Summary:
Octavia takes Lincoln to LA and things sure do happen.
Lincoln's more judgmental sisters like Lola for instance had sometimes questioned his choice in some of his chosen friends. Before getting over his obsessive crush on Lori, she always found Clyde creepy, Zach was too much into conspiracies, and Rusty was too much of a flirt. If all of his sisters were here right now, they'd definitely question his choice in new friends, considering most of them happen to be demons. Among them all, one of them just so happened to be Loona whom he was competing against in a video game that Moxxie and Millie brought for him. There was no video game enemy more formidable than Loona and he considered it an honor to play against her. "Come on, Linc. Try giving me a challenge here." Loona remarked, smiling a teasing look at the boy.
Anyone that could give him a run for his money was worthy of praise and get defeated in return.
At least, he was trying to accomplish that.
"Come on! Come on!" Lincoln's grip on the control was tight and he had laser focus on the objective. But, he still lost in the end. "Damn it! How do you do it, Loona?" he groaned, dropping the control.
"What? You think drinking and reading magazines are the only shit I do when you guys are up top?" Loona chuckled, ruffling her young friend's head. "But, don't beat yourself up. Hell video games are on a whole other level than baby Earth ones. For one thing, all of them don't have pussies making them rated, so down here, they can go out on all the kickass action shit."
"That's true, I gotta, I do like it that Millie's willing to let me play video games like this one." Lincoln admitted. "I'll still beat you next time!"
"Heh, anytime, anywhere, little buddy."
"You know, Octavia's also a pretty cool gamer." Lincoln said. "She has cooler systems than this one and lets me play. You should see how she-Loona, what's wrong?" He noticed her eyes twitching a little when he brought up another close demon friend of his.
"Hm? Nothing, just thought of something funny." Loona lied. Those of the ring of Envy would be impressed by her growing envy right now. Being jealous of demon raised in the royal elite is no unusual thing, but the source of Loona's envy comes from the fact that the Goetia heir seems as close to Lincoln as she is.
Lincoln may very well be the sole reason she actually smiles more often in the workplace. That youthful energy he gave off was a little intoxicating, and with how close they've become, it was one of his aspects that she counted as her favorite. With the grownups doing their own thing, the two youngest members of I.M.P spent some time relaxing on a slow work day. "By the way, are you sure Blitz won't be angry that you're not at the desk?" Lincoln asked.
"Oh, give me a fucking break." Loona rolled her eyes. "He's not ballsy enough to tell me off. Hell, he'd let me get away with throwing a raging bash here. Plus, it's not like we're getting new gigs right-"
"Excuse me! Where can I find the manager of this establishment?!" A demanding voice asked from behind the door, banging on it hard.
"Loona!" Moxxie called from his inventory checking. "Aren't you gonna answer that?!"
"Aren't you gonna take those diet pills I totally didn't get you?" Loona retorted.
Making a sound of annoyance, Moxxie came by, muttering incoherent complaints about the receptionist's ongoing remarks at his supposed weight problem that he knew had no accurate proof. He opened the door and the Sinner demon that entered was a weirdly dressed purple skinned demon with three eyes, a thin mustache, and a small goatee. He wore what looked like a farmer with a trucker cap and twig in his mouth. He had wheels for feet and even had a truck horn sticking out of his back. "Well, howdy there! I'm Insane Iggy and I'm here to offer you a chance to kill the rat bastard who caused my own death!"
The way he introduced himself and his manner of speaking made it seem like he was the one offering his services instead of I.M.P.
"Erm, okay?" Moxxie cleared his throat. "My name is Moxxie and if you'll just wait here, please, I can hurry and fetch our boss so that this transaction can be further-" The minute his hand touched the doorknob, it was opened from inside by Blitzo, slamming the door into Moxxie.
"I smell payday!" Blitzo dashed for the client. "Hey, how the fuck are ya, pal? Name's Blitz. The O is silent."
"O?"
"Exactly! So, who do ya want us to bump off and why?"
"I'm Insane Iggy and I'm ere to tell you exactly what the no-good fucker in question did to warrant your investment in getting revenge on my behalf!"
"...Uh..." Blitzo questionably looked at Moxxie who simply shrugged. "Okay?"
"See, I used to host the most popular used trucks and other automobiles commercials and was damn good at it, mind you! All those 'accidents' that were a result of the cars I sold turning out to be nothing but shitty junkers that were on their last legs were never proven! Frankly, I bet one of those yellow bellied sour-pusses were the ones to cause my own truck crash accident. My own horn tore through my goddamned neck, I tell you what!" Insane Iggy spat out saliva on the floor.
"Okay, listen, this isn't some truck-stop, alright?" Blitzo said as Moxxie got back up next to him, seeing stars. "So, what? Someone hot-wired your ride or something badass like that?"
"You bet your ass...well, at least I think so."
Blitzo and a now fully processed Moxxie blinked. "I'm sorry, you think so?" Blitzo repeated, already getting a migraine. "Look, I'm used to dipshit clients, but even they know what our business is and usually, they're sure that they were got fucked over in life. I mean, how are you not even sure at all?"
"Okay, so my accident was ruled an accident with no sign of foul play, but that's 'cause them cops are terrible at their jobs!" Insane Iggy argued, going by his own opinions. "But, see, this feller came by and said he was sorry for trying to get a refund off me! Said he was a trained mechanic and could fix up my rig and I accepted! Like shit he didn't tamper with anything on my baby!" He sniffled as he recalled his truck. "Hope you're doing well in the great truck lot beyond, Bessy...and so what if I'm wrong?! I'm willing to pay a lot, little man! Ain't that enough!"
Before Blitzo could respond, Loona mirthlessly snorted. "Dickhead."
Insane Iggy's eyes narrowed at her snide comment. "Care to repeat that?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just pointing out how much of a dickhead you are." Loona bluntly replied, making Blitzo and Moxxie panic. Lincoln sank into his seat, knowing what was coming. A classic Loona verbal beat-down. "I mean, come on, not even sure if you were even killed? The dumbass-ery levels are pretty high there. But, hey congrats, not a lot of dumbasses out there who can say they reached them."
Insane Iggy was now having second thoughts about hiring I.M.P., judging by his offended and dangerous glower at the unashamed hellhound. "Heh, heh! Please excuse my daughter!" Blitzo nervously laughed. "She gets cranky on Thursdays and hasn't had her nappy-wappy yet, now let's talk about-"
"I'm not cranky and I don't need to sleep!" Loona snapped, getting worked up after Blitz spoke. "I'm just calling it as it is! Not my fault we get clients with piles of shit as their brains! Sp get off my fucking case!"
"Looney, please." Blitzo implored, pacing his hands at her and darting back at Insane Iggy. "Not in front of the client!" He quietly chided through gnashed teeth.
"Ah, he's big enough to fit in his big boy panties, he can take it." Loona dismissed. "Unless he's too much of a pussy."
Insane Iggy crossed his arms and headed for the door. "You know, I think we're done here."
"Wait, no!" Blitzo tried in vain, getting him to reconsider. "Come on! It was just some playful ribbing! It's not like she meant it!"
"I did mean it."
"Loona, you're not helping!"
"I think I'll take my chances and just for the son of a bitch to croak on his own and settle things then! I might come back if you learn to keep your dog on a leash!" Insane Iggy shot back before slamming the door shut. A second later, he came back. "Insane Iggy is out!" He slammed it again. Then, he once again came back. "Also, you lost a chance at a good car deal!" He gave the door one final shut.
Blitzo was left deflated at a missed chance for a potentially huge payoff and Moxxie shook his head, sighing at the loss himself.
"Pfft, jeez, has that guy got issues." Loona remarked. "Anyway, can you two go back to whatever crap you were doing. Linc and I got a rematch to get to." Her adoptive father did not move, Blitzo just stood with a less-amused expression. Moxxie had his tiny arms crossed, glaring judgmentally at her. "What? What crawled up your asses?"
As for Lincoln, he just meekly tapped his thumbs together due to the heavy awkward atmosphere.
