“In the great expanse of
the nether, there exists boundless amounts of magnificent phenomena. The great brilliance
of an exploding star. The nimble dance of space dust through a nebula. But once
every one thousand years, our corner of reality is treated to an incredible
sight. From the deep eldritch recesses of the cosmos, the tears of a forgotten colossus
begin to fall. Tears made of the hopes and dreams of every living thing that never
came to be, condensed and sent shooting across the night sky in a dazzling
final display. What appears to mortal beings as a meteor shower, we can see for
what it is, Azathoth’s Tears.”
Stolas narrated as he
conjured up magical holographic images of space. The universe showed a vast
purple nebula sky, a giant pink star exploding, and a dazzling pink swirling
nebula that looked like a galaxy. Finally, four rocky meteors soared across the
sky, two with teal flames, one with purple flames and one with teal and pink
flames trailing behind it.
Stolas curled his hand
and the images faded as the portal closed. Little Octavia giggled in his lap,
wearing her pink dress with stars on it. Her room had hanging lights, a
headboard with a princess crown on it, ringed planet bedposts, a mobile with
moons and stars, constellation posters and a bookshelf. Stolas’ grimoire
hovered in the air, surrounded by purple and blue magic.
“Daddy,” said little
Octavia. “Can we go see it someday?” Wonder filled her magenta pink eyes.
“Yes, dear,” said Stolas,
lifting her up and placing her onto the bed. He tucked her in with her purple
quilt with yellow stars on it. “I promise, when the day comes, nothing will be
able to keep me from being there with you.”
He playfully poked her
on the nose, and she giggled. He put his hands over his heart and displayed a
loving fatherly smile. “Good night, my Owlette.”
“Good night!” little
Octavia called with a yawn. Stolas’ grimoire closed and it trailed behind him. She
wiggled in bed and softly squealed in excitement, even though the event was…
0 0 0
…many years later in the
present (2021). The excited teen Octavia got out of bed. With a feathered
quill, she crossed out a date and spotted the present day. She had drawn
meteors in purple. In pink, there were stars and the smiling faces of her and
her father watching the meteors. She circled the picture and hurried off.
Down the hall with the
purple and green Venus fly traps, Octavia hopped on one foot, pulling on her
black high heeled boot. She wore her usual pink dress with yellow stars on it,
her crown, a black soft hat, a pink collar, a black jacket and fingerless
gloves.
Octavia turned a corner.
“Hey, Dad!”
She paused. In front of
her was an empty kitchen. Moving boxes were stacked on the floor.
“Dad?” Octavia
questioned in concern as she turned another corner.
“Daaaad!” Octavia called
as she ran her hand down the gold stair rails. Curled within the rails were red
eye designs.
She wandered out the
open doors to the front courtyard. Stolas, wearing a scowling expression, was
holding the sunflower rotary phone in one hand, and squeezing the imp butler in
the other.
“Yes, I know!” he said
angrily into the phone to his former wife. “It will be there shortly!”
“Are the commoner imps
being careful?” Stella shouted through the phone.
“Of course they’re being careful!”
Stolas barked.
In front of Stolas,
servant imps were busy lifting the boxes into a moving van. An “expensive
shits” sign was taped to the back of the van.
“Dad, what’s going on?”
Octavia asked from the doorway.
Stolas’ eyes widened and
he turned to her.
“Apparently, your mother
can’t exist somewhere two minutes without the entirety of her possessions before
she…what?!”
He paced to the side,
turning his attention back to the phone.
Stella yelled into the
phone. “You turn my own daughter against me, hanging out…!”
Stolas put his hands on
his hips. “No, I’m not turning her against you…!”
“Bring me my stuff!”
“Yes Stella!” Stolas
breathed into the phone with too-wide eyes and a forced open-mouthed grin.
Stella screamed, “I hope
I never have to see your fucking face again! Everyone in our family hates your
guts!”
“Dad,” Octavia began,
twiddling her fingers. “This is going to be done before tonight, right?”
“What?” Stolas lowered
the phone. “Oh,” he sighed in frustration. He turned back around. “I hardly
think so, knowing your mother, this will take all weekend.”
He yelled at the imps.
“Don’t be gentle about it now! Break whatever you have to to get it all in
there!”
He was satisfied when he
heard Stella’s yells of protest. “What?! What did you just tell them to
do?!”
“But,” said Octavia.
“Tonight, we’re supposed to…”
“Darling, can we not
talk about this now?” Stolas whispered hoarsely. “Your mother’s being a real B-I-T-C-H.”
Bird calls came through
the phone. “Fuck, you know I can spell, right?!”
“Well how was I supposed
to know you can spell?! I’ve never seen you read!” Stolas barked back as he
strode toward the van.
Stella yelled again. “I’m
going to take everything! Everything you own!”
Octavia stomped off
toward her room. “Urgh!” She yelled in frustration as she slammed the door.
“Urgh! She yelled in frustration as she flipped over her telescope, sending it
crashing to the floor. She crumpled up her calendar and yelled again as she
tossed it to the ground. Octavia took some shaky breaths and spotted her blue
and white backpack on the floor. It had a yellow star on the back and two
strings with crescent moons on them. She slung it over her shoulder and angrily
walked out of the room.
0 0 0
Meanwhile back at I.M.P.
headquarters, a calendar hung on the wall. On the 20th, Blitzo had
written in caps “HAVE THE TALK” with a red circle around it. “Have the talk”
was crossed out in the other squares other than “Stolas?” with a full moon and
a dick and another square with a horse on it with “Riding Lessons” at the bottom.
More horses were drawn around the calendar, along with a long-necked horse with
Stolas’ face and hat. Other tasks on Blitzo’s calendar included “Murder Tien,”
“Observe Employees,” “Pissing Contest,” “Commit Tax Fraud,” “Kill That Guy,”
“Stab That Bitch,” an explosion, “I Love Moxxie,” “Sunday Fuckday” and “Moar
Horses!” An arrow held up another Blitzo drawing.
The calendar image was a
picture of a lounging Verosika Mayday but with a sticky note of a winking
Blitzo drawing covering her face.
Blitzo was apparently
going to have the talk with Loona about her aggressive behavior toward his
clients. Unfortunately, the raging hellhound was currently throwing a dagger
and two spinning weapons at her adoptive dad’s head.
Blitzo smiled nervously.
“Loona, honey, wait just a…shit!”
Blitzo ran for cover as
Loona chased him while holding the water dispenser in her hands.
Blitzo appeared on the
other side. “Loonie, please, can we talk…?”
The water dispenser smacked
him in the face.
“Fuck! Uh, I mean, wow!”
His eye was swollen where the water cooler hit it. He smiled nervously and said
sarcastically, “A good throw, honey,” while pointing both fingers in a mock,
“good job,” gesture. “I’m so proud of youuuu…!”
Blitzo’s method of
trying to calm her down resulted in a growling Loona barreling into Blitzo and
the imp screaming in response. They rolled onto the floor, where Loona
proceeded to bash Blitzo’s face with a spiked frame picture of a horse drawing
surrounded by hearts.
Moxxie smirked happily
on the moth-ridden gray couch, holding a mug in his left hand. Millie smiled in
fascination as Loona continued her attack. She walked over to Moxxie. Moxxie
poured Millie a mug of coffee and handed her a lavender mug with her face on it
surrounded by hearts. Moxxie’s mug was purple and surrounded by golden music
notes. Millie jumped into Moxxie’s lap.
