Chapter Text
Loona
Being back in this place, Loona was starting to remember just how horrible it was during her pre-adolescent and teenage years. Seeing the other pups, some of which she recognized and others new to her, brought with it her own feelings of sorrow. The memories of being in their position once upon a time. It was all too real for Loona as she envisioned a younger version of herself huddled on her bed. She wondered if her last roommate was still here or if he had been adopted, or sold was the more accurate term if what the matron had said was anything to go by.
Yet, she had never remotely anticipated the reaction Beelzebub would have to it. When she had seen the Sin of Gluttony quite literally turning green at the sight of the children and the conditions that they were living in, Loona knew something was horribly wrong. She should have in hindsight. The Sin had the power to absorb the emotions of the people around her. Loona should have known that Bee might try and do the same with the hellhound pups. It especially shouldn’t have been surprising considering how ill experienced Bee likely was with such an onslaught of negative emotions. Sure, she’d likely had experienced them before, but not to this degree.
And the end result was the Sin puking her brains out for five straight minutes. Loona didn’t know if she should be impressed or horrified at just how long Beelzebub was vomiting straight. It wasn’t an achievement that any sane or even the most perverted of individuals would want to go for that was for sure. No one could keep their eyes off the Sin as she emptied her stomach contents, which were rather large. As the three minute mark passed, Loona was beginning to become concerned that Beelzebub might actually pass out from losing so many nutrients and liquids. She turned to Lucifer, who was just as stunned as everyone else, for help. The Sin of Pride, while initially unsure as how to help, quickly came up with an idea to help Beelzebub, recognizing it as an overload of her empath abilities. He pulled off his hat and reached into it, shuffling his arm inside for a good long minute.
Loona was growing both worried and frustrated as she needed to provide Bee with another trash can to hold in all of her puke. Was it Loona’s imagination, or were Bee’s arms looking a little more skeletal than they were beforehand? Oh sh*t, she was going to die from this if they didn’t stop her. Eventually, Lucifer was able to pull a long glowing piece of rope from the hat and threw it to Loona. Immediately, feeling the pulsing and itchy energy on her core, Loona recognized it as holy rope. Nevertheless, Loona didn’t hesitate to tie the rope into a loop and gently wrangled it around Bee’s neck. Almost as soon as she had, Bee’s antennas flickered and the Sin of Gluttony ceased her tirade of vomit.
The garbage cans were huddled along the wall by the entrance they had come in through, a symbol of all of the pain that Beelzebub had experienced second hand. Loona hadn’t realized that such trauma could serve as a weapon against the Deadly Sin. She’d heard of people weaponizing their emotions against other people, but not to this kind of scale or purpose.
When Beelzebub had regained some form of sanity, she had barely been able to stand or articulate any verbal communication. Loona had thought Bee had looked terrible when she saw her last week, but the Sin somehow looked even worse at the current moment. Her eyes were wild, speeding across the hallway and trying to regain their senses, yet also exhausted from the emotional overload. Her fur was on edge, her hair flowing erratically. Her stomach was a flowy mixture of purple, blue, and green all meshed together to form a hideous mural of what the kennels represented. Her expression was mixed between sorrow and exhaustion, reflected by how she continued to fail at standing up on her feet.
Lucifer had promptly offered to carry the mentally drained Sin away from the Kennels to which no one argued against, mostly because they were still too in shock by the scene. Even Cali, who knew Beelzebub longer than anyone else in the room, was staring in shock and pity for her boss, who she had likely never seen so distraught before. Still, Loona couldn’t help but give Lucifer a glare for his part in Bee's suffering, even if it wasn't direct. The king of Hell had allowed for people like the matron to get away with treating children like wastes of space, which was made worse by the fact that this place had probably been operating for hundreds of years.
After the pair were gone, Cali and the matron continued to argue over the legality of her takeover of building operations, the former vehemently defending her authority and threatening to have the latter put in a hole seven feet deep. Meanwhile, Millie and Moxxie were using the time to inspect the children within their cells, the former’s motherly instincts especially beginning to kick off as she stared pitifully at the pups. Since coming to a truce with Moxxie in regards to behavior, she and Millie had come to a deeper understanding with one another.