Blitzo took a deep breath, intending to be very gentle and not lose his temper as it was very rare for him to actually be miffed at Loona of all demons. "Loona. Sweetheart. Do you realize what you just did?"
"Saved you a lot of trouble dealing with that guy?"
"No."
"Correctly called him out on his dumbass-ery?"
"No."
"Owned Lincoln at video games?"
"Goddamn it, no! I-" Blitzo face-palmed, tiredly groaning.
Moxxie said what was really annoying Blitzo and unlike his boss, didn't hesitate. "What he means is that your callous remarks just cost us a client! A whole day of waiting and you just made it all for nothing by driving away the only demon who'd hire us today!"
"Oh, don't lose your shit, Moxxie. That was only the tenth client I blew off or whatever." Loona shrugged.
"...I'm sorry. What?!" Blitzo bellowed.
"Yeah, I think I heard the phone ring a few times while I was playing, but you know, could've just been prank callers." Blitzo looked like he was about to go off like a rocket any minute and Loona, not wanting to get an earful, promptly got up. "You know what? Screw this. I'm gonna go get that lasagna in the fridge."
Moxxie objected. "Wait, that's the one I made for Millie-"
"Too fucking bad! Already have it!"
Moxxie shook his fists in the air, growling in frustration. "Sir! I'm sorry, but come tomorrow, you better have the-" he mutters quietly so that Loona couldn't hear him speak. "The you-know-what."
"...What?" Blitzo asked, confused on what Moxxie was referring to.
"Sir, you know what tomorrow is." Moxxie stated to his boss. "You've been putting it off all month, you even threw away your old calendar just for the convenient excuse of forgetting, focusing on more trivial matters and it's about time you finally follow through and have the talk with Loona!"
"Hey, I only threw that out because your wife didn't want anything relating to that bitch in the office!"
"Sir."
"Uh..." Blitzo tugged his collar reluctantly. "I could do that...or, maybe we can try those horse riding lessons one more time!"
"Sir."
"Hey, why not help me out with my tax fraud? You're good with numbers, right? Or maybe I can get the kid to do it, he's a fast learn-"
"Blitz!" Moxxie actually using his boss' name made it clear he wasn't in the mood for jokes. "The more you procrastinate, the more difficult it will be for the company. You know that."
"Um, what do you mean? What talk?" Lincoln asked, it sounded like a serious thing and it pertaining to Loona made him curious mixed with concern.
"It's-It's nothing, kiddo!" Blitzo waved his hands. "Look, go to your room, okay? This is just a talk between the grownups, not for your ears."
"Since when do you care about that?"
"Just-Just go!" Blitzo barked, making Lincoln leave without further argument. Though, he did discreetly hear more by keeping his door open very slightly to see what all the fuss was about. "Okay, Mox, how the fuck am I supposed to get through to her? I tried everything. I bought her chew toys, fresh treats, I even sprang for a shitty new phone! None of that works!"
"Then, maybe, try a different approach..." Moxxie led him off to continue this conversation elsewhere.
Lincoln closed his door and sighed, lying on his bed, he supposed he'll have to wait until tomorrow. But, he still didn't feel like turning it in for tonight, a part of him was starting to feel a little restless lately. It was like he was waiting for something new to pop up. Mostly something that could lead him to a means of breaking his curse, that mission was still ongoing and moving ever so slowly. Times where he had nothing to do at home usually led to him calling up his friends to see if they wanted to hangout to clear his mind of this problem. Just then, someone ended up calling him. Another contact, who was Octavia much to his relief. "Oh, thank Satan...can't believe I just said that." He answered the call. "Hey, Via. What's up?" He felt honored to be the only other person she'd allow to call her by her nickname.
"Lincoln! Are you busy?!"
"No, why?"
"Portal over to my place! I got some big news!"
"But, I-"
"See you then!"
That was strange.
Hearing the dour moody Octavia acting like a giddy teenage girl for once.
It was like seeing Lucy crack a monumental smile.
He considered telling the others, but it sounded like Octavia wanted him over right now. The white haired boy opened a cabinet containing a collection of organized flash cards, each written with spells he memorized from the grimoire. He took a deck of portal cards and used one to open a gateway to the Goetia mansion, leaving an empty bedroom. Outside a window, was the three-eyed crow having witnessed the boy's departure.
It flapped its wings and flew to where Lincoln was going without him being none the wiser.
"Do you wish this to be included, sire?"
"Hmm. That is the priceless family heirloom worth a fortune that belonged to Stella's great aunt, correct?"
"Indeed. It was a wedding gift if you recall, my prince."
Stolas nodded in remembrance. "Yes, that's right. Of course...throw it in with extreme force, please." The prince chuckled in amusement over the sound of the priceless vase shattering in the moving truck. He made sure that every trace of his home that was linked to Stella was not handled with utmost care, it was a great way to relieve his pent up dissatisfaction of his now ruined marriage. "Is that everything?"
"Afraid there is still much of lady Stella's belongings." His butler imp replied. "The movers have yet to be finished."
"Ugh, figured this would take a while." Stolas shook his head in disgust at all the furniture still present in the front porch, imp and hellhound workers that he called were entering and exiting his palace. "The day I inherited the mansion, she wasted no time in putting her own personal touch on the decorations regardless of my objections." he bitterly remarked. He then scratched his chin. "I say, I can't help but feel I'm forgetting something. Something important." He knew there weren't any deadlines or dates that required the presence of a Geotia prince.
He became distracted when a phone rang loudly and another servant imp ran out carrying it. "Sire, er, it's lady Stella!" He flinched as her shrill screechy furious voice shouted from her end.
"Ah, yes. Of course." Stolas droned, even when she's not here, her voice still found its way. He winced at the loud volumes and usual slanderous insults she sent to his way. "This'll take all night." He glumly walks inside.
In the bushes, an orange portal opened and Lincoln Loud hopped out of it.
He stuck his head out to see the moving truck. "Whoa, is Stolas having a garage sale?" Seeing that his teacher wasn't around, Lincoln entered quietly, he didn't want to disturb the Goetia prince with whatever was going around outside, so he made his way to Octavia's bedroom. Being a regular visitor of the the mansion made him adept in the mansion's inner layout.
"Octavia? It's me." Lincoln whispered before the door opened and Octavia's arm pulled him in.
"Lincoln! I am so glad you made it! Something big is coming tomorrow!" Hearing a giddy Octavia was one thing, seeing it for himself was another. "I've been waiting for this since forever and I need to talk to someone about it!" her feet tapped in anticipation and had a smile wider than he'd ever seen in her avian features. She opened up a trunk and threw a lot of items that Lincoln had to catch. Some taxidermy wolverines, an old music player she barely uses anymore, some extra beanies, and old dusty books. "Here it is!" Octavia smiled at the scroll she found, sealed by a crest. "These scrolls can only be opened by members of the Goetia family. They contain special events in Hell that can be played only as illusions!"
"What kind of events?" Lincoln asked, easily placing the other items down. He recalled Lynn's advice about lifting with his legs.
"Here, watch!" Octavia tapped the seal once and it glowed purple before burning away in flames of the same color. The scroll was opened she showed them a passage about those which looked like beautiful meteorites diverse in many colors, all traveling through a magnificent journey throughout the cosmos. Lincoln was transfixed with how it looked the meteorites were glowing on the paper, as if alive. "They're called Azathoth's tears. Or what other humans call meteor showers. Dad used to tell me how they're actually the hopes and dreams of those that never came to be after a star went all supernova on any planet near it. Kickass, right?"
"Yeah..." Lincoln nodded numbly much to Octavia's delight.
"Tomorrow's the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see them and dad made a promise to me that we'll do that together!" Octavia directed his attention to her calendar where she crossed off all the previous days with x's and the next one circled.
"Aw, man, you're so lucky!" Lincoln praised. "Call me to see how it goes!"
Octavia did consider that, but now that he thought about it, there could be one other thing that can make the special day even better.
His own inclusion.
She'd have to run it by her father, first.
"Yeah..." Octavia sighed wistfully. "Honestly, this'll be the first good day I've had in months. With everything going on between my...parents..." she frowned. "...it'll be nice to enjoy something with my dad, you know?"