“What’s this all about,
honey?” Millie asked.
Moxxie drank and sighed
happily with an “ah.”. “Oh. Blitz finally talked to her about her attitude with
clients.”
Blitzo was on the floor,
and he got up on shaking legs. Blitzo pushed the couch in front of him like a
shield as Loona growled lowly again.
“I-I just think some
small tweaks might help you be more of a uh…people person, you know?” Blitzo
began as Loona approached, teeth bared.
“I am a people
person!” Loona seethed.
The three imps shared
looks.
Loona grabbed Blitzo by
the collar and pulled him close. “If I’m so terrible, how about you just grow a
pair and replace me?!”
Blitzo glanced to the
side. “Okay, well maybe I…” Then he thought. “Maybe I might.”
Loona paused. “What?”
Blitzo glanced at Moxxie
who smiled and gave a thumbs up.
“Maybe I will,
little missy!” Blitzo declared, poking her in the stomach and folding his arms.
“Yeah, that’s right, it’s tough love time!” He paused and pointed. “So now you
can…go to your desk!”
Loona growled “Urgh!”,
dropped Blitzo upside down and stomped off.
Meanwhile, out of
everyone’s line of sight, Octavia opened the adjacent door with a pair of
purple pliers. She did a silent roll into the room, covering her mouth with her
feathery hair like a scarf disguise.
Moxxie lifted Blitzo up
onto the couch. “Sir, if I may say so, you’re doing the right thing.” Moxxie
massaged Blitzo’s shoulders. “If we can’t even hire a cheerful qualified receptionist,
how can people trust us to massacre and mutilate their enemies for them? It’s
good for business.”
Octavia zoomed off and
hid behind a thin brown cactus plant. The plant had a tag: “To Millie from
Dad.” She crawled along the floor and crouched behind a fax printer that read
“Hel 9000.” She stood up and spread out her arms against a picture of a Blitzo
stick figure drawing with Blitzo’s head, a gun, and horses. She glanced at
Loona who was sitting at her desk, staring at her phone and computer, bored.
She dashed off and
opened the door to Blitzo’s office. Octavia removed her hair from her mouth and
dashed forward. A heating vent was shaped like weapons in a connected row.
There was a lemon plant with “no whores allowed,” “The Incredible Blitzo,”
picture, bloodstained playing cards in frames, a “Wild and Free” horse picture
and office items. She opened a drawer and tossed out objects from it: Moxxie
and Millie-themed office supplies, a Loo-Loo Land cup, a paper crown, and a
Mare-juana horse toy with gems on it. She turned her head backward around to
the giant poster of Blitzo, Moxxie, Millie and Loona smiling.
There was always
something hidden behind giant posters, there had to be.
Octavia lifted the flap and
sure, enough, there was a rusted red safe box coated in spider webs. On it was
a sign with horses drawn on it and “Blitz’s stuf, do nut steal!”
Octavia was worried that
she wouldn’t find the password, until she looked on the back of the paper and
saw “Password: 1-2-3-4” scribbled on. She typed in the red 1-2-3-4 buttons, the
screen glowed green, and the box clicked open!
Octavia grabbed the
grimoire and flipped through the pages.
“Take me to see the
stars,” she said. A purple light glowed from the book. Her eyes glowed white
and a black pentagram surrounded her. Swirling black tendrils of energy danced
around her and a loud whooshing sound was heard.
Moxxie noticed the
magenta-violet light coming through Blitzo’s open office.
“Um, sir?” Moxxie began,
pointing at the door. Blitzo was relaxing with cucumbers over his eyes.
“The fuck?” he gasped,
cucumbers falling off.
The three imps burst
into the room; weapons drawn. They squeezed through the door, Blitzo carrying
his flame rifle, Moxxie drawing his pistol and Millie smashing her mug to the
ground. Octavia gave Blitzo a brief look before walking through the large
glowing white portal. It closed behind her.
The three imps stared in
disbelief.
“Loona!” Blitzo
bellowed.
“Oh yeah, you have a
visitor,” she replied nonchalantly as Blitzo narrowed his eyes.
Blitzo crouched down and
breathed heavily in a panic. He held his head and grabbed Moxxie’s shirt. “Shit,
shit, shit, shit! What the fuck am I supposed to tell Stolas?!”
“Well, he seems to like
you, sir,” Moxxie replied nervously. “Maybe he would understand if…”
Blitzo shoved Moxxie
away. “Okay, my dick is good…but it is not that good, Moxxie.”
“Sir, I don’t think we
really have a choice,” mentioned Moxxie.
Blitzo scoffed. “So,
what? You want me to just call him up and be like…”
Later, on Loona’s bone
phone…
“Hey, Stolas, oh your
daughter came by, took your book, and teleported off to who the fuck knows
where, we have no way of getting either of them back, okay?! Okay, good talk,
byeee!”
Blitzo hung up the phone
and flinched. He turned to a concerned Moxxie and swiped his head in brief
relief. “Whew, wow that actually went better than I thought…”
“BLITZ!”
The exit door blasted
open and sent Moxxie flying. A demonic Stolas appeared, a black towering owl with
four red eyes and red outlines.
Stolas stomped into the
room, his gaze menacing, his voice demonic.
“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!”
Blitzo stepped back and
held up his hands. “I promise, Stolas, all of us will find a way to get her
back as soon as…”
“YOU’D BETTER!” Stolas
replied. Just when Blitzo thought he was going to double Hell, Stolas took some
deep breaths and morphed back into his normal demon form. Stolas paced back and
forth in front of the three imps.
“How could this happen?!
Do you just let anyone waltz into your office and grab infinitely powerful
artifacts?!” Stolas clutched his hat, worryingly. “Why would she do this? How
are we supposed to find her? Where would she go?”
“Well, the best-case
scenario, she could’ve used the grimoire to go to another Ring in Hell,” Moxxie
suggested.
“Yeah, maybe she wanted
to go…shopping,” Millie added. “To that Stylish Occult store, maybe?”
Loona then sniffed the
air.
“Well, it reeks of urine
and desperation so…”
She flinched in disgust.
“Ugh…L.A.”
Everyone looked at her
in surprise.
“What?” she shrugged.
“L.A.? Los Angeles?”
Blitzo asked. “But that’s in…”
“The human world!”
Stolas sighed. “If the humans find her and discover what she is…”
His eyes flared red as
he growled at Blitzo, face close, “I’ll be in eternal trouble!”
“Okay, okay,” Blitzo
said, sweat beading his face. “We’ve been to the human world many times! It
won’t be too hard, right?”
Without a word, Stolas
waved his hand and summoned a glowing portal in front of him.
Blitzo noticed Stolas’
passive, upset look on his face. He spoke quietly. “Um…about several nights
ago. I, um, I may have been a little harsh with, ya know, pushing you away
after the time at Ozzies…”
“I tried to make things
nice for us, but obviously, you didn’t care,” Stolas replied coldly.
“I-it’s not that I
didn’t care, it…” Blitzo began. He still couldn’t bring himself to belief that
Stolas may have deeply cared for him as a sort of loving friend. He was still
used to viewing Stolas as a pompous promiscuous annoyance but a necessary one
to keep up his killing business. Now Blitzo felt especially bad now that Stolas’
daughter was likely in danger.
Moxxie and Millie looked
concerned. Loona rolled her eyes.
