up at Marie. "And you were with her in that drawing... you were her friend." He then fell into a silent pause as though figuring out what must have happened to the young girl considering that Marie was told to kill any surviving Furies before they could plot their revenge. Alex was young, but not too young to be unaware of the girl's likely fate at the hands of Hell's ruling class. "What... what happened to her?" he asked. He sounded afraid of what the answer could be, but he still had to know. "Was she...?" He gulped. "Was she killed?"

"…no. No she wasn't," Marie confirmed, though it brought her little relief to say. "Of course, that didn't stop the Sins and all of Hell from demanding for her death the moment she was uncovered. This was still after the war and hatred for the Furies was still at an all-time high. People were restless and scared, and demanded some retribution for all they had lost. The Goetia and the Royal Court meanwhile, were afraid that if left alive, Tilphousia would grow up to become just like her mother. And angry, dangerous and vengeful monster, who wouldn't rest until everyone was dead. They would've killed her on the spot, but I refused to allow that to happen. Luckily I managed to get Queen Lilith, as well as Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Belphegor to take my side and the execution was halted."

Alex let out a small breath of relief at that. Even after hearing what Tisiphone had done, he didn't want a young girl like that to die. "But, if she wasn't killed then what happened to T-t-Til-fu-fusi-"

"Tilly," Marie said when he struggled to pronounce her name. "She liked to be called Tilly… at least, she did once. Once we had convinced them to spare her, we then had to decide on what to do with her. So until a verdict was made, we kept Tilly in a small cell in the Court House. I would visit her as often as I could, usually in-between debates on what to do with her. After what I had done to her mother, I thought the least I could do was ensure she was alive and safe. I even offered to raise her under my care, to ensure that she wouldn't grow up to be like her mother, without resorting to drastic measures. Sadly it was laughed off almost immediately. So I'd do my best to cheer her up, watch her make her cute little drawings, play with her little snakes, tell her stories and sing her to sleep during nights when she was restless." Marie couldn't help but think back to the cute little drawing, a sad bittersweet smile emerging as she thought of all those happy memories. Despite everything, she still treasured each moment dearly. "And overtime… I grew to love her and it seemed she loved me as well."

"So… then what happened?" Alex asked, now fully engrossed in Tilly's story.

Marchosias' smile dropped, replaced with a cold frown as she recounted what had some next. "Finally, after ages of talking they had reached a verdict. Tilly was to be sentenced to life in prison. An innocent child, not even ten years of age, whose only crime had been being born to Tisiphone was to spend her life in a fucking cage!" In a spur of the moment, the Marchioness roared in anger, letting a small puff of flame escape her mouth. The suddenness of it had shocked Alex, the little cub shrinking in fear at her. Upon realizing this, Marie immediately calmed down, quietly apologized, and continued. "I was furious! I demanded a better verdict, screaming at them until I was hoarse, but no matter how much I pleaded and tried to appeal to them, they refused to change their minds. It was out of their hands they said; Hell demanded she be punished and there was nothing more that they could do… at least, that's what some of them claimed. And then, they had the fucking GALL to request I break the news to her."

Her anger faded as she moved onto the next part; the painful part. She became sadder as she thought back to that night. "When I got there, I found her crying. At first I assumed she had found out about the verdict, instead… she asked me if I had killed her mother." She looked away with guilt, clenching her eyes shut, still pained by it all. "I had never told her that it had been I who killed Tisiphone. I knew I should've but… how could I break such horrible news to someone so young? I promised I would tell it one day, but kept pushing it back like a coward and now, she had found out from one of the guards. And when I was forced to confirm it… she was furious. She screamed at me, demanded I leave her and told me she hated me for what I've done. And I couldn't blame her. I deserved it, I deserved every word, every hit, every-"

She felt a small pair of arms wrapped around her side. She looked down to see little Alex, the cub trying his best to comfort his babysitter with a hug. It was then that Marie had noticed she was crying. Putting the books away, she wrapped her arms around Alex, comforted by the gesture, even if not by much.