"Believe me. I know." Lincoln wished he had more time to actually enjoy spending time with his own father. He remembered how they used to have very little in common and then found the one thing they loved. They never really got the chance to branch out and see if they'd bond over other stuff, it would've given him a lot more memories. That said, it's not as if he lacked a father in his life. Moxxie may deny it, but Lincoln never imagined anyone else filling the role as his father until meeting the imp. Yet, that also made him a little sad. "Well, if that's all, I should get going. You don't wanna be there when Millie sees that I'm gone. In fact, I may be crazy for leaving without telling her."
"Yet, you still came here, anyway." Octavia teased, nudging his arm.
"Of course I did. If it was important to you, then it was important to me." Lincoln simply replied. "I mean, one of my best friends is worth it."
Octavia brightened up at that and surprised him with a hug. All the turmoil she's gone through and it was meeting him that started to give her the feeling to smile once again. "Thanks, Lincoln."
The two broke apart and Lincoln portaled his way back to his room at I.M.P.
"Looks like I'm in the clear." Lincoln grinned, until a frantic Millie forced herself in.
"Lincoln?! Are you there?!"
"I-" Millie didn't let him answer, she just really needed to check him over. She looked out the window, looking out for anyone spying outside. "Millie, what's the matter?"
"My mama senses are what's the matter, young man!" The female imp peeked under a small potted cactus plant on Lincoln's shelf. "In the rec room, I got a fucking itch that something weren't plum right at yer room, you weren't doing' something violent without your ma, were you?"
"What? Of course not!" Lincoln took the plant off her hands. "And be careful with that, it was a gift from Pappy Joe and Grammy Lin-I mean, your parents."
"Don't go lying to your mama, ya hear?" Millie warned. "I can be mighty stern when I want to."
Millie's expectant glower was more powerful than his human mother. "...Okay, so I might have paid a visit to Octavia, but just to talk!"
"And ya didn't even talk to me or your pa?!"
Lincoln slightly glared. "What? Is there a rule against visiting my friends?"
"Still, though!" Millie took a breath. "Ya weren't gone long, and all ya did was just visit her, didn't go anywhere else?"
"That's right."
Millie was willing to accept that. "Okay, then." She perked up and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, sweetie! Also here are those new pants you wanted!" She gave him a pair of jeans the same color as the ones he got at stylish occult, only without the rips. He'd feel less cold.
Lincoln sighed tiredly and went back to the sweet embrace of his bed, drifting off to sleep.
"Tomorrow, I'm gonna spend all day sleeping..."
Like many of his clever plans, not even a simple one like that was guaranteed to go without failure. Lincoln's eyes shot wide open at the commotion that sprung him awake from what would've been a day-long relaxing slumber. He heard crashing and yelling coming from the rec room. Followed by some noises of his co-workers. "N-Now, Loona, you know the rule, no throwing-oh, fuck!" Blitzo shouted as Loona let out an angry growl. He ran out of his room where he saw throwing stars and knives stuck to the wall, having been thrown by an irate Loona, with Blitzo as the intended target.
"What the...?" Lincoln incredulously asked, noticing Moxxie watching this unfold on the couch holding a coffee mug.
"Loona, wait just a sec, honey, and-shit!" Blitzo ran when Loona came at him carrying the water barrel. "Looney, please, we can talk this out-" She threw the barrel harshly at his face. "Fuck! I-I mean, wow! Badass throw there, sweetums. I'm so proud of youuuuuu!" Loona tackled him to the wall past a perplexed Millie. The hellhound took off a mounted horse painting and pummeled Blitzo with it. "Damn it, that thing cost our last earnings from the last job!"
Moxxie poured Millie's cup and gave it to his wife after she jumped over the couch and onto his lap. "What's this all about, honey?" Millie curiously asked.
Lincoln's follow-up question was more panic-stricken. "And why aren't you stopping her?!"
"No need to worry, Lincoln." Moxxie placated his surrogate son, even though some part of him did find some entertainment in this. "Our esteemed employer finally talked to her about her attitude with clients.
"You mean this is the talk? Why would he need to talk to her about that?!" Moxxie answered Lincoln by gesturing by her continued assault, Lincoln also recalled yesterday's potential client. "Oh. S-Still, though! She'll kill him at this rate!" Lincoln ducked after more stuff got thrown.
Bitzo came and pushed the couch in front of his angered daughter. "I-I just think some light tweaks might help you be more of a people person!"
"I am a people person!" Loona growled, eyes glowing an offended glare at him for implying that. "Tell him, Linc!"
Lincoln blinked, not expecting to be brought in. "Um, well, I-"
"Hey now, don't bring my baby into your own little personal shit, missy!" Millie stared Loona down.
"Lincoln actually knows me! He's the only one in this chicken shit company who doesn't piss me off!"
"You weren't that welcoming in the beginning, though, were you?" Moxxie brought up.
Loona grabbed Blitzo's shirt collar and challenged him to actually act on her supposedly rude behavior. "If I'm such a terrible bitch, how about you grow a pair and replace me?!"
"Oh, yeah? Then maybe-maybe I might!"
His response actually made her retract, not expecting that answer. "What?"
"Yeah, what?!" Lincoln exclaimed.
Blitzo apprehensively looked to Moxxie who gave him a thumbs up, telling him to continue. "Maybe I will, young lady!" He sternly declared, surprising Loona and Lincoln more. "That's right, it's fucking tough love time, so all you can do is just go to your desk and think about what you've done!"
Loona growled venomously at him before tossing him down and stomping away. "Blitz, you're not serious, are you?!"" Lincoln desperately asked. "Sure, Loona can be a bit much, but that's going a bit too far! You should see her when she's really taking something seriously! I tried changing what I thought was wrong with my sisters a few times when really, it was no big deal!"
"Lincoln, please. Making excuses for her won't help anyone and this is just a change in how she conducts herself during work hours." Moxxie told him while massaging Blitz's shoulders to ease his worries, even though he respected Lincoln sticking up for his friend. "Sir, I may say so, from a business standpoint, this is the right thing to do. If we can't even hire a cheerful qualified receptionist, how can our clients trust us to massacre and mutilate their enemies for them?"
Lincoln sighed, feeling nothing he'd say would deter them, he glanced at Loona sitting at her desk with her usual permanent scowl. That scowl hid a lot of anger and hurt, Lincoln somehow felt that. The very notion that Blitzo would find someone new to take her place greatly upset her and because she didn't want to display it, she tried hiding behind her usual indifference. Moxxie's reasoning was sound to him, but Loona was still someone precious to him. He didn't want something so different, he didn't want things to change so drastically and be powerless to stop it. "Guys, I-"
"Kid, just-just don't worry about it." Blitzo hated his own migraine enough to save Lincoln the trouble of having one of his own. "Go to my office, I need some shit organized or just make sure I'm not missing any important crap."
Begrudgingly, Lincoln complied.
If he lingered, he might've caught an unexpected visitor sneaking her way into the office.
Blitzo's office had a smell that disturbed his nostrils. "Ugh, jees, Blitz, opening up a window isn't that hard." He pulled up the blinds and did so, letting in some refreshing hair. He spotted something lying on the floor. "Hey, that's the backpack Millie got me." It was black colored with I.M.P logos all over it. "I knew I left it somewhere." He placed it on his back and looked at a cabinet full of papers that haven't been checked in days. "Okay, let's see here. Expiration notice on his subscription to horse monthly. Flyers of horse riding lessons in Wrath and Greed. Note to prove to Wally Wackford that dolphins aren't the horses of the sea. Okay, that one's just petty." While he took all the stuff that needed to be thrown out that even had an old portrait of the I.M.P team, he was oblivious to the three-eyed crow flying and it sneaked itself into the boy's backpack. Not only that, Octavia discreetly entered out of the blue. She hated sneaking around without Lincoln noticing, but after what occurred this morning at her place, she just had to.
Lincoln had already cleared Blitzo's desk so it was clear that what she sought was not there.