Stolas remained silent
for a moment.
“If perhaps you…don’t
only care about…fucking me, and you actually want something more…” Blitzo
added.
Stolas held up a hand,
his voice detached. “Find my daughter and I’ll accept your apology.”
Millie was about to step
through the portal, but Stolas held her back.
“Wait. We will need
disguises first,” said Stolas.
Stolas and Loona’s eyes
glowed white and they began their Sailor Moon themed transformations. Loona
transformed into a tall white woman with long white hair and a partially shaved
head. She had ripped black shorts, a gray short, ripped top and her downward
black pentagram design on her chest. Her tennis shoes resembled her foot paws.
She stared intently at her cell phone.
Stolas did a pose in his
new human form. He had high heel black shoes, long gray pants, and a red vest
with the hanging tails in the back resembling owl feathers. His hair was brown,
short and spiky, his skin white, his eyes red.
Millie clapped happily
while Blitzo stared agape. “No chance you couldn’t conjure up a couple of
those, can ya?”
Muttering some words,
Stolas waved his hands and dark tendrils with red auras shot out of his
fingers. The three imps rose into the air and did their own Sailor Moon themed
transformations. They all wore their same outfits, but each looked different.
Blitzo posed as a man with large ears, olive colored skin, red eyes, and short
black hair. Moxxie was short with white skin and his same, white-colored hair.
Millie was now a black woman with wild thick black hair and dark lipstick on.
“Whoa!” the imps all
gasped in shock, looking at their new forms with red eyes. They all stared at
Stolas in shock.
Stolas shrugged. “What?
Did you think I would just waltz into the human world and not allow you imps to
be disguised as well since my powers are limited in the human world without my
grimoire?”
The imps just stood
silent, glancing at each other. Wordlessly without looking, Blitzo tossed Loona
through the portal. She landed on her butt on the ground.
“I just think you
wouldn’t be able to memorize your own fucking spells,” Blitzo replied as he and
the others walked through the portal.
“If you think your
memory’s so great,” scoffed Stolas, “then what’s his phone number?” He
mentioned to Moxxie.
“Fuck you,” Blitzo
seethed.
“Exactly,” Stolas
smiled.
The five disguised
demons looked around. They were standing in an alley. “Fuck you” was graffitied
in red on the wall behind them over art of a squid in an ocean. There were
vents in the wall to the left, a green dumpster and garbage bags to the right.
Beer bottles stood in a wet spill, among damp boxes. “Bullshit” was written in
white over a vented garage door, two florescent lights above it. Graffiti art
of a skull with a snake coming from its eye socket, smiled on another wall near
some stairs.
Nearby posters read, “PUBLIC
HEALTH WARNING! City finds LA water to be 2% sewer overflow and 98% acid. NO OBVIOUSLY
DON’T DRINK THAT SHIT!! Top scientists say.”
A distant gunfire and
scream were heard as the disguised imps spotted a dead body nearby.
“Oh, this doesn’t look
much different from Hell,” Blitzo remarked. “Alright, Loona, let’s make this
quick in and out before anyone notices us here.” He brushed his shirt and
happily marched forward. “Alright, now let’s get to work. Loonie, sniff!”
“How am I supposed to
smell anything in this city?” Loona asked, tossing aside an orange can from her
mane of white hair.
“Can’t you even do one
thing right?” Moxxie argued.
“Can’t you ever stop
being a nagging whimp?” Loona replied.
Moxxie seethed as Loona
walked on.
Stolas walked out of the
alley and spied a dazzling pair of red sunglasses on display. He picked them
off the stand and put them on. Blitzo and Loona followed him while Millie
dragged an apprehensive Moxxie by the hand down the sidewalk.
Just then, Moxxie ran
into a man in front of him. The man had light brown skin, a gold tooth, a
single curled hair on his chin, yellow square sunglasses, and red hair. He wore
a pair of red earphones around his neck along with a brown floppy hat, a dark
shirt, baggy red pants, and a purple jacket.
The man snapped his
fingers with both hands and grinned.
“Hey, little man. How
about you check out...”
He pulled a CD out of
his jacket that read “My Demo!!” in black marker…
“…this demo right here?
This is some premium Grade-A fire right here!”
He shoved the CD into
Moxxie’s hands and Moxxie beamed wide-eyed at it as the man did peace sign
poses.
The man pulled Moxxie
and Millie close to him. “Perfect for you to crank with the little lady,” he
said in a sing-song voice.
A disgusted Millie
walked out of his arms.
“Oh, wow!” exclaimed
Moxxie. “You made this? Thank you.”
Moxxie and Millie began
to walk away but the man swung around a palm tree and blocked their path.
Moxxie fell to the ground.
“Oh, hey, hey, hey. Hold
up a sec, you just gonna grab it and go?” he asked.
“He said ‘thank you,’”
said an annoyed Millie.
The man held out his
hand. “Twenty bucks, man.”
Moxxie stood up and
desperately grabbed Millie’s face. Tears came to his eyes as he went on his
knees.
“Millie, we need money
to pay this talented artist!” he begged.
Millie watched in
annoyance as the rest of the group turned a corner.
Millie lifted up Moxxie.
“You can just give it back, Mox.”
Moxxie gasped, held his
hands to his face and crouched beside the palm tree. He held the CD close.
“Millie! These artists
put their heart and soul into their work! I can’t just give it back like it’s
worthless!”
Moxxie hissed and swiped
at a squirrel that was sniffing him. His real face briefly appeared.
“It probably is,” Millie
mentioned bluntly. The man glared at her.
A tall woman with orange
hair, purple sunglasses, black hoop earrings, black shorts with pink flames on
them, and a revealing pink top flipped a coin at Moxxie.
“Sick demon costume,
man! It’s metal as fuck!” She did two horn gestures with her hands and walked
on.
Moxxie’s face vanished
and his disguised face appeared again. Moxxie flipped the coin and it fell out
of his hands. “I have an ide…oh, whoa! Hey, hey, hey, hey, come get back here!”
Moxxie chased after the coin and grabbed it. He turned back to Millie and
grinned. “I have an idea!” Moxxie looked at the coin, which had an American
eagle, USA on the top and 2021 on the back.
Moxxie and Millie turned
back into their demon imp forms and began to sing. A white man wearing a red
shirt and a “dude” tattoo lovingly held a woman wearing an orange and yellow
dress with a crescent moon necklace. Another woman closed her eyes in happiness
as she listened. A man wearing an Elmo dinosaur costume took off his costume
head and sobbed. The demo man crossed his arms in envy.
Millie and Moxxie stood
high up in the palm tree leaves and sang. They held their hands, their faces
close.
Moxxie began:
“You’re my pretty ray of
hellfire
And you set my soul
alight
I’m aflame with love
For you, my dove
You see…”
Millie joined in:
“Moxxie…
You’re the sweetly
rotten pustule
On my heart as it decays
You’re the stench of
evil clinging to my every dying day…”
They sang their duet:
“You’re the melody in
every song
You’re the reason
nothing’s ever wrong
You’re the first thing
that I think of
When I wake anew to kill
again…”
You’re my lovely little
monster
And I’ll never say
goodbye
I will kill for you
Until they day we
diiiieeeeee!”
They ended on several
long notes by raising their arms in the air as a white “Hollys Wood” sign stood
on the hill in the background. The sun shone high in the smoggy sky.