Millie especially had used their new relationship to come to terms with her own biases toward hellhounds and had apologized to Loona about unconsciously seeing her as nothing more than a rabid dog. The Wrathian imp had promised to Loona to better herself in regards to that, and Loona could admit that Millie had in fact changed from the couple months since. Still, even back then, Loona could say that Millie would never have been okay with what she was seeing now, the imp clutching her stomach as though to shield her unborn baby from the atrocities of the Foundation.
Loona herself, after having spent so long away from the Foundation, was looking at the kennels with a new and clearer perspective. She looked into her old cell, seeing a couple adolescent hellhounds, one a sharpay and the other a beagle. Loona had been wondering if she would see her old roommate again. She couldn’t remember his name, but she did remember how the asshole would do his best to try and torment her. Then again, it wasn’t like he ever had anything better to do. She wondered if he had been adopted. If so, despite how much of a brat he was, she hoped it was at least nice.
A red double door stood at the opposite end of the hallway from whence they entered. Loona felt her fur raise at the sight of it, releasing an unconscious whine as she recalled memories of it. Every so often Loona would watch from her cell as the ones who aged out or were just too troublesome for the staff to put up with were dragged inside, never to be heard or seen through again. Though every time someone was, Loona was sure her nose had caught the scent of putrid smoke, wafting from beneath the doors and into her nose, a warning of what was to come. Loona was about to open it when she heard shouting from behind.
“Oh my Satan, is that one dead?!” Millie shrieked. Loona and Blitzø turned toward the sound of Millie screaming and saw the imp pressing against the bars of one of the cages, her eyes horrified at whatever she was seeing. Before they knew it, Millie had taken her double-sided ax and had snapped off the lock of the cell before throwing open the barred doors with a loud crash and rushing inside, her husband not far behind as he curiously checked on what his wife had found.
“Millie what are you…oh,” Moxxie paused, finally seeing what his wife had. Loona had stepped inside the cell with the couple. Inside was a single lone hellhound pup, a doberman with black and umber fur laying on the ground. The child was practically a skeleton, wearing old clothing that was tattered and dirty, and had a long scar running down the side of their neck. Due to how emaciated they appeared, it was impossible for Loona to tell how old they were, though she did make note that they were a couple heads taller than the imp.
“Oh, you poor thing,” Millie cooed, holding their head over her lap while trying to get a feel for their pulse. Loona had never seen the female imp act so motherly before. “They’re still alive. We need to get them to a hospital.” Millie looked to her husband pleadingly, Moxxie appearing just as horrified as his wife as he shook himself from his shock and helped take the child from Millie, carrying them over his shoulder.
Just as they stepped out of the cell, the sound of several guns being switched off echoed loudly throughout the hallway. Loona could make out the sounds of many of the pups shrieking and cowering deeper into their cells at the sound that had come from both ends of the hallway. Looking between both sides, Loona could see several demons in black gear that you would see from movies about special forces, their identities hidden from her and everyone else. Though it was clear from the fact that their guns were pointed toward them that they were not friendly.
“None of you are going anywhere,” the matron spoke coldly with authority. Cali stepped back from the matron, her expression one of shock as she glanced toward each of the assailants that accosted them. Blitzø began to pull out his gun only to be halted by the voice of the matron.
“Uh, uh, uh,” she tutted mockingly. “We wouldn’t want you to make any rash decisions, now would we?” Blitzø glared at the woman before looking back at Moxxie, who was still holding the unconscious hellhound pup, as well as Loona before grumbling angrily as he reholstered his flintlock.
“What the f*ck are you doing? Do you realize who we–,” Cali started, only to be interrupted as the matron pulled out a pistol with a silencer and shot her in her left hip, the saluki hellhound collapsing with a cry of pain.
“Yes, and the only two people who could protect you are not here,” the matron remarked. Blitzø dove over to the saluki, who was crying out in pain as blood oozed out of the wound. Blitzø placed his hands over the wound, doing his best to place pressure on it and stop the blood loss.
Loona glanced around the hallway, trying to take charge of her surroundings. One of the first things that Blitzø had ever taught her when teaching her to defend herself was how to take charge of her surroundings, to take in every little detail and identify its use to her. One could easily turn the tide of an impossible fight if they knew what to use. There were six demons with guns pointed at them. Seven if she counted the matron, which she absolutely did. Each of them had automatic weapons pointed at each of them.