There had to be some other place where that red kept it, somewhere that held great importance. She turned around and found a portrait behind the desk that replaced the old one. In this one, it showed the I.M.P team including Lincoln in it, standing between Moxxie and Millie, the latter hugging him tightly. She moved it aside and saw a safe lock that can only be accessed via password...that Octavia easily guessed because Blitzo used a very poor one.
There it was.
Her family's prized grimoire, to think that it's been kept in a dingy place like this and Octavia's been taught that such priceless objects should be treasured, yet her dad in his infinite wisdom saw fit to lent it away. Like many things in his life, he was oblivious to the ramification of not upholding his responsibilities.
"Octavia?!" The young Goetia flinched and craned her head at a shocked Lincoln. "What are you-?!"
"Shh!" She silenced him with a hand to his mouth. "Don't make a sound!"
"Why are you here?!" Lincoln asked, whispering. "Didn't you have that important thing today?!"
Octavia glowered at that. "Changes of plans, Linc. I'll be seeing those stars with you, not my dad!"
"What?! How come? Was Stolas busy?"
"Oh, he was busy alright" Octavia snorted sardonically, opening the book and requesting only one thing. "Take us to see the stars."
"Wait, I don't think-!" Lincoln ran and touched the book.
In an instant, thunder boomed as swirling energy colored purple and orange surrounded the two of them. Octavia's eyes glowed purple while Lincoln's were a deep orange, and a pentagram star materialized itself. Outside Blitzo's office, Moxxie jumped at the loud noise and the eerie glow coming from the opened room. "Uh, sir?"
Blitzo ceased his relaxation. "The fuck?!"
He and his imp employees squirmed through, guns primed and Millie breaking the mug into a weapon. They were prepared for an intruder looking to stir up trouble, not for a magic portal that was apparently summoned by not only Lincoln, it was him and Octavia. The owlet seethed at Blitzo and before they could act, grabbed a dazed Lincoln's arm and went through.
Blitzo, Moxxie and Millie stood stumped at what occurred. The former wondered just how Octavia managed to get in undetected, unless a specific hellhound chose not share what she saw. "Loona!" He bellowed.
"That's right, you have a visitor." Loona commented.
Millie's mug slipped off her shaking hands, breathing rapidly, feeling a horrible sense of deja vu, a portal cutting her off from her beloved son. "Where-Where did she take my baby?!" She exclaimed, pulling at her hair.
Lincoln felt something pecking at his face.
It was the three-eyed crow, perched on his t-shirt, poking his beak at him.
Once Lincoln started to wake up, the crow promptly returned to hiding in the backpack. "Where am I?" Lincoln rubbed his sore hair, he recalled the events at the office, making him stand up. "Octavia!" There was no sign of her. He was definitely on Earth which was strange since meteorites were typically found in space.
"Hey, you little ant! Get off the road!"
"Huh?" A car was honking at him and it was evident that he was standing in the middle of the road. "Crap!" He jumped out of the way, accidentally bumping into a homeless man snoring. "Oops, sorry!"
This was clearly a city in the country, it just wasn't clear where in the states he was in.
"Why you little bitch! This is my fucking territory!" Across the street was a man dressed as a clown yelling at a disturbed Octavia. "Your and your shitty costume better move it somewhere else!"
"Octavia!"
She smiled in relief after seeing her friend had made the trip intact. "Lincoln, where the fuck are we?!" She crossed the street while cars were still driving.
"Don't cross the street, yet!" Lincoln winced at a few cars crashing and halting, almost hitting her. "Are you okay?!"
"Fine, but why are we-hey!" They were blindsided by a mob of protesters. Lincoln took her hand and led her through the busy city where there were tons of street performers. She was quickly overwhelmed by all the humans surrounding her, and she ended up tripping herself and Lincoln over. Human overseers started to see how realistic Octavia's appearance was and unlike the clown, didn't see a convincing costume. Lincoln knew how troublesome it would be if Octavia's demonic nature were to be revealed to the human population, so he pulled her away, escaping to an empty alley. Octavia began hyperventilating, everything happened so fast and so random.
"Ocatvia! Look at me!" Lincoln gently held her hands. "Breathe, just breathe." He comforted.
Swallowing a gulp, Octavia did as he said. "Lincoln. Where the fuck are we?!"
"Well, obviously, this is Earth."
"Earth?!" This was Octavia's first ever time setting foot in the living world. "I told the book to take us to the stars!"
"How did you even get it?! Blitz always told me he kept it in a secret locked place!"
"Simple. He had an embarrassingly easy password."
"Damn it, Blitz! I told him to choose a stronger one!" Lincoln groaned. "Okay, let me just figure out where we are. We're in a big city, so somewhere in I don't know, New york?" He looked out of the alley and started to see signs. Names engraved on carved star sidewalks. A lot of people in costumes and painted in gold for money. The bright sunny skies. Lincoln had to pick up a crumbled newspaper and gaped. "Oh, my god..." Lincoln breathed. "We're in LA!"
Of all places, he never imagined going here.
"LA?" Octavia was unfamiliar with the locales of Earth. "Are the stars gonna pass over here?"
"Did you not even know where the book would've taken you?" Lincoln rubbed his forehead. "You know what? Never mind, let's just hurry back."
"No!" Octavia held the book close to her. "If the stars will be here, then we're not leaving!" She stormed off, determined.
"Octavia, wait up! You can't just wander around Earth still looking like a demon!" Lincoln ran after her. The crow in his backpack found these turns of events to be quite remarkable. Its eyes glowed and now they understand its new mission. Guide the two youngsters.
"Excuse me, could you-I'd like to know if-Can anyone-UGH!" Her attempts at getting directions kept ending in failure. "People being assholes to each other, are we sure we're still not in Hell?!" A flying paper landed on her face. She saw that it was a pamphlet for a special tour around the place. "This is it! Come on, Linc!" She dragged the boy to the nearest bus, despite his protests.
Blitzo was starting to think the entire universe had it out for him. All he wanted was to just run a successful company where he and his employees are able to kill humans in brutal fashions to pacify Hell's disgruntled Sinner population. Every so often, things kept hindering that goal. The grimoire was taken. His unpaid intern was taken and worst of all, it all got started by Octavia. Stolas' daughter. He was rocking back and forth in distress. 'Shit, shit, shit, fucking hell! What the fuck am I supposed to tell Stolas?!" he asked Moxxie, screaming in his face.
"W-Well, he does seem to like you a lot, sir." Moxxie smiled weakly. "I'm sure if you just explained, he'll understand. He can even help us."
"Dammit, Moxxie, my dick is good, but it's not that good!" Blitzo denied in fright. "Besides, we haven't exactly talked since that shit night in Ozzie's club."
Speaking of overprotective parents, Millie intervened. "You better do something, B! Because, I say we just force him to open up a portal to the top!" She had a sheathed sword and an axe strapped to her back. Revolver holsters around her waist, and a knife hidden in an ankle bracelet. "And don't think yer off the hook, you lazy bitch!" She pointed a butterfly knife at Loona.
"Me?! The fuck did I do?!"
"Don't bullshit us, Loona! You knew that little gal was here, but ya didn't a single fucking word and because of you, my baby boy's stuck on Earth without me to watch him! Again!" Millie screeched, going a little bit feral. "What? Did you want a little payback for Blitz talking back at you!"
Loona tried not to show it, but she did feel guilty about that. Anything relating to Lincoln was enough to make her feel something. "Lincoln's a tough kid! Tougher than he realizes! Plus, that curse of his will just bring him back when time is up!"
"It's still a huge risk to just leave things as they are! There's no telling what may happen, he might lose control like he did before and that's not even going into the princess potentially exposing herself to humans!" Moxxie was not letting her dodge the blame, not when Lincoln got affected by her choices. "Is it any wonder why we thought you needed an attitude adjustment? Sir, given our situation, I don't think we really have a choice!"
"So, I should just call him up and tell him everything, hoping he doesn't lose his shit?!" Moxxie gestured to the phone and Blitzo groaned. There really was no other way. "Maybe breaking it down gently won't make him that pissed." Blitzo gulped and called the prince "Hey, Stolas? It's me. Your favorite-" He forced hmself that forsaken pet name. "-Blitzy. Just wanted to drop a line, see how you're doing and also, your daughter came by, took our intern and the book, teleported off to who the fuck knows where and we have no way of getting any of them back, okay?! Okay. Good talk. Bye!" He quickly hung up and for a while, nothing happened. "Huh. That actually went better than I thought."