The crowd clapped and
Moxxie bowed back on the ground. A red rose was tossed to him. The man in the
Elmo dino costume was slipping him dollar bills. Moxxie excitedly pointed to
the cup of coins in his hand while Millie rolled her eyes.
Moxxie held out a cup of
coins to the man. “And here you are my fellow Troubadour.”
The man snatched the cup
and shoved Moxxie away.
“Whatever, man. Get the
fuck outta here, you’re cramping my business!”
The imps’ faces turned
human again. A sign read “palm readings!”
“Come on, babe!” called
Millie. “We have to catch up to Blitz before…”
Millie ran face first
into a billboard painted exactly like the area in front of her.
“Ayyy, wanna buy some
art?” asked a bald man with a long beard.
Moxxie beamed. “Wha? Yes!”
He held up a dolphin beach flyer that said “believe” on it. Millie face-palmed
at Moxxie’s distractions.
Other items were on
display: a poster with a shirtless humanoid wolf-man, a palm-tree head with a
woman’s bikini body, a stuffed dog, “Mon-nya Lisa,” a poster of a blue humanoid
anime bunny, an “I love LA” shirt, dolphin posters and other sexualized furry
characters. There were also keychains of the palm-tree head lady, a Verosika
Mayday keychain and a purple shirtless hellhound with heart nipples.
0 0 0
Octavia groaned and
slowly opened her eyes. She moved her right hand with her fingerless glove in
front of her. On the ground was a gold star with an old-fashioned movie camera
in the center. It didn’t show any actor’s name.
“Where am I?” she
groaned.
Green vomit with a
balloon piece in it suddenly splattered in front of her from a hunched over hobo
man. Octavia flinched and stood up, spotting another man. He had olive skin,
short black hair, and an eyeball hanging down. Octavia had accidentally killed
actor Brennon Ragers by stepping on him. The portal closed above her. His head
flopped down after she accidentally kicked it. She gasped and stepped back;
grimoire clutched to her chest. Another man wore cardboard boxes with hamburgers
painted on.
She bumped into a man
dressed as a clown.
“Whoa!”
The clown angrily turned
around, raising a fist.
“Hey! This is my
territory, bitch! Take your shitty costume and get the fuck off my corner!”
The clown shoved her
into the street, where she narrowly dodged cars. She raced on. Angry protestors
were yelling at a gold statue of a smiling man dressed in a suit and top hat,
hand extended. The protestor’s signs read, “Demons walk among us,” “God hates
your personally,” and “< - - to Hell.”
Octavia tripped with a
yelp, falling to the ground. She turned around and spotted two women who were
freaked out. One wore green and the other wore a cream-colored dress and
matching fancy hat. She grabbed the grimoire and hurried off to an alley. She
leaned against the wall, breathing in a panic.
Octavia then took some
deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Even though it was a strange new
world, at least she was free to explore and not be stuck back at the mansion.
Octavia brushed herself
off and stood up. She figured she could start by asking the humans where to go.
She sighed and walked
out of the alley. She spotted a lady walking a hyper girl on a leash by a
TVs4Less store.
“Hey, do y…” she began,
but the lady walked away.
“Can you help…” she
tried talking to another lady and two men, but they walked past her.
“H-how do I get, ah – I
– excuse me, I just need to know where I can…”
She sighed in defeat, “…see
the…stars.”
She groaned in
frustration, hiding her face behind her beanie and rubbing her eye.
A bus tours pamphlet hit
her in the face from the wind. She opened it and saw an ad: “Star Struck Tourz
– stalk your favorite celeb!”
“Yes!” Octavia
whispered, crumbling the flyer in a hug. She spotted the blue bus and hopped
on.
After an hour, Octavia
stared at an overhead orange plane in boredom. She groaned as she stared at the
blue sky. Not a star in sight.
The tour guide was the
same orange haired man who did the tour in front of Lyle Lipton’s mansion. A guy
in front of her was taking pictures.
The tour guide said,
“And to your left, you’ll see the home of one of those influencers who thinks
they’re hot shit cause they now do TV shows!”
Octavia spotted a black
man on his knees wearing sunglasses on the ground. He was begging as a woman
and son left him and went inside a limo. After the limo left, the black man
raced over to a pink-haired man in a bathrobe, and they kissed. Octavia groaned
and put her beanie over her face again.
After the bus stopped,
Octavia stepped out and ripped the pamphlet in half with a deadpan expression. She
pulled her beanie over her ears and walked by a door spray-painted with a teal
“bullshit” and a green nuclear explosion. She walked by two police officers,
one of them smoking, leaning against a lamppost. Two cars were wrecked and
stained with blood. A lady was yelling at an old man on the sidewalk. Without
looking, Octavia stepped over the corpse of a man with glass in his chest and
organs spilled on the sidewalk. The other people gasped as she walked on.
Octavia turned and
spotted a magnificent art piece on display. It showed a lavender owl with teal
light swirling from its eye, a skull in its talons near a full moon. “Star Owlz
Souvenir Shop” was at the top.
Octavia’s eyes went wide
with excitement. She never thought she’d see something so cool on Earth. She
took out her phone and snapped a picture.
She peered inside a shop
and spotted eyeball shaped hanging lights, an “Oh Weed Ya” board, and an IT
clown doll in a box. It read “I luv you. Wanna play? He can talk!” There were
also watches, spiky collars, and graphic t-shirts on display.
She walked past the
window, before turning around. She pressed her face against the glass, fingers
sliding as she spotted a blue and teal “Star Struck Surprise Box” with a gold
ribbon.
‘Maybe if I were human,’
thought Octavia, ‘I could work at an observatory…or a Not Topic store. Or be in
a punk band. I’d rather be anywhere than near my arguing parents.’
She thought about Stolas
again and sighed. Why couldn’t her parents just leave her alone and get along?
She didn’t want anyone getting hurt, despite them living in Hell.
She put her earbuds in
and listened to “My Life Is Burning All Around Me,” and another song “I Like
It.” It felt good to be free.
“Don’t wanna do what my
daddy told me to
On the edge, tryna to
see a brand-new view
Woah, and I liked that”
“Sick and tired of just
wastin’ all my time
You know what?
I think I’ll go commit a
crime, woah
And I like it”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,
Oh, no
And I like it”
“Wanna see the sights
Be a troublemaker
Turn off the lights
Get in a fight”
“Live on long
I’m not a faker
I’m a product of a
broken home”
“And I know that I can
make it on my own
A story I will write
And, going off the radar
And I like it.”
0 0 0
A door opened from a
“Little Costume Shop of Horrors.” A sign
with a bat on it read “Year-Round Halloween Shop.” A hanging green zombie
animatronic with an eye falling out, cackled on the door. Signs nearby read
“Store Closing Sale – just take stuff.”
Blitzo posed in front of
Stolas and Loona with a costume.
“So?”
He wore a pink shirt, blue jeans, boots, a
brown wig, and large pink ears. Adding his olive-colored skin of his human
disguise, he looked just like…
A woman wearing a white
shirt with a YouTube-like logo screamed excitedly.
“Look everyone! It’s
Holly’s Wood star, Brennon Ragers! (Brandon Rodgers)”
“The fuck is a Brendon
Rager…” Blitzo began before looking up at a billboard ad. “Oh.”
The ad showed a smiling
Brennon Ragers calling “SWEETIE! I’M IN THE HOUSE! ™ Guest Starring Brennon
Ragers.”