"They locked her away later that day… I didn't have the courage to face her," she admitted, ashamed. "And when I did, she was no longer the innocent child I had once known. Her time in the prison and her hatred towards me had turned her into something unrecognizable. Something monstrous and angry. And it was all my fault; I turned a young innocent girl… into a monster."

"That... doesn't seem fair," Alex said while looking up at Marie. She looked down at him, into his shining blue eyes and she was reminded of his mother, one of the reasons that she enjoyed his company so much even if she had never told him that she had known his mother. "I mean, you did all you could, right? You are the reason she wasn't killed on the spot. It's not your fault that the rest of Hell are a bunch of butts that wanted to punish a little girl who did nothing wrong."

Marie smiled, if only for a moment. But it only gave her a small bit of comfort. She still wondered that if she had been braver, if she had told Tilly the truth sooner or if she had visited her more in prison... perhaps some part of the girl Marie had once known would have survived prison. And perhaps some part of the girl did still exist in the adult Tilphousia. Marie called her a monster, but even to this day she wondered if she shouldn't have given up on her and stopped her visits. Perhaps she should have tried harder... before things had gone so wrong.

"So... she's still there, right?" Alex asked Marie. "Tilly's still in prison?"

Marie gave a small swallow. "No," she admitted. "She isn't."

"Your drink, my lady?"

Marchosias was pulled out of her thoughts by a familiar-sounding voice. She turned to find a foxhound Hellhound with a large moustache and in a typical butler uniform offering her a cup of freshly brewed tea. It was Alphonse, the chief of the servant staff and her personal butler of almost forty years.

Marie smiled warmly and accepted the cup, taking a small sip. "Thank you, Alphonse. You always seem to know what I need."

"I should hope so; wouldn't be very good at my job otherwise," Alphonse answered in good spirits, placing the teapot next to the marchioness before taking his leave out of Marie's main office.

Once she was finished her cup, Marie turned back to the previous source of her focus. The blank piece of paper she had been tapping at for the better part of twenty minutes. As she promised to Alex, once Marie returned home she immediately went to write Clara a letter. The problem was… she didn't know how to start. The few crumpled up pieces of paper on the floor was a good indication of that. It had been so long since she had last spoken to Clara, and she could only imagine how much angrier she was now. How would Marie even know if Clara would bother to open it? What if this was just a waste of time?

Marie thought about giving up, when Alex's words came back to her; her pupil's advice wiser than she had expected. So picking up the quill and dipping it in ink, she took a breath and simply wrote whatever came to her mind first.

'To my dearest Clara. I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirit. I've heard you've taken up employment at Prince Gaap's Triton Resort, hopefully you're enjoying it. I know the Prince can be a difficult taskmaster, but I'm confident that you're more than able to meet his demands and have made a good new life out of your circumstances.'

Marie took a steady breath before she continued to write. 'But the real reason I'm writing to you now, after so long is to say I'm-'

"Oh mother, you're finally back!"

A familiar British-accented voice knocked Marie out of her focus, nearly causing her to spill her ink on the paper. She turned to spot the uninvited intruder, her teenage daughter Diana carefully eating from a small bowl of chocolate-coated strawberries.

In many ways she resembled Marchosias, barring a few details. She had wings like her mother, but while Marie's were copper brown, Diana's were grey at the base that slowly turned white near the tips. Her eyes were red like a normal Hellhound and her tail was a long bushy one with a grey base and a white underside. She had no scars and her hair was longer, reaching her hips, though done in a stylish ponytail.

Other than that, there were two things noticeable about her. The first was that Diana was on the chubbier end; maybe not near the overweight level but with some noticeable curves and a bit of a belly that could best be gained from having a heavy appetite. The second was that, despite her weight, Diana seemed to take good care of her looks. Her fur and hair were regularly brushed, her shampoo and conditioning making them look like they were shining, her wings had been newly preened, she wore light makeup, some fancy jewelry and the best, most expensive looking clothes money could buy. In fact, sometimes Marie wondered if Diana ever wore the same outfit more than once.