The office's entrance was immediately destroyed in an explosion.
Once the smoke cleared, Stolas in his monstrous nightmarish fully demonized form hovered in absolute fury. "Blitz!" Stolas screeched. For the first time, he did not say that name with affection. "Where is my little starfire?!" he demanded.
Blitzo and Moxxie huddled together fearfully, only Millie was the only brave one. "Blitz told you already! She took your god damn brook and my baby and you're here to help us!"
"Millie!" Moxxie was impressed by her gall, but he'd rather not get destroyed by a higher ranked demon. "Your majesty, what my lovely wife means is that since the grimoire does rightfully belong to you, your assistance can help in finding both of our young charges safe and sound...please?"
Stolas morphed into his regular appearance, still displeased. "For Lucifer's sake, Blitz! Getting yourself captured by human government agents was enough of a possible debacle! Do you just let anyone waltz into your office and grab infinitely powerful magical artifacts?!" He paced around, wrecked with parental worry. "I don't understand! Why would she take it?! Why bring Lincoln along?! When did she even leave the palace?! How do we even find them?!"
"Can't you just portal us, or some shit?"
"I need to know exactly where the children are!"
If they wanted something done, then Loona had to at least do something for Lincoln's sake. Her astute canine nose still picked up residuals that originated from the portal Octavia opened. "There's a lot of living world stench here. I think I can make it out." She sniffed some more to make sure. "Yep. It's LA." Her coworkers and the prince looked at her, realizing she had the one tool they needed. "What?" Stolas opened up a portal and she was suddenly pushed through by Blitzo.
"Okay, assholes! Let's get this shit done! Looney, get to sniffing!" Blitzo ordered.
"How am I supposed to smell anything in this city?" Loona removed a can from her hair.
"You managed to track Lincoln down in Hell, or is this far too much trouble?" Moxxie condescendingly asked.
"Did I not just say to get this shit done?!" Blitzo taped a crude drawing to a dumpster. "Okay, first things first, we gotta do this the old fashioned way! Disguises!" Stolas and Loona were way ahead of him on that front, morphing into their human forms in a flashy magical manner. The Goetia prince now looked like an adult male with dark stylized slicked back hair and classical attire. "Don't suppose you can conjure up a couple of those convincing looks?"
"Sadly, I cannot." Stolas smiled apologetically. "Without my grimoire, I'm afraid my powers are somewhat a wee bit limited in the living world."
"For shit's sake, can't memorize your own fucking spells?" Blitzo mocked. "At least Lincoln actually has sense to write 'em down in flash cards."
"Oh, and I guess your memories are so great?" Stolas made him look at Moxxie. "What's his phone number?!"
"...Go fuck yourself." It wasn't Blitzo's fault he had a poor memory.
"Hmph. Thought so."
"Hey!" Millie screamed. "If y'all are done, we got kids to find!" She twirled two pistols in her hands.
"Cool the murder rage, Mills. We're not here on a job, so don't stir up trouble." Blitzo laid out the game plan. "This is a big city, we can cover more ground by splitting up. Looney, M and M, you three are a team. Stolas and I will go our own way. And, Loona. If you see them, call us. I mean it."
All this doubt was seriously growing tiresome to Loona. "Whatever."
"Now, break!"
Loona didn't like the fact that she and the married imps were now working together. "I'm certain there are maps around, or we can just ask if anyone's seen a white haired boy anywhere."
"Yo, little man!" Moxxie was abruptly faced by a civilian. The man gave him a CD.. "How about checking out this demo right here! Some premium grade A fire right here! Perfect to crank up with the little lady! Only cost you about twenty bucks."
"Wow, how kind of you!" Moxxie grinned.
"Hon, don't even think about it! Did you forget we're here on a mission?!"
"But, Millie, this burgeoning young artist put in a lot of effort into his work, how can we diminish that?"
"Are you gonna stand there and tell me that's more important than our missing son?!"
"...Right...Right!" Moxxie couldn't believe he was distracted so easily. "Kind sir, I apologize, but my lovely wife and I-"
The man took his shades off. "Hold up, you folks are missing your kid?!" He took out his wallet where he had a photo of himself hugging a young girl resembling him. His lips quivered and took back his CD. "Go."
"Pardon?"
"Go find your kid!" He implored. "Find him and never let him go!" The imps were confused and ran off, the man screamed at them some more. "Protect your family, you freaky little shits!"
Loona hardly ever obeyed Blitzo in her life after he adopted her.
Just this once, she'll do whatever as long as it gets her buddy back home.
"We are now moving away from the most luxurious neighborhoods in the city. I do hope you've taken as many photos as you did so you can brag about them to your friends when really, they don't mean crap." The tour guide on the bus announced to the tourists. Lincoln wasn't positive, but he was sure that the guy was the same tour guide from the Lyle Lipton job.
Octavia groaned in boredom and disappointment. "I thought this fucking tour was supposed to take us to the stars."
"Yeah, in this place, stars can mean other things. Namely television and movie stars." In another scenario, Lincoln would be excited that he was in such a famous spot in the world. A shame that other factors left him wanting to leave. "Look, if you want to see them so badly, why not just go to your dad? You were so excited last night, what changed?"
Octavia gave a huff and crossed her arms. "It's not important now. One way or another, we are gonna find those fucking stars even if it kills us!"
"Uh, can we maybe not go that far?" Lincoln knew Octavia well enough by now to see that whatever was going on, it pertained to more family drama. He thought things were progressing better for his Goetia friend. She and her dad were repairing their strained bond and she seemed so happy only for her to do a complete turnaround, acting like she did when they first met at Loo Loo Land. "Whatever's going on, I'm sure you and him can-what?" Lincoln felt his backpack move around and out flew the crow. "Hey, where did you come from?"
It looked at them directly, showing them its three eyes. "Holy shit, I think it's from Hell!"
"Great, so we even have a sto-away." This day was not looking good for either of them.
The bird then flew and landed on the tour guide's shoulder, its eyes glowing. The guide himself also suddenly had his eyes shine the same color, and he swerved the tour bus to an opposite direction, nearly causing a collision. "Slight detour." The guide spoke in a trance. "We'll be making our next stop here. The studio lot." Studio buildings were lined up marked by numbers. "It's where all the magic behind cinematic masterpieces are made, even though they commonly result in being poorly written and are constantly leaked online. "As a special inclusion of the tour, two lucky tourists that are seated on the left in the back shall be allowed to explore."
Those passengers were Lincoln and Octavia.
They knew the crow was controlling the tour guide's mind, and wondered for what reasons were there to stop here. It flew past them and in mid-air, morphed into a normal looking bird. "It wants us to follow it." Octavia observed. "Maybe it's leading us to the stars!"
"Octavia!" Lincoln trembled, if his only option was chasing her all over LA, then he might as well make sure nothing bad happens to her. "The only thing worse than this is Lola finding out I went here without her!" Why a bird wanted a demon teenager and cursed a human child led them to an old abandoned production studio that continued to be one of man's many mysteries. No security presence was seen, thus, they went inside easily. Nothing but cobwebs and dusty chairs were waiting and the crow perched on one. Lincoln was now thinking it was playing tricks on them, until he stared directly into the bird's eyes. Small flashes of light filled his vision. The crow's appearance changed back to its demonic look and Lincoln rubbed his eyes as they dimmed red. "Whoa." Symbols. Arcane ones shining on the floor. "Look there!"
Octavia tiled her head. "I give up. The hell am I supposed to be looking at?"
"Those symbols on the floor!" Lincoln saw them clear as day. Octavia didn't. Only him. They were all pointing to the center of the building, Lincoln walked there and felt compelled to touch the symbol. The floor rumbled under them and Lincoln fell back after a pillar rose up. Octavia ran and protectively held Lincoln, both astonished by this.