Stolas looked wide-eyed
at the billboard. “Oh dear,” he breathed.
Blitzo found himself
immediately mobbed by an adoring crowd. The people took pictures as Blitzo
frantically tried to escape.
“Millie! Where are you
and your whore bag husband?!” Blitzo shouted over the noise of the crowd.
The crowd lifted up
Blitzo in the air as he yelped.
“I’m taking this out of
their pay!” he yelled.
A dark truck pulled up
and muscular agents hopped out of the back. More people held back the crowd and
Loona. A man blew a whistle and held up a certificate that read “Cinephile
University, Master of Arts in Film Production, I guess.”
Blitzo fell to the
ground and looked up at three men approaching. A short man with a blonde
ponytail and glasses was flanked by two tall men wearing black shirts, blue
jeans, and black sunglasses. He held a bag of fruit snacks.
“Mr. Ragers, we’ve been
looking everywhere for you. You were supposed to be on set an hour ago!”
“The fuck are you
talking about?” Blitzo asked as the two agents picked him up.
“Your guest spot on…”
said the producer as a brief ad for “Sweetie, I’m In The House!” played.
“Thursdays at 8PM, ads by Gaagle.” He ate a fruit snack. “We’re taping tonight.
Now hurry up and get in the car!”
“Oh no, no, no, no, no,
no! I’m not going anywhere with you, jizz-biscuit!” He flipped him off with
both fingers.
“Very funny, Mr.
Ragers,” said the producer, his gold tooth, glinting. “Now, get in the car.” He
held out a fruit snack in his hand and tried to lure him like a dog. “Come on,
boy. Come on.”
Blitzo struggled again.
“Get your fucking hands off me!” He briefly got himself free before one of the
agents lifted him up in the air. One of his pink ears fell off and landed into
a man’s arms. The fans fought over the ear and a teen boy with ginger hair tore
off his shirt. His chest read “Brennon Ragers” as he cheered.
“Loona! Stolas! A little
help here?!” cried Blitzo as he was carried away by the agent.
Stolas tried to push his
way through. “E-excuse me, sir. I’m…Mr. Rager’s agent, and I don’t believe you
can just…”
One of the muscular
agents cracked his neck and picked up Stolas with his meaty hands, carrying him
away.
“Oh, you are strong!”
Stolas blushed.
Blitzo and Stolas were
tossed into the back of the van. Blitzo leaped forward with a growl, but the
doors closed in front of him.
Stolas sat down; eyes
downcast. “Oh Blitz, we don’t have time for this. Via could be anywhere. She
could be in danger.”
“Don’t worry, I’m on
it,” Blitzo replied. Blitzo’s horns briefly appeared, and he broke the window
with them before they vanished.
“Loonie!” Blitzo called.
Loona knocked a person down. Blitzo yelled, “Go find Via! We’ll catch up,
soon!”
Loona turned around and
flipped off Blitzo with two fingers.
“Yeah! Way to be a team
player, sweetie!” Blitzo remarked proudly with a thumbs up.
Blitzo turned to Stolas.
“She’s in great hands.”
Soon they arrived at the
tall building labeled “Starstruck Studios.” A sign read “Authorized personnel
only.” Blitzo clawed at the door frame in protest as the agent carried him in.
He yelled and growled to no avail. Another agent carried Stolas in. The agent
dragged Blitzo along and a group of smiling people followed, holding water,
paintbrushes, and a microphone. One had a notepad with questions on it. Another
poked Blitzo in the eye with a water bottle.
Blitzo was tossed into a
black makeup chair.
“Let’s get him ready!
He’s on in five!” called the producer.
Makeup artists were
spraying his hair and brushing his face.
“What?” Blitzo asked in
shock. “Five what? I-I can’t be on a sitcom!”
Blitzo was smacked in
the face with a powder pad as the artists continued. He was then carried
backstage to Stolas, who was holding water bottles.
“Should’ve had an ego
crisis before signing the contract,” the producer remarked to Blitzo.
“I-I-I, whoa, I don’t
even know the fucking lines, idiot!”
“Well, that’s why God
invented teleprompters!” remarked the producer.
The teleprompter was a
lanky blonde man wearing a purple shirt, a baseball cap, and dark pants. He was
picking his nose and leaning against an old teleprompter with a screen that
read “GOD KILL ME PLS”. A pizza slice also hung from it. The teleprompter guy
got electrocuted on top of the device. Nearby, a blonde actress wearing a teal
blue dress was smoking on a couch. A blonde girl with a red bow tie, blonde
curls and a red dress was snorting cocaine through her nose, her eyes turning
red.
“Shouldn’t he rehearse
or something?” Stolas asked.
“No can do,” said the
producer. “We’re live in 10, 9…”
The producer walked away
through the curtains.
Blitzo panicked. “Oh
shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I-I…I can’t do this. No, not again. I-I
haven’t performed since…”
Stolas shoved him
forward onto the set, eyes narrowed. “Hurry up and wow them so we can get back
to finding Via.”
Blitzo soon found
himself on set and the lights turned on. The set appeared to be a typical cheerful
living room with yellow wallpaper, yellow comfy chairs, a couch, and a coffee
table. A “Love, Listen, Live” picture was on the wall to the left and a picture
of the smiling blonde actress girl nearby with flowers. Angel figures were on a
shelf. Trophies were on another shelf near a picture of a black puppy and
another picture of ballerina shoes.
“Action!” called the
producer. Blitzo stood stiff with fear as cheerful old-time theme music played.
A fat blonde male actor
sat on the couch nearby.
“Well, if it isn’t our
neighbor, Ronnie.” The man stood up. “You feel that earthquake, earlier?”
Blitzo sweat heavily.
The agent next to the camera shook his head. Another blonde man nervously
flipped through a script. The producer looked displeased.
“Say something!” Stolas
whispered.
The teleprompter
appeared and Blitzo stuttered as he read his line.
“Oh yeah, that was just
my wife…rolling out of…bed.”
After a brief silence,
the audience members laughed. Stolas chuckled. Screens above the stage read
“LAUGH” in green letters.
Unaware of the screens
prompting them to laugh, Blitzo smiled, wide-eyed.
With more enthusiasm, he
added, “Yeah, yeah and then that bitch hit her head on the way down and
shattered her skull!”
Stolas snickered while
the audience sat in shocked silence.
“There’s blood
everywhere…pee in her pants…” Blitzo exaggerated.
Stolas laughed. The
audience look up at the screens which read “SRSLY, LAUGH ANYWAY,” in green.
They laughed. Blitzo winked at Stolas, not as nervous. Stolas blushed and
chugged a bottle of water. His disguise briefly flicked off as steam rose from
his throat and he coughed. Then just as fast, the steam and the discomfort
vanished.
After a while, the
audience members were either bored or mentally scarred by Blitzo’s acting. One
audience member held a noose. One popped bubblegum all over his face. Another
guy leaned on the chairs. One woman fell asleep.
An old man read the Los Angeles News. The
newspaper read, “The Observatory, or the best place to see stars. The
observatory prepares for a long-awaited meteor shower. Tourists and
astrologists alike come to witness this extravagant event. Oh, who am I
kidding? No one really reads these anymore. At this point, I’m doing all can to
hit my word count so I can get my paycheck, go home, and get high. A master’s degree
in journalism, all for what? To get paid $20 an hour for a shitty newspaper? To
have your wife leave you for a sexy Romanian lover? Oh my god, kill me now.”