“How can you do this? They’re just children,” Moxie called out furiously, clutching onto the child on his shoulder tighter. The matron merely chuckled at the imp’s disbelief.
“In my time here on this mortal coil, I have come to see two types of people.” the matron recounted. “The weak and the strong. I learned long ago that only the strong survive by taking advantage of the weak, and who’s more weak than a child.”
“You know, I’ve killed a lot of people, lady,” Blitzø began, staring daggers at the matron. “I’ve got graveyards whose cause of death is me, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that you are a raging furbag f*cking, sandy vagin* having, so fat she can’t touch herself, bitch of a monster.”
The matron stared at Blitzø with the same unamused expression she normally had before releasing a loud, prolonged huff. She then pointed her pistol in Blitzø’s direction and pulled the trigger. Only it wasn’t Blitzø she shot. It was Cali, the matron having put another bullet in the hellhound, this time her left leg having been hit. Cali shrieked in pain as she pulled her leg up against her chest, clutching onto it as she began breathing more quickly. Cali’s expression was one of fear now as she had been put closer to death.
“The f*ck did you shoot her for! I was the one who insulted you!” Blitzø screamed, his voice becoming nervous.
“Yes, and if you keep talking, I’m going to aim for her lungs. Make it nice and slow for her,” the matron taunted with a cruel smile, one that Loona wanted to wipe off her face. She continued looking around the hallway looking for any sort of advantage, yet unable to find one. They were all out in the open, surrounded on all sides with no place to find cover behind. Unless she found something to gain the upper hand, they were all dead.
“So that’s it huh, you’re just going to kill us. What happens when Beelzebub and Lucifer realize we’re dead?” Loona asked the matron with a scowl.
“Oh I’m confident we can handle them, especially with our firepower,” the matron admitted. Loona looked at the matron with confusion before looking more closely at the weapons that the other demons were holding. Each of the guns had their own glowing aura to them, one that Loona was familiar with.
“Angelic weapons. You f*ckers were prepared for this,” Loona realized.
“I knew things here wouldn’t last forever," the matron acknowledged. "Someone would get pissed off at our methods or we’d be caught in a gang war or something like that. It’s always good to come prepared.”
“This whole thing was a trap,” Cali mumbled, her gaze slightly dazed as she tried to cling to consciousness.
“And you fell for it. Congratulations,” the matron laughed. Loona couldn’t help but growl at the matron. How dare she mock them like this. How dare she act like she was untouchable. The matron noticed Loona’s growling and glanced at her with a condescension.
“You know, it’s such a shame that I have to kill you, Loona,” she mocked. “I was so relieved when that fire toad there adopted you. One less person to waste our euthanasia on.” Loona’s eyes widened as soon as the words left the matron's mouth. Even despite knowing deep down the truth, it was still shocking to hear her be so unapologetically open about it.
“Euthansia?” Millie whispered in shock.
“Wait, but you said that she would age out when she turned 18,” Blitzø questioned with horror written on his face.
“Right, and by aged out, I meant she would have aged out of life itself when we gave her the needle. Just like we do all of the ones who turn 18.”
“Oh my Satan,” “How…how many have you killed?” Moxxie asked, suddenly looking queasy.
“Honestly, I lost track a long time ago, but it's not like there are any bodies to prove it. Our furnace takes care of that. Powers the whole buiilding too. At least they're useful for something am I right?” the matron chuckled. Loona felt a pit in her stomach at how nonchalant the matron was about killing the children, burning their bodies. Now the smoke smell was making so much more sense to the hellhound.
“You sick f*cks!” Blitzø shouted.
“Don’t act so surprised. This is Hell after all. Children get abused all of the time.” It was such a disgusting way of thinking to Loona. She couldn’t imagine what string of events led to the matron thinking that she could get away with treating pups like her as nothing more than products on an industrial line, with all of the so-called useless ones being thrown away like garbage, or killed and burned in the case of pups.
“Ma'am, there is a very obvious line between knowing something bad is happening and actively contributing to that very thing,” Moxie argued, just as disgusted by the matron’s behavior as everyone else.
“Curious,” the matron murmured, walking over to Loona. “You don’t seem all that surprised.” Loona scoffed.