Casually stepping into the office, Diana let an amused snort at what Marie was holding. "So what are you writing? And are you using a quill?" she asked, rolling her eyes a bit. "I know you don't believe in e-mails, but I thought you'd at least know what pens are."

Marie gave a soft smile at the sight of her daughter, at the best thing that Hell had ever given her. "Yes, I know what a pen is," she told her daughter. "You can call me a bit old-fashioned if you like, but I still prefer the quill and ink. And I was writing a letter to-" She paused, wondering if she should tell Diana that she was writing to Clara or not. Diana barely knew her older half-sister, but that didn't stop her from being curious about her. And Marie that if she told Diana who she was writing to, she would be unable to stop her daughter from asking even more questions.

"It doesn't matter," Marie said, shaking her head. She knew she could always finish her letter later. "And how have you been today, Diana?"

"Good," Diana said with a nod. "Just... feeling a bit cooped up lately, that's all," she admitted, Marie detecting her slightly lower tone.

Marie seemed to have picked up on her daughter's lowered tone. "What do you mean? Are you perhaps bored?" she asked, worried something was up with her daughter.

"I mean, it feels like I barely get to leave the house anymore, mum!" Diana complained annoyed, eating another strawberry before sighing. "And when I do, you're always insisting on coming with me. Or when you're busy you're either having Halley or dad accompanying me like I'm still five years old. I wanna do something on my own for once. Meet people, maybe go to a concert or a party, you know?"

Before Marie could answer, Diana continued. "So I guess I'm bored. Bored of always being in the same place and interacting with the same demons. Not that you, dad, or Halley are boring," she quickly added. "But you don't even have anyone come over anymore." She let out a sigh. "I never get to see anywhere new, meet anyone new. Aren't I old enough to at least have a little more freedom?" she pointed out.

Marie fell silent, struggling to answer. She knew that she shouldn't be surprised by this. It was natural for her daughter to feel like this at her age and this wasn't the first time they're had similar conversations. And she knew that there was some truth to what her daughter was saying. But she also knew that her daughter didn't understand why it had to be this way, why they had to be so careful with her. And Marie knew they had to be even more careful than before now that she knew that Tilly was back.

"I understand what you're feeling Diana, I was young as well," Marie answered, a hint of a smile of her teenage years. The things she used to get up to back in the day; they drove her parents up the wall. "But try to understand you're a member of the Goetia. A precautionary member yes, but still the outside world is risky for us. There are people who want to exploit you. Hold you for ransom or worse try to hurt you; keeping you here and making sure you're guarded, it's the best way we can keep you safe."

"Safe from what?" Diana asked, getting a little frustrated with the answer. "Nobody's tried to kill one of us in fucking forever, right? I mean it's not like holy metal can be found in the corner store, right? Besides, I can take care of myself."

"I'm not taking that risk, Diana," Marie insisted. "Hell's still a dangerous place. And there are several people out there, some of whom hate me, who would jump at the chance at attempting to harm or leverage you in anyway. Many of whom are too strong for you to handle on your own."

"You don't know that? And I'm never going to get the chance if you-"

"Enough!" Marie declared, raising from her seat. "You are not to leave this house without my permission, do you understand?"

Diana frowned, disappointed by her mother's stubbornness. It did not go unnoticed by Marchosias, who felt guilty at keeping her locked up like that. As her daughter turned to walk away, she spoke up: "Alright look, you said you wanted to meet more people yes? Perhaps I could contact some of my fellow Goetia, try to arrange a playdate with your fellow heirs. How's that?"

Diana stopped in her tracks and sighed, slowly turning back to face her mother. "Sure, I guess," she said, arms crossed. It was obvious that she still wasn't completely happy with this, likely because she knew that her mother would be choosing her 'playmates' for her instead of letting her choose her friends for herself. It wasn't the same as her being able to go to a concert or a party, but it was better than nothing.

"But you know who I would like to see again?" Diana asked Marie, perking up a little. "Alex." She said that name with a gentle smile, no doubt fondly remembering some old memories with the older Goetia heir. "I miss Alex. It's been years since he's come over. Do you know if he could come back again?"