“Man with nothing to
declare has 6 turtles in his pants,” “Help Wanted: help needed removing rabid
frogs from my swimming pool. They’re vicious, vile and won’t stop tormenting my
family. Poor Timmy can’t even go outside without screaming in fear. The poor
frogs have ben soaking in chlorine for nearly two months.”
A picture of Blitzo’s shadow was in the
paper with “Alien attack?” on top. “Nondescript nail polish brand
gets canceled after fingers fall out…”
More articles read,
“Obituary: numerous fans create shrines and mourn over the loss of the actor no
one really cared about until just now. Everyone will forget about this in the
next week, probably.” “The sub-par actor you loved when you were 12, passed
earlier this week.” “Missing dog. Name: Contact Me. Reward: If you want.
Location: To buy some. Awesome drugs!”
“Oh, Uggie! You’ve gone
and done it again!” Blitzo remarked as a pug sat on the couch after he urinated
on it. “That’s the fifth couch this year!”
The screens still
advised the audience to laugh, and they did so, half-heartedly. Stolas also
looked troubled. One guy laughed in insanity, green foam in his mouth, before
he collapsed to the floor. One woman had a noose around her neck.
Blitzo picked up the pug
and squeezed him tightly in his arms. “You know, maybe it’s about time I found you
a new home, one that could put up with your attitude.”
Blitzo put a red leash
on the pug and playfully bopped him on the nose.
Several actors appeared
on set. The blonde child actress raised her hand.
“I could take him, Mr.
Ronnie! I’d be happy to adopt old Uggie and give him the attention he needs!”
The blonde girl appeared
with the other family of actors: the blonde fat man, the lady with the blonde
wig, a blonde boy with spiky hair and a baby with a red heart pacifier in her
mouth. They all smiled and posed like a perfect family. Birds, a fawn, a
squirrel, and an orange cat circled around them in the spotlight.
“Aww,” cooed the
audience.
Blitzo faced away from
them and stared at the leash, downcast.
“Yeah, yeah, m-maybe you
should adopt….”
Blitzo stared at the pug
and a brief flashback came to him…
0 0 0
Blitzo was back in Hell
at a hellhound adoption center. The center was a dimly lit place, a combination
of a prison and a pound. It was dank and dimly lit, with the hellhounds locked
in kennel-like cells.
Five hellhound bipedal
dogs stared at Blitzo with wide red eyes. There was a small tan colored dog
wearing a tattered green dress, a lanky hound with a white dress and thick
black hair, a black and white hellhound, and another dog who wore a blue
patched up shirt. The Uggie-like hound in the middle wore a ripped up blue
shirt and wore a can on his head. On the cell floor were pizza boxes, bones,
and a single book on a shelf. A urinal was in the background and there were
messy bunk beds behind them.
Blitzo had his hands on
the bars of the kennel cell.
“Aww, they’re all so
cute. And they’re…sad.”
A large old adoption
center lady stood beside him, with a gray wrinkled face and a deadpan
expression. She had a gray dog face, thin white glasses, white hair, and a
white pearl necklace over her dark clothing.
The lady stood under a
worn red “Hellhound Adoption” sign with a pawprint on it. Teal fluorescent
lights hummed above each of the cells, several of them shattered. The floor was
wet with water.
“Maybe you could adopt
this one here,” said the lady, pointing to an adjacent cell. “Quite a strong
lad, he’ll be perfect for whatever work you want to use him for.”
Blitzo grinned and
peered into the cell. Inside the cell was a hunched, wrinkled, ugly hound with
red eyes, a thick face, and sharp claws. A scratched up green chair and a
static old-fashioned TV were behind him. A few of his teeth were broken.
Blitzo flinched back.
“Ugh! No, I’m not
looking for no ugly wonker, heh. I need something that’s more family-friendly.”
“A gift for the wife,
huh?” the lady deadpanned. “No problem.”
Blitzo followed her
several cells down.
“We have a nice
selection of other hounds,” the lady said.
Blitzo stopped at
another cell.
“Who’s that?” Blitzo
pointed.
The lady stopped and
looked in.
Sitting on a wooden
bench was a teenage hellhound with a cell phone in her hands. She had a thick
mane of white hair, narrow red eyes, and a thick black tail. She wore a red
shirt with a skull on it and torn black pants. Above her was a torn-up sign
that read “Hang in there.” Scratch marks all over the wall counted the number
of days spent in the cell. A couple of books were under the bench and a pillow
was in a corner.
“Oh, her? That’s just
Loona,” said the lady in the same monotone voice. “What a nightmare.”
Near the bunkbeds were
drawings of Loon and a thunder cloud, a drawing of flowers and another drawing
of Loona stomping through a city. A young hellhound kid smirked mischievously
at Loona. He wore a blue baseball cap, a torn white and red shirt, and blue
pants. He held a bloodstained bat with nails stuck on the end of it. The boy
pointed at Loona and jabbed her with his club. With a fierce growl, Loona
slammed the boy against the cell bars, where he fell with a thud. Loona growled
again, then curled up.
“Serious attitude
problems,” the lady deadpanned. “She’ll be our of our hair next month when she
ages out.”
Blitzo figured that
would mean she’d be homeless.
Loona scooted backwards on the bench with a whine.
“Good riddance, if you
ask me,” said the lady. “She’ll never amount to anything much.”
Blitzo took one look at
Loona, who was now curled up and crying on the bench…and knew he had to save
her.
0 0 0
“No,” Blitzo breathed,
holding onto the leash back in the present. “No, no, no, you can’t have her!”
Blitzo held the pug close and pointed at the child actress. “She’s mine
and I love her!”
“AWWW?” appeared in
lavender on the screens and the audience did their “Awws.”
Blitzo put his other
hand to his head, choaking up.
“But, Mr. Ronnie,” said
the girl. “You gotta let me have the puppy! You just gotta!”
The girl’s eyes briefly
turned red, one of her teeth was sharp.
Blitzo hissed through
his teeth and shoved her away.
“Don’t you touch her,
you little anal fissure!” he spat. The girl clenched her fists in anger.
To Blitzo’s surprise,
the audience laughed mindlessly again.
“Oh, you think this is
funny, assholes?!” asked an offended Blitzo. He pointed to the child actress
who scooted away from him. “She’s not fit to be a mother! I saw her doing lines
of coke in her dressing room!”
The blonde man crumped
up the script and a woman facepalmed. The producer rammed his fist, angry that
Blitzo was going out of character. He gave a signal to the agents, and they
approached the set menacingly. The blonde actress lady walked over to Blitzo,
trying to calm him down.
“Now uh, Ronnie, I think
maybe you should…”
She tried to grab the
pug, but Blitzo held on tight.
“No, you can’t have my
baby, bitch!” Blitzo shouted.
Blitzo smacked her off
him, causing her wig to fall off. She looked sadly at her wig, then seethed at
Blitzo, her head bald.
The agents reached out
to grab him, as Blitzo stepped back.
As Blitzo pulled out his
golden flintlock pistol in his other hand, his human disguise faded in a flash,
revealing his true angry imp form. The audience gasped in horror as “OH SHIT!”
appeared in red on the overhead screens.
“Demon!” someone cried.
“I’ll never get rid of
her!” Blitzo bellowed.
One of the agents leaped
into the air and tackled Blitzo. The gun fired and blood sputtered around.