The pillar had an archaic compass, styled in a goth appearance.
Lincoln took it for himself and a holographic needle arose, pointing in all directions. "Holy fuck!" Octavia shouted.
"Yeah." Lincoln nodded numbly.
"The compass will show you the way."
"AH!"
They almost had double heart attacks after the tour guide of all people spoke. "What you seek, the compass will point to. Follow it and you shall find that which can also help you."
All these words weren't his own, they originated from the crow, controlling the driver and flying off.
"'Where we need to go'?" Octavia grinned. "I was right! It is taking us to the stars!"
"Octavia, aren't you the least bit weirded out by-by all of this!" Lincoln looked at the compass warily. "This thing could be leading us somewhere else! Like, a trap!"
"Linc, what human could put this shit together? This has hell written all over it and we know hell!"
Once more, the princess ran to what she perceived was her way to the great tears she's dreamed of. "I still say we're diving head first into a bad-holy moly" He spotted a film poster displaying a costumed superhero having the ace of spades grasping a suave sharply dressed gentleman. "They're making a David Steele and Ace Savvy crossover this Fall?!"
He had been away from a normal life for far too long.
Since when did making a few stops ever hurt?
"This thing is so weird!" Lincoln knew compasses. They were useful tools that made sense. This magical one made zero sense and things that made zero sense aggravated him. "It's not pointing east, south, north, or west!" After leaving the studio lot, Lincoln and Octavia walked through the city, the boy opted to use their newfound compass. "Your dad ever have one of these?"
"My dad's forte is mostly star charts. Starting to think I should've taken one before I left." Octavia grumbled.
That'd be a cue for Lincoln to address the reason why she impulsively started this little adventure. One obstacle, Octavia's unwilling to share, not even to Lincoln. Perhaps he can ease her into opening up through some small talk. "So, how are you liking the human world? Anything like you'd expect?"
A good question.
In the past, she did have some curiosity in what the realm of living humans was like. She often joked how it must be pretty bad if all the detestable Sinners in Hell originated from this place. Lincoln changed that view a little. Still, her first Earth experience was a mixed bag at best. "It's...a little odd. Everyone here almost looks exactly the same. People are still assholes, though."
"Honestly, I sometimes thought about bringing you here just to hang out." Lincoln actually made a day plan. Lot of hours making it now for nothing.
At least he got to spend time on Earth with her.
That's all he really cared about.
"Sure we're going the right way?"
"It's where the compass is pointing to-wait!" Lincoln tried to stop her from walking straight through police tape to no avail. "Oh, god! Oh, my god!" A lot of willpower was put into keeping yesterday's dinner inside. "I'm so sorry! We're new here! She's wearing a costume!" He hastily apologized to the police officers surrounding the car accident that struck an unfortunate bystander. "Octavia, you just stepped through a dead guy!" he cried.
"Dead guy?" That sparked a recent memory. "Oh, did I mention I killed a guy when I first arrived?"
"I'm sorry?! What?!"
"Ooh, look at this!" She directed him towards one of the many city shops. A gift shop that spoke to her inner goth as a seller of the occult and mystery. "I didn't know Stylish Occult had a branch here!"
"You actually killed-who was-did anyone see-are they lying-" Lincoln slouched in defeat. "You already have friends who have committed more than their fair share of murders, Lincoln. What's one more?" If Octavia wanted to get a souvenir for herself, then he might try his hand. This city was abundant in palm trees, the second thing it was abundant in were stands designed to sell merchandise. Like the shop, it sold ethereal inspired objects such as a special locket that resembled a solar eclipse.
"Want it? It's free." The vendor said, hypnotized by the crow.
He quietly tucked it away before Octavia came back and to her embarrassment, her stomach growled and Lincoln giggled a bit. "You, uh, think we can also stop for food? I also skipped breakfast."
Luckily for them, one restaurant wasn't far away. From the looks of it, it was a Thai place still open for business, Lincoln never really tasted that specific dish, not even in a town where fusion restaurants were the norm. Behind the counter was a Thai woman with puffy brown hair, purple sweater, jeans, pink crocs, and a work attire consisting of a green apron and red head-scarf. She was preoccupied by thoughts besides new customers. "Excuse me?"
"Hm? Oh!" She greeted them warmly. "Welcome to Thai Go! May I take your order?"
"We'd like to, except we don't have any money on us."
She waved Lincoln's concerns away. "Don't worry about it. We have a special first customers of the day get a meal for a free one-day only deal. It was my husband's idea."
"Cool! Okay, uh..." Lincoln was unable to figure out the exotic food names. "What do you recommend?"
The woman grinned.
A highlight of her day was introducing her sacred food to newcomers. She gave them plates of the menu's top choices and smiled pleasantly once she saw them eat and become instant lovers of her cooking. "Wow! This is really good! Reminds me of stuff my dad makes, but still different!" Lincoln praised.
"Why thank you, are you and your sister in the costume out of town?"
"Sister?" She must mean Octavia. "Uh, yeah! Right! My sister and I are out of town! We're just visiting, seeing the sights, and whatever. Right, sis?" He winked at Octavia.
"Yeaaaaah!" Octavia nodded, following his lead. "We heard a lot of great things about this place!"
"Heh, if endless traffic counts as one of those great things, then you've come to the right place." The woman joked. "But, yeah. I do love it here. My husband and I can't imagine living anywhere else."
"Does he also work here?"
"Usually. He's just going around. Asking. Looking." Now, the woman was downcast, but didn't want to burden her customers. "Sorry. We're just going through some trouble is all. Please enjoy yourselves."
Lincoln felt a lot of sorrow coming from her, a sense of longing, and endless worry. He found the source by seeing a flyer on the counter, it depicted a young girl about thirteen years old wearing a school uniform. Judging by the resemblance between the lady and the girl, Lincoln understood now. He was sensing the pain of a mother missing her child and when Octavia saw the flyer, came to that conclusion, too. Whoever this girl was, she had pretty worried parents. After consuming their food, they head for the exit. "Hey. I...hope your daughter comes back." Lincoln said to the woman, holding one of the flyers. She gasped a little and fought back a sob, nodding gratefully at him. She was left alone, praying that soon, her daughter will return home.
Such musings got disturbed by a new visitor to Thai Go. "Hey, Mrs. B! Change your mind about my food truck partnership?!"
"Ned! I told you! No!" She cursed quietly in her native language.
"And click!" Octavia snapped a photo selfie of her and Lincoln standing in front of Thai Go. "Everyone in Sinstagram will never believe this."
Lincoln gazed at Thai Go thoughtfully. "That woman. She'll be okay, right? I mean, her daughter has to come back eventually. If she saw how sad her mom was, that'd be enough." His thoughts went to his own family in Royal Woods. Then to I.M.P. "I can already picture Millie having a freak out."
"Those imps, the other two, they really care, huh?" Octavia surmised.
"Yeah. They can be scary, but sweet, too. Odds are, when the day's over, they won't let me out of their sight, let alone go on jobs with them." He sighed and his friend now felt a pinch of guilt.
She never meant to cause him so much trouble.
If a certain person she refuses to talk about didn't forget an important date, she wouldn't have had to go so far. Of course, she questioned if she had a right to blame him given everything that's been happening. Maybe this was all just some big mistake.
She imagined this to be a great day, not a complicated one.
"Read my fucking lips, you fucking dumbass! Have you seen a precious little white-haired miracle child?! He'd be with some nosy little gal who thought she could just take him on some field trip!" Millie growled.
"Ma'am, you're holding up the line."
"Say that one more goddamn time, motherfucker!" She roared.
Los Angeles was a big city, meaning that finding Lincoln had its challenges. The biggest challenge of them all was trying to keep Millie from going crazy on the entire city. Moxxie and Loona sat on some chairs in the coffee shop they were in, watching Millie continue screeching like an animal at the barista. "Wow. Your bitch is being so productive right now." Loona's comment got no rebuttals. "What? No fancy-ass way of saying how insulting that was? Don't have a crack whore joke in there somewhere?"
"You know, I thought about it, then I realized, what can I possibly say that'll make you give a shit about how I feel?"