Marie struggled to hide her cringe, unsure what to say to her daughter. She had only just recently seen Alex again, didn't even know how to process all he had told her. How was she supposed to tell her daughter about all that? "I… I'm afraid he's unavailable at the moment. Last I saw him he was living in Wrath, very busy with his own responsibilities. I don't think he'll have time to visit us for a long while."

Diana blinked in surprise. "Wrath?" she asked. She had never been to Wrath, the sheltered heir having only heard stories about what it was like. "What is he doing in Wrath? That sounds-"

Marie was quick to try to reassure her daughter. "I know, but he-"

"-exciting!" Diana cut her off, surprising Marie. "I wonder if he's gotten into any fights..."

Marie stared at her daughter in quiet shock, having not expected this reaction. "Erm, yes," she said, a bit awkwardly. "I imagine that he has gotten into a few scrapes while down there..."

"Awesome!" Diana said in awe, a sudden idea popping in her mind."Ooooh, you know I haven't used my old fencing sword in a while. Maybe you and me could head down there and join him for a-"

"NO!" Marchosias exclaimed loudly, surprising Diana enough for her to step back. Her mother looked at her with glowing eyes, though for a moment Diana noticed she looked more… scared than she did angry. Like she was worried about something, more than usual anyway. "No. Wrath is no place for you. All the violence, the lawlessness and the beasts… I'd sooner send you to Gluttony before there."

Diana looked up at her mother and blinked a few times, but she wisely chose not to argue with her. "Fine," she said with a nod. She looked like she was about to leave again, but then she once again stopped, remembering something. "Oh, by the way, I don't know if anyone has told you this yet... but Uncle March called earlier today."

Marie tensed up at the mention of her brother, though Diana didn't seem to notice. "H-he did?" she asked while attempting to maintain her composure.

"Yeah, he wanted to talk to you, but you were out so he asked for you to call him whenever you got back," Diana explained. "...where were you, by the way? After you got back from your meeting this morning, you left very suddenly and were gone for a while." She paused, looking concerned. "Is everything okay, mom?"

Marie struggled to answer at first. What was she supposed to say? Between Bub's disappearance, Tilly's reemergence, Alex's new moniker and Clara, everything felt like a nightmare. Her peace had been practically shattered overnight and she had no idea what to do. She wanted to lie and reassure her daughter that everything was okay… but she couldn't. Not just because of her curse, but because she couldn't bring herself to lie to her daughter about something so serious.

"I…" she chose her words very carefully, enough so that she was telling the truth, without making her daughter worry about what was happening. "Today has been an unexpectedly busy day for me. After the meeting I was called to some business in another Ring with an old ally of mine. Everything should be okay right now but…things might get more busy in the coming days. Don't worry, I have it under control."

Diana didn't seem completely convinced, but nodded anyway. Getting up from her chair, Marie walked over to her daughter and pulled her in for a hug. "Darling, you know I'd never let anything hurt you, yes?"

Diana seemed to be confused by her mother's actions. Not that she had never been hugged by her mother before, but just the embrace and her mother's words felt... vaguely ominous.

"Yeah, I know," Diana said, hugging her mother back after a moment. "I know that everything you do... is for me." She let out a small, barely audible sigh before she pulled away. "But you're not the only one who gets worried, you know?" she pointed out, her arms crossed. "If there's anything wrong, you can tell me. I'm old enough to understand. I'm not-" She stopped herself, then let out another sigh. "You should probably call Uncle March back," she told her mother. "I don't think he likes being kept waiting."

"I suppose I do…" grumbled Marchosias, not looking forward to talking to her distant brother. It had been years since they last spoke, and honestly she wished it had been longer. Though they were close before the siblings had become estranged over the years, meaning if he was calling her it couldn't mean anything good.

Breaking up the hug, she snatched one of Diana's strawberries. "Why don't you go check on your father? I'm sure he could use the company while dinner's getting ready."

Diana smiled at this. "Sure," she said, nodding. "See you at dinner, mum!"