Blitzo sent the agent back with a powerful kick and shot him in the head.
Another guy wearing an
orange shirt, tackled Blitzo and grabbed his arm. Blitzo elbowed him in the
gut, and he sent the man to the ground. He shot the man and his head exploded
in blood and smoke. The fat blonde man tackled Blitzo, and he was soon under a
mob of attackers.
“Get off me!”
One swung a club of
bails and others used briefcases. Several audience members filmed on their cell
phones.
Stolas looked concerned.
“I’m coming, Bliiitz!” he yelled before awkwardly tripping over a railing. He
stood up and adjusted his sunglasses. “Excuse me! Would you mind?!” He tried to
push through the crowd.
Stolas was pushed back
hard by a blonde man. He scowled and with a flinch, threw a bottle of water at
the producer.
The water was actually
acid…and it severely burned the producer’s skin.
The producer screamed in
agony as steam rose from his body. He stumbled and crashed into the
teleprompter. The teleprompter crashed to the ground as flames appeared. “LET
IT BURN” flashed in red on the flickering teleprompter screen. Electricity
danced across the device and flames rapidly spread over the scripts and
throughout the room.
For a brief second, all went
dark.
Then the lights came
back on, and all was chaos!
The flickering overhead
screens now read “PANIC!” in red. Uggie the pug sat calmly on the couch as if
to say, “This is fine.”
Fire flickered across
the set and the stage floor was covered in blood. Bodies littered the ground. A
woman screamed at a high pitch. Several people ran and screamed as they were
burned by fire. The man reading the newspaper ignored the commotion. One of the
agents was lifelessly pinned to the wall by the club. The boy actor had been
crushed by a falling screen. The producer lay dead, and another person lay dead
over a screen above.
A man ran into Stolas,
but Blitzo reached out and grabbed his hand as he started to fall.
Stolas blushed heavily
as Blitzo posed with his chest muscles exposed.
“Now, let’s go find our
daughters,” Blitzo said in a serious tone, holding up his pistol as an
explosion flared behind him. Stolas’ eyes grew wide, and his face turned red
before he was pulled by Blitzo out of the building. Starstruck Studios was up
in flames and smoke. (Fortunately, the pug got out safely).
“Don’t you ever reject
me in the future again,” Stolas called, breathing heavily. “We’re friends no
matter what…”
“Don’t get your dick in
a twist just yet,” Blitzo glared as he pulled Stolas along.
0 0 0
Meanwhile,
walking around the city, Loona listened to the same song Octavia listened to:
“I Like It.”
“Don’t wanna do what my
daddy told me to
On the edge, tryna to
see a brand-new view
Woah, and I liked that”
“Sick and tired of just
wastin’ all my time
You know what?
I think I’ll go commit a
crime, woah
And I like it”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,
Oh, no
And I like it”
“Wanna see the sights
Be a troublemaker
Turn off the lights
Get in a fight”
“Live on long
I’m not a faker
I’m a product of a
broken home”
“And I know that I can
make it on my own
A story I will write
And, going off the radar
And I like it.”
Loona happily sipped her
coffee from a styrofoam cup in front of a “Best Coffee” shop. ($50 and $70
price labels were off to the side). Apparently, this Earth place wasn’t too
bad. She opened up Sinstagram, Hell’s version of Instagram on her phone. She
walked along until turning around with a soft bark. She spotted the Star Owl
Souvenir Shop art that Octavia had admired. With a shrug, Loona took a selfie
with the art in the background. For her new post, she wrote “#earthshit” with a
flame emoji next to it. The “add location” included “Earth,” “Pride Ring,”
“Sloth Ring” “Gluttony Ring,” “Envy Ring, “Wrath Ring,” “Greed Ring,” and “Lust
Ring.” Her username was “moonlighthowling666.” Other friends of Loona on
Sinstagram were a masculine hellhound, “hellboy61,” “Verosika,” “Vortex,” and
“Hotdog.”
“Wacky Wally Official”
read under “sponsored”: “DO YOU WANT TO MAKE TONS OF MONEY, but don’t know
how? Just buy my free courses…” with 66,666 likes.
When Loona spotted
Octavia’s selfie by the owl art with the same “#earthshit” caption, she spat
out her coffee in shock. Octavia had posted: “Finally found at least
something cool in this place! The artist who did this, rocks!” She put a
flame emoji at the end. Octavia’s username was “gothchick17.”
Loona clicked on her
profile, which read “VIA,” “Sad” and “Depressed” with crying devil emojis. She
had 999 posts, 67 followers and 576 profiles she was following.
Octavia posted a selfie
of her looking bored in front of a castle. “Found a cool looking castle.
Reminds me of home. #earthshit.”
Loona narrowed her eyes
and examined the picture closely. She turned around and spotted the castle
building far behind her. In frustration, Loona crumpled up her coffee cup and
ran off in search of Octavia. The coffee spilled onto the ground.
She reached the castle,
but there was no sign of Octavia. The woman with the YouTube-like shirt posed
for a selfie. Loona started sweating and nearly dropped her phone. She clicked
on Octavia’s next post.
Octavia had a grumpy
expression as she stared at the Starstruck Studios globe structure, reminiscent
of the Universal Studios globe. A tall black guy and a white woman with green
hair and a shaved head were carrying a “1 year” heart anniversary balloon.
Octavia had posted: “A
globe ball in the fountain? Not the designing choice I’d recommend.”
Octavia’s fourth post
showed her blank-faced selfie in front of the Holly’s Wood sign. “What is a
Holly’s Wood? #bored.”
Loona growled as she
reached the sign, but thought she suddenly spotted Octavia in front of her. She
reached out her hand to her shoulder…and flinched back when she saw it was an
olive-skinned woman, with big purple glasses, a peace sign necklace, braces,
and a phone with a Canada leaf on it. She gave her an apologetic look and
continued on.
Octavia’s fifth post was
her looking up at a Chinese temple with a dragon design in the center. “Wow,
that looks dope!”
The sixth post showed a
grumpy Octavia near a hotel with an elephant statue, picnic benches and a tall
white archway structure with designs that looked like angels or hieroglyphics.
The seventh post… “I’m
near the castle again. #lost.”
All around town all day,
Loona tried to follow Octavia. By the time night fell, Loona panted with sweat
as she sat near the observatory. The building was golden colored with blue
mosque-shaped domes. An old lady with a Christian necklace was busy lecturing a
little kid.
Octavia’s post: “This
is supposed to be an observatory, I assume. If I want to find a place to watch
stars here, I don’t know.”
Loona wiped sweat off
her face and strode forward. She looked around and walked by a curved set of
stairs. She then spotted Octavia sniffing at the top, looking out over the
polluted lit-up city. Her backpack with the grimoire was next to her. Octavia
spotted a flash of teal light from the corner of her eye…Loona had reverted
back to her usual hellhound form.
“Hey,” Loona said with a
small wave as she walked over to Octavia.
Octavia sniffed and
wiped her eyes with her arm. “Hey. How did you find me?”
“Your Sinstagram,” Loona
smiled, holding up her phone. She looked up and swiped on her phone, seeing
Octavia’s pictures of the observatory and city. “Nice pics by the way.”
“Oh, thanks,” Octavia
sniffled.
Loona pocketed her phone.
“You okay?”
Octavia shook her head. “Can’t
believe I was so stupid. I spent all day looking for a place where I could see
some dumb meteor shower.”