“You think that us hounds are all too stupid to realize it. Bitch, I was 11 when I started to figure out what really happened to the ones that aged out.” Loona formed her claws into fists, clutching her paws so tightly she drew blood. But she didn’t care. She was too angry to care. “Before Blitzø even adopted me, I wanted so badly to just be one of them. For it all to end,” she added bitterly.
“Loonie,” Blitzø whispered tearfully, wanting to hug his daughter’s sorrows away. Yet, despite her heartfelt admission, the matron only rolled her eyes.
“I’m starting to wish that I had. Would have saved us some trouble,” the matron sneered. “You were probably one of the most troublesome brats we ever had. And everytime I thought I was rid of you, you always found a way to come back, even now. I mean why would you forsake all of those great homes we sent you to?” Loona growled at the matron.
“They weren’t great. The first one just wanted a pet and the second just wanted workers for their drug lab, you bitch.”
“At least you would have been useful for something,” the matron retaliated. “And then that last one. All you had to do was stand there and be pretty for that Sinner. You were perfect for his tastes.” Loona froze, her jaw dropping at the mention of ‘him’. However, it wasn’t the mention of him that drew her attention, but rather how the matron mentioned their specific tastes. Only one thing was going through Loona’s head, a realization of one of the main causes of her suffering. She knew.
“You knew what he was,” Loona gasped, feeling the air in her lungs leave her at the matron’s confession.
“I heard the rumors, but you think I gave a sh*t,” the matron laughed. “If it meant you were out of my fur, then I wouldn’t have given a sh*t if he publicly f*cked you from a flagpole naked. At the end of the day, I was able to buy myself a f*cking home on the beaches of Envy with the money he gave us for you.”
Loona stared at the matron, her face in shock at how uncaring the matron sounded. In the background, she could hear Moxxie and Millie gasp in horror at the matron’s statement. Blitzø ,meanwhile, was utterly seething, breathing angrily to the point that he could be mistaken for a truck engine. Suddenly, like a switch was flipped, Loona felt anger pooling in her chest, an unbridled fury.
“Y–You knew that that f*cker would violate me and you still gave me to him,” Loona stated furiously, feeling tears brimming within her eyes. It shouldn’t have hurt so much. It really shouldn’t have. She had always assumed that the matron just had been too lazy to look into the adopters that came to the Foundation. Now though, hearing the matron confirm that she had knowingly handed Loona over to that monster, knowing his sexual preferences, it felt like such a terrible betrayal. More so than it had before.
“Well, you inconvenienced me, so I inconvenienced you. An eye for an eye as they say,” the matron reasoned unapologetically, giving Loona a cruel and vindictive smile. Loona's left eye twitched at the evil matron, an audible gulp sounding from her throat.
And that’s when it clicked in Loona’s mind. She did have cover after all. Looking to her left, and then to her right, Loona saw that the goons were still in the same positions. It was go-time.
Before the matron knew what was happening, Loona had disarmed her of her pistol, taking it for herself before headbutting the matron into the cell bars. In a few split seconds, Loona managed to fire three consecutive shots at the three goons standing toward the red double doors.
Two of the rounds were headshots, killing two of the goons, while the third went into the other’s shoulder, sending him toppling to his knees as he dropped his weapon. He was down for now. She’d get him later.
Loona quickly turned to the matron, the woman trying to gain her bearings. Loona could see the hellhound pups looking from within their cell in fear, the sight giving Loona another spurt of energy. This wasn’t just about her after all.
In another second, Loona sunk the claws of her unarmed hand into the matron’s face, gouging out her right eye, and moving her in front of the other group of goons, each of them lifting their rifles at her and firing. “How’s that for an eye for an eye, bitch!” she screamed vengefully.
Loona found it humorous that the matron’s goons were only shooting at her now. The amateurs were probably either untrained or were scared by her sudden act of violence. Either reason worked for Loona.
Loona could feel the matron’s body shudder as the bullets from her own goons penetrated her body, Loona having used her as her own shield. It felt ironic that now of all time the matron was finally protecting Loona, though Loona doubted that this was what the matron would have had in mind for doing so if she ever chose to. She raised the matron’s gun and fired four more rounds, the four of them hitting the chest and head of two of the goons each.