And with that, Diana turned and left. Marie smiled as she watched her daughter go, only for that smile to vanish once she was alone. She let out a sigh, looked down at the chocolate-covered strawberry in her hand, and popped it into her mouth as she mentally prepared herself to call her brother. Like her, he was a fallen angel. He had fallen alongside her and the two of them had split the titles and duties of Marquis Marchosias. Though they occasionally swapped responsibilities, he tended to be the one who was summoned by mortals or attended social events while Marie was the one who handled a lot of their behind-the-scenes duties since she enjoyed her privacy a lot more and March was always better at meeting the social expectations put upon them, so she was content to have her brother carry out their public duties that Marie preferred to avoid while she carried out the responsibilities that he preferred to avoid, even if it meant that some denizens of Hell didn't even know that there was both a Marqiuis and a Marchioness. He was the more socially savvy of the two while she was the more business savvy.

After taking a few moments to work herself up to the call, she took a deep breath and went over to her phone, putting in the number. It only took a few seconds for there to be an answer and Marie heard a familiar British-accented voice on the other end. "Ah, sister!"

"Hello, March," Marie said, managing to maintain a pleasant tone. "I was told you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, I did," March's voice confirmed. "But aren't you going to ask me how I've been? Or tell me how you've been? It's been years since we've spoken, after all."

Marie knew that she had to be careful with what she said around her brother. He had learned from his dealings with the rest of the Goetia, after all. He was too good at putting up a friendly facade and using it to get others to lower their guard as he tried to get something out of them. And she knew that as his sister, she wasn't immune from this either. If he wanted to talk to her, he probably wanted something from her.

"Perhaps later," she told her brother. "You seemed to be eager to talk to me about something, so perhaps we should get that business out of the way first."

"Ah, good idea, "her brother agreed. "I wanted to call you because I heard that you went to the Morningstar palace. And that the other Sins were there as well. Quite the development, I must say!"

Marie fought back a groan. Of course he had heard about the meeting. "I'm afraid I can't tell you what the meeting was about," she told him. "It was all confidential."

"Ah, so you were in on that meeting!" March realized and Marie mentally cursed herself for confirming her brother's suspicions. "Could you at least tell me how the other Sins are doing? Especially Samael, that old goat!"

The marchioness clenched her fists for a moment, remembering her talk with Sam only a few hours ago. "Samael is well," Marchosias answered, keeping her answer short and to-the-point. "As is his family; I believe his youngest is still living with him. Now was there anything else you wanted to know, or did you just call for idle gossip?"

"Marie, you know that this is more than just 'idle gossip'," March pointed out and Marie could hear his smug smirk through the phone. "I'm not asking about Prince Stolas's marital problems, I'm asking about the Seven Deadly Sins. Well, technically Six Deadly Sins since I know that Beelzebub didn't show up, but that's besides the point. They wouldn't have been summoned to the royal palace lightly and the fact that you were summoned as well... it just makes me curious. Of course, I understand that you can't say anything about what the meeting was actually about, but my curiosity can't be helped. And I just thought you would enjoy having someone to vent to after that meeting and who better than your caring brother, since I know how... frustrating Samael can be." He chuckled lightly. "And I doubt that's changed. Samael's pride and ego have always been one of the constants of Hell."

Realizing her brother wasn't going to hang up anytime soon, Marie let out a small frustrated breath as she sat down and continued. Plus she could use a good vent: "Well, you know how Sam can be. Old bastard hasn't changed a bit since last time. Still a self-centered ass, always wanting the last word and not having a grain of sympathy in his old bones. Not even to his fellow fallen."

"His fellow fallen... I assume you are talking about Beelzebub?" March asked. "Hmm, that's interesting. I wonder what caused that to be brought up. "He let out a sigh. "I unfortunately haven't heard from Beelzebub in such a long time. Then again, you were always closer to him than I was."