"Oh-ho, so the bitch boy does have fangs! Whoopdy-fucking doo." Loona shook her coffee shake a bit. "Then what are you doing? Looking for more reasons to convince Blitz to hire a new phone-keeper?" Her query was venom laced.
"Blitz had planned to have the talk long before today, Loona. What you fail to understand is that he has other priorities and in spite of him constantly spoiling you, he finally got the nerve to speak to you as your boss, not as your father! Not that you ever actually cared about that."
"What do you mean?"
"He spoils you rotten, lets you off with just a slap on the wrist, and it's all shit to you! Why he ever took you in I'll never know! Even when you have someone like Lincoln as a friend in your life, you still fuck up and if you don't clean up that attitude, then you risk losing everything you have!"
Loona tightened her grip on her cup, she made wolf growling noises even in human form due to growing anger.
What right did Moxxie have to say all that?
It's not like she doesn't really care about Lincoln.
He's just being his usual sensitive whiny self, because he could never handle her razzing.
Except she also detected the concern he had, the concern of a father.
Millie was in the same boat.
Both just wanted to have their son back.
"Aw, crumbs above." Moxxie paled once Millie was gone. She was dragging the barista outside, spinning a knife. "Millie, no!"
Parents.
Their children.
She doesn't understand it. She never had the chance to understand it for herself, not when she was left to rot in one of those Hellhound orphanages, a place where she had to spend the first seventeen years of her life living in. If no parents were willing to take a chance on her, then she felt no obligation in respecting Blitzo when he adopted her, at that point, she gave up looking for a family years ago. She had to fend for herself, look after herself, and care about her own safety. A safety that Blitzo took over when he finalized the paperwork. He put together a room to sleep on the first night he took her home. Afforded her stuff she loves like her phone. He even got her a job. It was a miracle for an orphanage-raised Hellhound to even make it on their own after avoiding getting let go come their eighteenth birthday. If Blitzo didn't adopt her, then she might be free to endlessly insult her coworkers.
She might not even have met Lincoln.
She owes it all to Blitzo and she hates having to owe anything to anyone.
It made her feel weak.
Weak ones suffered the most.
"Fuck. I need some air." Loona ditched the married imp, exiting the coffee shop.
This was much better, just her and her phone. Now it was prime time to update her Sinstagram account, she stopped walking to take a look at a whimsical poster of a mystical owl. Perfect selfie material. She posted it and scrolled to see if anyone could top that, and lo and behold, someone else had the same idea.
Octavia and following that post, she saw Octavia's photo with Thai Go...and Lincoln.
Eyes wide, she spat out her coffee in shock.
Loona checked out Octavia's Sinstagram account and saw more photos, one including them near a small castle-like building.
Out of sheer coincidence, it wasn't that far from the hidden demon.
She had a chance to continue lazing off or get it in gear and find those two, thus proving herself in the eyes of her peers.
But, this was still Blitzo's problem to fix.
Though, it could get him to back off and not find a new hire.
She still was not getting involved with rich demon junk.
Except, her little brother figure was still with her and if something really did happen to him and if Lincoln were in her shoes, he wouldn't have hesitated.
"Grrrr...fuck!" Loona broke her cup, her mind made up. She slid over a car's hood, and ran off down the street. Her action angered the car's owner, whom she pushed aside in order to pull off the super cool move.
"Hey, that was my damn car, you stupid bitch!" She came back and to add insult to injury, used a pipe to break the car's glass window
Back to running.
The man's eyes twitched. His most distinguishing feature other than his short height was a black t-shirt that had the word JERK on it. He shook two vengeance-fueled fists in the air, shouting outwards to the heavens above. "GOOOOOOOOOTH CHIIIIIIIIICK!" He made a call. "It's me, buddy! Tell me! What do goth chicks hate the most! Well, how the fuck don't you know?!" His best friend also voiced objections. "I don't care if my last revenge mission caused acid to make up 98 percent of LA's water! That squirrel had it coming!"
It was a long day of exploring LA.
The compass they found led them halfway across the city, through various landmarks and it all ended in this single sight. An observatory. In hindsight, it was a fairly obvious place to see passing meteorites. Whatever the case, they had better act quickly, the day was ending and at any moment, Lincoln would end up back down below and the tears would pass before Octavia ever had the chance to see them.
"Don't you think we should maybe get someone?" Lisa was the astrology major and actually had a telescope.
"That thing led us here, it has to be the place. It's one of those things that lets humans see space without any magic. That newspaper also said that it was the best spot to see the stars." The concept of a magic-less society was weird to Octavia, but those stars weren't gonna see themselves.
Lincoln knew things aren't always that easy.
No one was in the observatory at this hour, a very creepy setting to be in, in Lincoln's book. There was an unsettled feeling in him that made him beware of any potential threats hidden in the darkness. He took one step and swore he heard a faint whisper. "Mistress..." he gasped, looking around for the source. "Where did you go, our mistress..." They sounded so weak, as if on the verge of death yet still lingering. All those binge watches of ARRGH! helped him recognize the signs. There was a supernatural presence in this empty observatory.
"Otavia...did you hear that...?"
Danger was coming.
It just hadn't revealed itself yet.
"Lincoln, there's nothing here." She reassured him. "Nothing-oh, my shit!" She yelped, falling on her back.
Floating in between her and the stairs was a pale wraith concealed by a black robe. Its eyes were pitch black and moaned inhumanly like a cry of grief, summoning more wraiths to the room. Cracks formed on the ground and a purple glow lit up the room, a sudden wind overtaking it. "Octavia! Get out of there!" Lincoln's scream got her on her feet and they held each other as more specters gave out screeches.
"Intruders!"
"They have desecrated our sacred ground!"
"What has happened to it?! How long have we been dead?!"
"Our lady is gone?! Where has she gone?!"
Outside, a tired, exhausted Loona finally made it to the observatory. She already sent a text to Moxxie and Millie and if their speed were as impressive as their assassin skills, they'll be here shortly. Her canine nose picked up a very messed up scent, one that would make her fur stand on end if she weren't disguised at the moment, and more worrisome were the familiar screams of her buddy. "Linc!" she kicked the entrance open and her eyes bugged out at all the wraiths flying around the observatory. "What the shit balls?!"
"Loona! Is that you?!" Lincoln was relieved to at last see a familiar face today.
"A denizen of the damned realm!"
"It contaminates this place!"
"Our lady shall not be pleased!"
Loona's punches and kicks passed through their non-solid bodies. "Shit! Just don't worry, okay?! L-Let me just-whoa!" She was levitated up by the wraiths and began crowding her. "Let me go, you formless shitheads!"
"Ah! Lincoln!" Octavia shouted after Lincoln and she got lifted up, too.
The ghosts were unfazed when the young Goetia princess got angered enough to shoot a stream of purple fire at them, Loona's attempts at shredding them up was a useless effort, just about everything thrown at them was a waste of time. The wraiths raised their hands and trapped the three in energy ropes, things were beginning to look grim for the trio.
"Loona...Octavia..." Lincoln's eyes glowed red and shouted out one demand. "ENOUGH!"
That scream echoed and a wave of orange energy passed through the ghostly beings, halting their assault, they released Loona from their hold and now surrounded the two young ones, namely Lincoln. One look at him and they felt a sense of nostalgia, there was something in his red eyes that reminded them of someone. "The boy..." one spoke. "Could he be...?"
"Is it possible...?"
"He reeks of both living and demon...!"
"What is he...?'
The three-eyed crow flew to Lincoln's shoulder and shared a long held gaze to the wraiths and they immediately understood. "I see...it is at long last time to join the mistress in the great beyond...!"
The wraiths faded away and their remains combined into one whirlpool of purple magical energy that swallowed the three up and they were raised up and up until the whirlpool disappeared and they found themselves on the roof outside. Lincoln groaned and saw he was holding a pendant that was not there before. The wraiths seemed to have left a parting gift. "Lincoln, you good?!" Loona transformed back into her demon form.
"Yeah, fine. So, that all happened, huh?"