Before Loona could shoot the third one, she was almost startled as a small red figure dashed past her and started chopping into him with a double sided ax. On a closer look, Loona realized that it was Millie, the Wrathian imp turning the goon into swiss cheese with rage similar to that of the time she ran into her ex boyfriend. Loona chuckled at the sight, throwing the waste of space that was the matron to the floor, her golden bullet hole ridden body falling with a plop and splattering blood beneath her. Suddenly, Loona heard the sound of another gunshot, startling the life out of her.
She checked herself for any rounds before turning around and seeing the one goon from before (the one that had survived) now dead and bleeding out of his skull. Blitzø was panting as he held onto a still conscious Cali, holding his now smoking flintlock. Moxxie meanwhile was still holding onto the hellhound pup from earlier, cradling over him in an effort to protect him from the violence.
Loona quickly rushed over to Cali and Blitzø, the former breathing heavily and surrounded by a small pool of blood. She’s not going to last long here, Loona thought as she examined Cali’s wounds.
“We have to get both of them to a hospital,” Loona stated firmly.
“The kids,” Cali whimpered, trying to stand up only to collapse onto Blitzø. Even when shot, the woman was still trying to do her job. Loona was pretty impressed by the commitment.
“We’ll make sure they're ok,” Loona assured, placing a paw on Cali’s shoulder.
“Besides, you got your own kid to get back to,” Blitzø reminded her, Cali agreeing as she clung to Blitzø’s shoulder.
“Dad, use the crystal and take them to St. Ann's in Sloth.” Blitzø nodded and tapped the yellow crystal on his arm, a portal sprouting from it and showing a hospital lobby, the smell of bleach and antiseptics permeating through it. Moxxie went through first, carrying the child with him before Blitzø followed him in, Cali leaning against him.
Just as he stepped through however, Loona could hear the sound of several footsteps coming from behind the double red doors. More goons from the Foundation, Loona guessed.
“Dad shut the portal!” Loona shouted as the double doors burst open and several more goons stormed into the kennels, weapons drawn. The soldiers instantly fired upon them, Blitzø ducking as he tried to avoid getting him or Cali shot. In doing so, the Asmodean crystal deactivated, causing the portal to shut, leaving Loona and Millie alone with the several goons with angelic weaponry. Loona could hear her adoptive father call out to her as it closed. Yet, Loona wasn’t deterred. If anything, not having to worry about her father or Cali merely allowed Loona breathing room to truly flex her skill set.
In a mad dash, Loona managed to weave around the speeding bullets heading toward her, time seeming to freeze as she danced around like a ballerina, jumping and sliding and twirling for her own survival. During all of this, Loona was able to manage a couple more shots toward the demons accosting her, taking two of them down.
“Loona, throw me!” Millie shouted from behind. Loona briefly turned her attention behind her and saw Millie running towards her at super speed, her ax in hand. Loona nodded her head as the imp jumped, Loona catching her at Millie’s feet before launching her high into the air. The Foundation goons turned their attention away from Loona and toward Millie, firing their weapons at her.
Millie, having seen this coming, began twirling her ax in a circular fashion, deflecting all of the bullets as she landed between the goons. They didn’t stand a chance as Millie began tearing them apart, limbs and blood flying everywhere as made quick work of the goons, whose screams of terror were music to Loona’s ears. Even when pregnant, Millie’s a badass. Can’t imagine how she’ll be when she’s closer to her due date.
By the end of the massacre, all that was left of the reinforcements were severed limbs, torsos and a whole lot of blood. Millie stood at the center, spitting out bloody flesh from her mouth and stomping on the corpses with rage. Loona used her enhanced sense of hearing to see if anymore guards would be joining their comrades in death. When Loona didn't hear anything, she lowered her shoulders in relief.
“Impressive,” Loona complimented, walking over to the female imp. “Your motherly instincts are kicking in a little early. Your baby’s not even here,” Loona teased. She’d seen Millie fight before and, when it was personal, the bodies wouldn’t be recognizable by the end of the scuffle.
“I’m the oldest of my siblings and I was always looking after them. I’ve never been a fan of people who hurt little ones,” Millie drawled, spitting on a dismembered torso.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll be a great mom,” Loona spoke honestly. Millie gawked at Loona briefly before she smiled warmly.