Marie cursed herself for accidentally letting that one slide. She should've known her clever brother would've figure things out so easily. The man could be as devious as Andrealphus sometimes. She almost told him it was confidential, but then feared he would be able to put it together that they were talking about his sudden disappearance; something only the other Sins were supposed to know about. And with how social and charming March was, Marchosias knew it was only a matter of time before he started talking. "Yes well, I'm sure it's no secret Beelzebub has sadly been become more absent since his son died. He hardly attends the court meeting anymore, much less ruling Gluttony. It's only normal for the others to become worried about his health… except Sam and Mammon, of course."

Marie heard her brother scoff over the phone. "That's old news," he pointed out. "His son was been dead for... how long now?"

Marie was about to answer, but then she paused to do the math in her head. "I think... over three thousand years," she realized, much to her shock. Had it really been that long? It didn't feel like it.

"Exactly," March pointed out. "Him being depressed over his son's death by that genie isn't anything new. So I'm not sure why you would be talking about that... unless there was perhaps some new development that I haven't heard about?" He didn't wait for Marie to answer. "Ah, don't worry. I won't continue to pry. I know that it isn't any of my business."

Marie scowled, knowing that March was really saying that he had heard enough and that he could look into this on his own... which could certainly be a problem.

"But enough about Beelzebub," March said, quickly moving onto another topic, another strategy he often used to control the conversation and stop his sister from getting a word in when he didn't want her to. "I want to talk about you. Specifically, I want to know why you were too busy to talk to me earlier today. Your staff told me that you suddenly ran out with no explanation. And based on when you're calling me now, you were gone for quite a while. If you don't mind me asking, where did you go, Marie?"

Marie obviously didn't want to give up Alex's location, least of all to her brother. But if she said nothing March would only grow more suspicious, and then she'd never hear the end of it. "Some business came up with an old friend of mine in the Wrath Ring. Seems things have been a little hectic down there and they wanted to catch up and all. Suppose I just lost track of time."

"The Wrath Ring?" March asked and Marie could detect the surprise in his voice. Obviously he hadn't expected her to be that honest with her. "You were down there?" He paused, taking a moment to collect himself. "Apologies, Marie. It's just that I never thought you would go down there to that cesspool of violence. And I hope you don't make that a regular habit either, since not only could it put you in an embarrassing position if you're seen... but it's just not safe down there. Even for someone like us. And I do mean that."

It was Marie's turn to be surprised. "March, are you... worried about me?" she asked him, taken aback by his sincerity.

"We might not be as close as we once were, but you're still my sister," March pointed out. "So I'd rather something not happen to you and going down to Wrath... it is a huge risk. Especially because you are right that it has been hectic down there. Moreso than usual lately, according to my sources." He paused again. "Did Samael know you were down there? In his Ring? Don't worry, I won't tell him if he doesn't know." Once again, he actually sounded sincere, although this didn't surprise Marie that much. She knew that her brother wasn't exactly the biggest fan of Samael either. "I can promise you that."

Marie couldn't help but feel a bit… touched by her brother's concern. It had been so long since she had seen this side of him, she had almost forgotten how they used to be… before the Fall. Before Hell changed them almost beyond recognition. Marie couldn't deny she had missed it.

"I appreciate the concern, March, truly, but I believe I can take care of myself down there. I have been to war, have I not?" she assured her brother with a small laugh, though she was still thankful for the worry. "And no Sam doesn't know. Left in such a hurry I didn't have time to tell him. Not that I need his permission to venture into his Ring."

"Yes, you have been to war, but with legions behind you," March pointed out. "And according to your staff, you left alone. Not even a bodyguard. And nobody knew where you were going. What if it was a trap? What if they took you by surprise? What if they angelic steel? Did you even have your sword with you?" He sighed. "I know, I know. You can take care of yourself just fine. You have for thousands of years. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be reckless. And the Wrath Ring is dangerous. For example, I heard that Prince Stolas was caught in the crossfires of some big altercation in the Wrath Ring just the other day. And... there's been whispers of cult activity too."

Stolas had been there? Cult activity? She wondered if Alex knew any of this, as Marie doubted he would leave something like that out of his findings. Now Marie was growing concerned. Between this, Marcus's likely attempt to seize his father's power, and Bub's disappearance, there was far too much happening for her liking. Something must truly be wrong in Hell for all these developments to occur so soon after each other.