Octavia got up weakly and looked up at the sky. It was foggy, she couldn't see anything, no stars, not even the moon orbiting, all that trouble and in the end, she failed, Azathoth's tears were nowhere for her and Lincoln to enjoy. Lincoln. He didn't ask for this, he just wanted them to go back, they had to go through the recent mess because of her own stubbornness. She sniffled quietly and wept into her knees. Lincoln and Loona looked on in sympathy, the former did what he did best, console his friend by hugging her which she accepted. "Hey? You hurt?" Loona awkwardly asked her.
This was the first time she met the other sister-like figure in Lincoln's life and it made her feel uneasy. But, she started to feel some sympathy after watching the teen Goetia shed her tears.
Octavia wiped off some tears. "N-No." She hiccuped. "You're Loona, right? Lincoln told me a lot about you."
"I can say the same for you." Loona chuckled, it was funny, she didn't feel so jealous.
"...How did you find us, anyway?"
Loona waved her phone at them. "Through your Sinstagram, princess. You took some killer pics, by the way."
"...Thanks." Octavia sighed neglectfully. "Lincoln. I'm sorry for dragging you along, I was just-just so stupid! I can't believe we spent all day looking for a place to see a dumb meteor shower and all we get is fucking ghosts and fucking this!" More waterworks came as she gestured to the foggy night sky.
"Yeah, smog can be a really cruel bitch." Loona nodded. She put a cigarette in her mouth and tried turning on her lighter to no avail. "Speaking of faulty bitches!" she cursed. Lincoln looked at an uncertain Octavia and he nodded at her to go ahead, the Goetia prince tapped Loona's shoulder and lit a small purple fire through her finger. She lit the bud, allowing Loona to smoke, even if the smoke did disturb the younger two. "You know, your pop's pretty about you."
That got a sardonic laugh out of Octavia. "Oh, great! And that's why you're here instead of him, right?! Typical! He couldn't be bothered to keep his promise and now he can't be bothered to come and get me himself!"
"Didn't keep his...he forgot, didn't he?" Lincoln already had a feeling, he just wished he was wrong on that front.
"Yeah! He did! He was too busy doing his favorite pastime besides bumping uglies with your asshole boss, yelling at my mom!" Octavia recalled her heartbreak over the fact that even though he was once resolute in his promise back then, he actually forgot. "So, I decided I might as well see them with someone who actually cares! You."
"M-Me? Why me?"
"Why the hell not, Linc?" Octavia rhetorically asked. "I was actually planning on asking him if we could bring you because...I wanted to share it with my best friend." she said in earnest and Lincoln felt really touched by her proclamation. "Instead, dad had to let his shit with mom ruin it! Why does he hate her more than he loves me?!" At this point, she no longer cared if they patch things up, all she ever really cared about was that her father still had a presence in her life.
"Octavia, come on, you know that's not true."
This was going to be tough, but Loona just couldn't ignore the young girl in turmoil sitting next to her. Similar to how she felt the need to comfort Lincoln, the same feeling came in regards to Octavia. "Sometimes, it's not always that simple. This kind of shit. It gets real messy. Everybody's got issues, you know? Especially dads. And sometimes, they do fuck up and I mean, really fuck up. Like, all the freaking time. But, that doesn't mean they don't care."
"If he cares so much, where is he?!" Octavia demanded.
"Somewhere down there."
Octavia blinked, not expecting an answer. Not even that one.
"You mean, he's here?"
Loona breathed out more smoke. "Yep. Looking for you." His tastes in partners notwithstanding, Stolas really does prove to care for his daughter. "Not just them. Moxxie and Millie are searching for our boy here." She rubs Lincoln's head. "Moxxie's actually letting my insults slide. For a huge gun nerd, he's got his priorities straight. Even though, he was distracted by merch stands. But, you get my point." Moxxie. Still proving to be a great father and Lincoln was grateful for that. Look, try to cut your dad some slack, he may not always get it right, but at least he's trying." She caressed the lighter, the one Blitzo got for her. A sign of his expressive and tender love for her as his daughter. She smiled knowingly at Lincoln, recalling their own talk about Blitzo's abilities as a father at the mall mission. "That's more important than you think."
Everything was far from perfect.
But, Loona's words were making Octavia slowly realize that she was expecting too much from Stolas.
Trying to be a good parent is already a tough enough job, and no matter how many broken promises there are, the one promise he's still keeping was that he wasn't going away.
Through the smoggy sky, the moon shone down on the three, Loona was the first to stand. "You two ready to go?"
"...Yeah." Octavia gave her the grimoire.
Loona held out her hand and instead of taking it, Octavia spontaneously hugged her tightly and soon enough, Lincoln followed suit.
The Hellhound smiled and wrapped her arms around the two.
These two crazy kids, if someone had to watch out for them, it might as well be her.
"Now, say agin, where's the observatory?"
"I believe it's north of here. Or is the one west?"
"Damn it, Mox, just pick one already!"
"Maybe if Loona specified which observatory she was in!"
"M and M? That you?"
Moxxie and Millie got themselves lost trying to find the observatory Loona texted to them about and in their search, ran into their boss and Stolas. "Sir! Thank Satan we found you! Have you found...why are there fire trucks nearby? And what are you wearing?" Moxxie thought Millie was the one to worry about causing a ruckus, how silly of him to think Blitzo wouldn't do so himself. Stolad could have at least reigned him in.
"Not now, Mox! We're still got-hang on a flying fucking second! Where's my Looney?!"
Through a portal, all three of their children came, Loona holding their hands.
"Lincoln!"
"Octavia!"
"Loona, there you are!"
The four parents rushed to their kids, Blitzo going ahead. His own little offscreen adventure made him realize he could never find a substitute for Loona, no matter how rude she is even if it does hurt business. "Loona! Oh, my sweet baby girl! I'm so sorry! I swear I'll never replace you! You can treat Lucifer himself like shit and I'll still love you until the day I- GRH!"
Loona kicked under the pants, making the others present wince. "We're good." She said, shrugging.
"Lincoln, my baby boy!" Lincoln turned blue in Millie's protective crushing hug. "Oh, mama's never ever gonna let you go again, no more running off, mister!" She kissed his cheek multiple times. He saw Stolas and for a moment, his vision was clouded again as he witnessed his teacher shift between his demon look and what was apparently his human disguise.
"Some gracious stands were kind enough to sell healing ointment. It's supposedly organic in origin." Moxxie knew they'd be useful.
Now, it was Stolas' turn to express his beyond relief that he found his wayward daughter who was in the process of apologizing to him. "Dad. I-I'm sorry about-I didn't meant to worry you-I'm sorry-"
"Oh, forget that, my little starfire! I'm just relieved you're okay!" Stolas celebrated, hugging and spinning her around, transforming all the while. "But, what possessed you to do such a thing? You know I haven't taught you spells like this yet."
"I just wanted to see the stars you promised. From when I was a little girl."
"Stars?" Stolas' confusion and to his dismay, realized what she was referring to. Him dealing with Stella made him forget the important event he once told her long ago and it all made sense why she abruptly left to take the grimoire for a trip to Earth. He should've realized it sooner. "Oh, dear lord! Azathoth's Tears! Oh, no! Oh, my dear sweet Via! I am so-"
Octavia hugged him in assurance. "It's alright, dad. I know. You're here now and that's what matters."
Stolas hugged her once more, glad that she held no ill will.
Loona smiled at the reconciled father and daughter until Blitzo tried coming in for a hug of his own, she smacked the grimoire at his face, even though she was slightly touched by the gesture.
By now, fireworks exploded in the sky, unleashing wonderful colors. "Whoa, what the fuck is all that about?" Loona asked, taking some pics.
"My acting career in flames." Blitzo grumbled.
"Do we even wanna know?" Lincoln did not want to.
Octavia was captivated by the aerial display, they weren't a meteor shower, but it was still a pretty event to look at. "Whoa! Look at that one! And look at that one over there!" She breathed in awe.
Stolas was relieved that she found some happiness. "Dear boy, I hope you two kept out of trouble in this little adventure."
Lincoln recalled the compass and the pendant, he knew he had to tell them about what happened at the observatory. "Funny you should say that..."