“Thanks, Loona.”
Looking around, Loona noticed some of the pups leaning out through the bars, curious after the fighting had finally come to an end. Most of the pups didn’t seem phased by the sight of the carnage, implying they had seen worse. It made Loona feel sick. She thought back to the matron’s excuses. Sure people were bound to experience violence in Hell regularly, but that didn’t mean it was completely ok, especially not within these walls.
“Now, we should probably–”
The sound of gunshots interrupted Loona, drawing hers and Millie’s attention toward the source. They both were surprised to see the matron standing, an angelic rifle pointed toward the ceiling before it fell to her hip, her hair and clothing frazzled and bloody. Loona couldn’t believe it. This woman had to have descended from the f*cking Terminator as she was still very much alive despite being shot with several angelic bullets.
“Oh f*cking come on,” Loona moaned in annoyance, bending down, hands on her knees.
“You think you can just come into my home, tear apart my security force, and try and destroy all that I’ve worked to preserve!” she screamed, her expression one of pure rage, a stark contrast from earlier.
Behind her, Loona noticed a large and familiar figure stalking toward her from the entrance doors, a figure exuding furious energy that only she and the pups seemed to pick up on as the latter backed away frightfully.
“This bitch is unbelievable,” Millie whispered in disbelief, eyes leering at the disgruntled and dying hellhound. You’re telling me, Millie.
“Now I’m going to–”
“Wait, wait, wait!” Loona shouted, waving her arms to halt the matron, who pointed her gun down for a moment in confusion.
‘What, you overgrown furry brat?” she huffed. Loona couldn’t help but smile, seeing the matron be brought down a peg, or several in this instance. It was going to make what happened next all the more satisfying.
“You need some therapy for your bullsh*t,” she told her bluntly, causing the matron to look at her in confusion. Even Millie was looking at Loona like she was crazy before she looked behind the matron and realized what Loona was doing. “There’s a clinic down on Vanity Street where they can help you.”
“What?” the matron questioned, her expression perplexed.
“Highly recommend it,” Loona exaggerated while waving her arms to her sides.
“No, I…I am…I am going to f*cking–”
The matron barely had time to scream as Beelzebub’s jaws enveloped her up to her chest, her legs dangling from the Sin’s mouth erratically, the rifle flying from her hands and onto the ground as she began beating the Sin’s mouth. Bee’s insectoid eyes were pulsing angrily as she flung her prey within her mouth, the matron's legs even colliding with the wall and breaking with a loud crunch. The matron continued to fight against the now giant Sin before a good chomp from Bee silenced any and all movement, her body going limp Bee's sharp-toothed mouth. Blood spilled from the Sin’s mouth as she encircled the area where the matron once stood, almost like an animal marking their meal or territory. Beelzebub proceeded to raise her head up toward the ceiling as she finished swallowing the matron whole. For some reason, the whole thing was kinda hot to Loona.
Loona though had to admit that she was grateful to not be the ire of Bee’s demon form for once. She just never expected the Sin to actually eat the matron alive. Then again, she wouldn’t be gluttony if she couldn’t eat a whole person whole and not get indigestion. Beelzebub’s stomach swirled as red and orange fluid entered her stomach, the digestive juices being what was left of the matron and…was it Loona’s imagination or was there something else in her stomach.
For a second, she had thought she had seen a small black shape in the Sin's stomach. Though Loona didn’t get long to investigate as Beelzebub began to shrink back down to normal size, rubbing her stomach as she did so to signify her content at her meal. Loona shook her head. Probably her imagination.
“Oh, sh*t,” Beelzebub gasped through another burp. “Been awhile since I had demon bitch for lunch.” Beelzebub looked around the kennels, finally seeing the carnage for the first time. “What the f*ck happened here? Ugh, and I was so pumped to kick some ass, too. So lame,” the Sin pouted, crossing her arms childishly. Behind her, Lucifer stood inspecting the carnage before wiping his foot off in disgust after stepping in a pile of blood.
“Are you…Are you going to help us?” a small, meek voice asked. Turning to it, Loona saw it was a cattle dog hellhound, her fur black and white with a deeper black spot around her left eye. She was wearing a dirty blue sundress that went down to her knees. The girl was looking at them with pleading eyes as she clung tightly to a small stuffed red imp doll.