"That is worrisome, I will admit. Tell you what, I don't have any plans on venturing to Wrath anytime soon, but next time I'll be sure to be more prepared. Hopefully that will put your mind at ease?"

"...yes," March said after a moment. "That would put my mind at ease. I do find those whispers of cult activity especially worrisome, because they're connected to... well, they're connected to you-know-who."

Marie could detect a trace of fear in her brother's voice and she couldn't blame him. They had both fought during the War in Hell, after all. They had both witnessed the devastation and destruction caused by that war with the First Satan. And neither of them had ever met someone like the First Satan... nor did they ever want to meet someone like that again.

But she still remembered Him, no matter how much she wished she could forget.

Chernabog. The First Satan. The Old King of Hell. The demon so powerful and wicked, the Slavics revered him as a God of Darkness.

Just thinking of him again made Marie's hands begin to tremble. She felt her heart racing, her vision blurring and as if the air in her lungs were being sucked out of her, even her brother's voice was no longer audible to her. She could still picture his wicked smile and cruel gaze as nearly killed her and her brother.

Marie stopped herself before she lost control. Placing her phone down, taking slow deep breaths, she looked around her office. Her desk, the quill, her flip-phone, the papers and the books. Her clothes, her wings, the chair and her desk. Her brother's voice, a slight creek from her chair and her breath. The ink of her quill and the faint whiff of her daughter's shampoo. The chocolate coated strawberry she had just eaten.

Once she had calmed herself, Marie picked up the phone once again: "Sorry about that March, I'm fine now."

From the other end, March let out an audible sigh of relief. "You scared me there Marie. Glad you're alright though. But if what I've heard is true-"

"The First Satan is gone," Marie declared coldly, a serious battle-worn frown on her face, as if preparing for war. "And if I have anything to say about it, that's how it will remain. If this cult truly is connected to him, they need to be stopped. Immediately."

"On that, we can certainly agree upon," March said and Marie imagined that he was nodding over the phone. "I've just heard whispers right now, but I can let you know if I hear anything else. After all, destroying this cult is not just in our best interests, but Hell's as well. None of us want another War." He paused, then his voice returned to its usual cheerful friendliness. "But enough of that doom and gloom. Since I'm calling you, how have you been? How are your daughters? It has been a while since I've seen either of them. I imagine Diana must be getting pretty big by now."

Marie tried not to let his possible jab at her daughter's weight get to her and she just shrugged. "I'm been doing fine, thank you for asking. Nothing too much new to report, the politics, the charity work and the parenting keeps me busy. Diana's seems to be mostly well too, from what I've seen. A bit under-stimulated recently, but otherwise nothing serious."

"A bit under-stimulated, hmm?" March asked. "Perhaps you should let her out of the keep a bit more? Oh, perhaps you could even send her to me for a visit! It's been a long while since I've spent some quality time with my niece and I'm sure he would appreciate that change of environment."

Marie didn't quite know about that idea. It had perhaps been too long since her daughter last saw her uncle and perhaps she could do with another familiar face. Then again, she didn't trust March to be left alone with Diana for too long. Not that she was worried of him doing anything inappropriate, more likely March might try to use it as an excuse to learn some more things Marie would rather be left private. "I was actually already considering arranging a playdate for her soon," she answered back. "But I shall ask her at dinner. If she's up to it, I suppose I can let you watch her for a day. But no promises."

"Understood, "March said. "I suppose that I've kept you on the phone long enough as it is, so I'll say goodbye for now. But thank you for the chat, sister. It was... probably the best talk that we've had in years."

It had been hadn't it? At least it had been so long, she forgot they could be so amicable. "I'm glad to hear it, March. Until next time."

Marie ended the call and placed the phone down. She found herself in better than she usually was; ordinarily her brother would be pestering for the latest gossip amongst the Sins that he was not privy to, and while there was still some of that, the brief moments where they were just talking about each other had been nice; good even. Perhaps it was a sign that things were beginning to improve? A small miracle in these dark times.