Octavia began to cry,
her face in her arms. “And all I get is…” she gestured to the smoggy sky… “…this!”
“Yeah, smog’s a bitch,”
Loona agreed. She got out a pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. Loona tried
to ignite her lighter, but no flame appeared.
Octavia poked Loona to
get her attention. Loona glanced over and saw Octavia snap her fingers. A small
pink flame magically appeared on her finger. She moved the flame to the cigarette
and the front end burned. Loona smoked with a deep inhale, while Octavia
coughed and swatted away some smoke that got in her face.
“You know,” Loona
mentioned, “Your dad’s really worried about you.” Loona joined her on the
ledge.
“Right!” Octavia
scoffed. “That’s why you’re here instead of him. He couldn’t be bothered to
keep his promise, and now he can’t be bothered to come and get me himself. He’d
rather spend his time just screaming at my mum.”
Octavia’s voice croaked,
“Why does he hate her more than he loves me?”
Loona paused and took
the cigarette out of her mouth. She thought about what to say to comfort
Octavia. She took a breath and blew out smoke.
“Sometimes…sometimes it’s
not as simple as that. This kind of shit gets messy and everybody’s got issues,
especially dads. And sometimes they fuck up…well all the time. But, that
doesn’t mean they don’t care.”
“If he cares, where is
he?” Octavia asked.
“He’s somewhere down
there,” said Loona, mentioning to the city.
“He’s here?”
“Looking for you. I mean…”
Loona smoked again. “Try to cut your dad some slack.” Loona lit her lighter and
this time, an orange flame appeared. “He may not always get it right, but…he’s
trying.”
Loona smiled as she
stared at the glow of the flame. “That’s more important than you think.”
Octavia and Loona then
looked up and saw a shining full moon appear from behind the clouds in a starry
sky. Loona’s words had instilled a spark of hope in Octavia’s heart.
‘Perhaps mum was wrong,’
thought Octavia. ‘Perhaps dad really does care about me.’
She looked at Loona.
Despite her rough demeanor, she had compassion, deep down. The two teenage
girls could sense a new bond beginning…a bond of friendship that was almost
sister-like.
Loona tossed her
cigarette aside, got up and stretched. She turned to Octavia and held out her hand.
“You ready to go?”
Octavia placed the
grimoire in her hand. “Yeah.” The owl stood up. Loona held out her hand again,
but this time Octavia embraced her in thanks.
Hugs were a rarity for
Loona…and this one warmed her to her core. Her hellhound parents were long gone
and the only embraces she had felt were her own when she had curled up in her prison
bed. (And very rarely, she tolerated hugs from Blitzo.) Loona didn’t really
have any friends…but perhaps this one would be nice for a change of pace. Being
lonely got boring at times.
The teens separated and
Octavia created a portal after opening a page in the grimoire. They held hands
and walked through.
0 0 0
As the Starstruck Studios
building continued to burn, Blitzo was typing in “Not Topic” in the search bar
on his phone. He dragged Stolas with him, holding onto his arm. They ran next
to a fence near a Moon Tea factory.
“Now if we can just find
where…” Blitzo began.
Blitzo and Stolas gasped
as a pink flame portal appeared in front of them. Loona stepped through first.
“Loona!” Blitzo cried in
joy.
Octavia stepped out next,
holding Loona’s hand. The portal closed behind them.
Blitzo raced toward
Loona, tears in his eyes.
“Oh, Loona, my sweet
baby girl! I’m so sorry! I’ll never replace you no matter what you…”
Loona covered his mouth
with her hand to stop him from talking. He embraced her and Loona froze. For a
split second, she appreciated Blitzo’s gesture. Then she remembered how
annoying he was and gently pushed him back.
“Drop it,” she muttered
with a growl.
Loona’s face softened when
she spotted Octavia in the background. “You’re good,” she called.
“Dad, I’m so sorry…”
Octavia began.
Stolas morphed back into
his demon owl form and happily embraced his daughter, spinning her around. “I’m
just relieved you’re okay!”
They separated, Stolas
putting a hand on her cheek. “But what would possess you to do such a thing?
You know I haven’t taught you spells like this yet.”
Octavia’s eyes looked downcast.
“I just wanted to see the stars you promised.”
“The stars?” Stolas
said. Then he gasped, putting a hand to his head. “Azathoth’s Tears! Oh, no. Oh,
my dear sweet Via. I am so…”
Octavia cut him off with
a tight hug. “I know, dad. It’s okay. You’re here now.”
Stolas returned the hug,
the two owls thankful to be together. Loona, for the first time in a while,
smiled a genuine smile as she witnessed the reunion. She felt happy that
Octavia had a loving dad. Blitzo crept up for another hug, but Loona playfully
shoved the grimoire in his face, pushing him back.
Just then, a purple
flash of light boomed and spread out in the sky. Loona looked up and so did the
others.
It was a beautiful
purple firework. Two more fireworks shot into the sky, a large red one and a
smaller blue one with yellow sparks.
“What the fuck is that?”
Loona asked she filmed the fireworks with her phone.
Blitzo stood up and
folded his arms. “My acting career,” he deadpanned.
A large firework changed
from blue to purple in the sky. Then a teal one and a magenta one lit up the
sky in a dazzling display. A red firework, a purple firework and a small green
firework boomed and burst.
Stolas and Octavia
watched the show happily together. It wasn’t what Octavia had originally hoped…but
somehow, the fireworks still reminded Octavia of brilliant stars.
Being able to watch
these kinds of stars with her dad…it was close to the wonderous experience she
had dreamt of since she was little…an experience that seemed perfect just the
way it was. The light of the fireworks mesmerized her eyes, heart, and soul…solidifying
the bond between her and her dad.
Octavia gasped in awe
and pointed up at the rainbow fireworks. “Look at that one! Did you see that
one?”
“Now, where the fuck are
M and M?” Blitzo asked out loud.
0 0 0
Meanwhile, back at the
alley, Millie texted Blitzo a picture of a sex toy. It was a collar with a pink
ball on it. Her phone icon was a black sword and his was a brown horse.
Millie: “Moxxie be into
this, you think?”
Blitzo: “B1TCH where u
@?”
Millie: “Near the Alley!
Portal Plz :) <3”
Blitzo: “Kk I gotchu.
Makin Stols do it now.”
Millie: “Thx.”
A poster for stargazing
“Go for stargazing!” and “Fix it tech, send resume” were on a wall with barbed
wire on top.
The portal appeared,
revealing Blitzo’s office. A green fluorescent light hummed above a door. Both
Moxxie and Millie were back in their demon imp forms.
Moxxie strained as he
dragged a bag of art merchandise behind him. There were roses, plaques,
trophies, medals, CDs, and an Oscar statue. Millie mentioned for Moxxie to keep
moving before walking through the portal.
“Art is heavy!” he
groaned.
Moxxie then froze as a
smirking white salesman in a baseball cap, a tank top, and pink hearts against
white on a dress put a hand on his shoulder and held out a CD that read “Demo
Lil Shween.” Moxxie took the CD and beamed. He was about to hand a dollar bill
to him, when Millie stepped back through the portal and threw a blade straight
into the man’s forehead. He fell to the ground, lifeless. Millie than angrily
tossed the CD aside.
“March, mister!”
demanded Millie. She lifted Moxxie up effortlessly and carried him through the
portal. Moxxie cried “Noooo!” as the portal closed with his merchandise left
behind.