She was about to leave, when she remembered something. Clara's letter! Marie hadn't even got through the first page yet, she had been so distracted. She had wanted to get it done, but after the twofer of talking with Diana and then her brother, she didn't know if she had the energy for it anymore.

"Oh… my ladyship?"

She was interrupted by a familiar female voice, turning to see one of her maids standing there with a timid smile. It was a short middle-aged female imp, with dark red skin and patches of white all over her body. Her black hair tied up in a bun with horns like an African deer. "Rouge, didn't see you there," Marie greeted warmly. "What brings you? Have you completed your duties?"

Rouge the imp gave her a nod and a proud smile. "Yes, ma'am! I just got finished dusting off the kitchen, and I was told to come summon you. Dinner's ready."

"I see," Marie blinked, surprised it had been so late already. "Well then, lead the way Rouge. I could do with a good meal right now."

Rouge nodded and guided her marchioness back to the master kitchen, where Marie's family was waiting for her. Hunter was immersed in a talk with Halley, Diana was eyeing the dishes with a hint of hunger, and Alphonse was making sure everything was in proper order. Once Marchosias joined them, the room lit up with laughter, love and plenty of good food. And just like that all the stress, worries and emotions Marie had felt throughout the long day melted away, as she enjoyed a warm dinner with the people closest to her. What better way was there to end a day, than with family?

And meanwhile, back in Marchosias' office, a letter stood unfinished and forgotten on Marie's desk. The drying and the quill accidentally spilling on the words ruining it.

Marie would not return to it for the rest of the day; nor the day after.

BuckJohnson here. Once again, big thanks to Faroe_King for the collab. Several of his OCs from Loona Goetia appeared in this chapter: Hunter, Halley, Alphonse, and Rouge. They all belong to Faroe_King and were introduced along with Marie and Tilly in Loona Goetia, which I do highly recommend that you read. The other OCs introduced in this chapter, Diana and March, were co-created by me and Faroe_King.

Me and JP have explained this before, but as a refresher Loona Goetia is actually a story where Loona is revealed to be the long-lost daughter of Marchosias. In Loona Goetia, Loona's original name before she was taken from her mother... was Diana. Since Loona being Marie's daughter wouldn't work in Helluva Dad, we instead decided to make Diana a separate character from Loona (although she still has a resemblance to Loona, causing some characters to initially mistake Loona for Diana), which also gave a glimpse at what Loona could have been like if she had never been raised by Marchosias in Loona Goetia, Both me and Faroe_King worked together to imagine what Diana could be like, with each of us contributing ideas.

As for March, his existence is actually a reference to how Marchosias is a demon who has been referred to as both a male demon (in the Lesser Key of Solomon as "Marchosias") and a female demon (in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum as "Marchocias"). The idea of Marie having a brother that she shares her duties and responsibilities with was Faroe's, although it's not something that has been incorporated into Loona Goetia. It's an idea he had in case canon Helluva Boss ever used a male Marchosias, though I decided to establish Marie's brother right early on because I had some spicy ideas for how to use the character, who I decided to give the name "March".

Overall, I am really happy with how this turned out. Marie was a character I was really excited to bring into Helluva Dad, especially since she's not quite the same character here that she is in Loona Goetia due to never losing her daughter Diana, having another daughter named Clara that she's estranged from, and having several other relationships unique to Helluva Dad like her relationship with Alex... which was actually inspired by the relationship between Athena and Telemachus from EPIC: The Musical. It was great to explore her her character and some of her new relationships more in this chapter, especially with Faroe's help. And I hope you enjoyed this bonus chapter as well.

Review Section:

Matteso585: 1) Which isn't a lot, but surprised that it didn't happened in a row. 2) We're already doing that. 3) Well we're going by the original take on how the Fallen Angels of Heaven were made to take charge of Hell. Lucifer, Satan, and Beelzebub are usually names from the stories of Fallen Angels. 4) Probably

Crash X Fusion: Well, someone's close...

Shuffollower: Yeah, to be fair, Cain only sees a Hellhound girl like Loona as a complete stranger, rather than knowing who she is. This is literally their first encounter.