Beelzebub leaned down to meet the little girl, who backed away slightly at the presence of the Sin, likely due to how she killed the matron moments earlier. Beelzebub seemed to recognize this and summoned a small lump of bright pink cotton candy. The girl hesitantly took it in her other hand, sniffing it briefly before taking a small bite. She quickly devoured it after the first bite, having enjoyed the morsel based on the way she moaned happily.
“Don’t worry,” Beelzebub assured, scritching the pup behind her ears through the bars, the little girl’s tail wagging as she giggled at the Sin’s touch. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll make sure you’re all taken to a better place.”
“You promise?”
“I promise,” Beelzebub responded in a soft motherly tone. Loona smiled warmly at the scene. Even though Beelzebub was seen as a no-nonsense party girl, there was a soft, caring, and motherly side to the Sin that not many got to see. It was as sweet as her cotton candy.
“By the way,” Beelzebub began, turning to the imp and hellhound, “Where’s Cali?”
. . .
4 hours later
At long last, they were back at the office. As soon as she walked through the office door, Loona made a beeline for the couch and collapsed onto it with a tired sigh. The past four hours had been a drain. The fighting had been the fun part. The real draining part had come when they needed to stay and help relocate the hundreds of children at the Hellhound Foundation.
After Loona and Millie had explained what had happened to Cali, Beelzebub had attempted to rush over to St. Annes only to be held back by Loona, who explained that Blitzø and Moxxie had her and the other child covered. Loona had to remind the Sin that she needed to call her people to help relocate the other children, which Beelzebub did, after Loona was able to confirm with Blitzø that Cali was okay. Blitzø and Moxxie had returned to the Foundation not long after the call to help Lucifer out with sorting through the records of the building.
It didn’t take long for Bee’s people at Gluttony’s adoption agency to reach the Foundation either, having arrived within twenty minutes of Bee’s call. When the Queen wants something, she wants it done as quickly as possible. And they definitely didn’t slouch when it came to the quality of their work. Several dozen golden buses with Bee’s symbol plastered on them had arrived, within each of the buses a good number of hellhound volunteers and social workers milling out of them and into the building at Bee’s direction.
Many of the workers were initially nervous at the sight of the blood and the dead bodies present within the kennels (the latter having been moved into the empty cell the doberman pup had been inside), though a word of encouragement from Beelzebub seemed to snap them back to their jobs. An entomologist would ironically describe the display of workers checking on children, moving back and forth between the cells and back to the buses with the examined children, as to that of a colony of worker bees. It was a completely ordered mess of noise and activity fitting that of a hive.
Loona and Millie had done their best to help, working alongside the volunteers to make sure that the children were at least physically okay. Like with the doberman pup, however, some of the hellhound pups were suffering from unhealed injuries or infections that couldn’t be fixed with a simple bandaid, needing to be transported to St. Ann's to be looked after. It was so terrible watching many of the pups cowering at the sight of so many new faces, terrified of being hurt and needing to be calmed down before they hurt themselves or one of the workers.
This was more prevalent in much of the older pups, the ones in their later teens, who were wholly against being looked at. Loona could relate to their fears and was able to use her experiences with them to coax the adolescents into letting their guard down for the social workers, allowing the latter to ask them simple questions before moving them onto the buses to Gluttony. They still were hesitant to fully trust the staff, but they were no longer actively violent. There was a glimmer of hope in their eyes knowing that now at least things would begin to become at least a little bit better for them.
Lucifer meanwhile, had spent the time investigating the back of the Hellhound Foundation. The king of Hell had found the main offices with all of the building’s records, transferring all of it to the main office of Gluttony’s social services headquarters for review later on. He also had ended up finding the so-called furnace that the matron had mentioned in her rant to the IMP crew. He ended up vomiting at the sight of the pile of bones that lay within even larger, more encompassing piles of ash.
It made Loona’s stomach curdle knowing that they would likely never know all of the pups who had been placed inside, who had been killed by the matron and those before her. So many unknown hounds who no one ever cared about, who died knowing that they would be forgotten. It was so chilling to the hellhound because that had very nearly been her in there, if not for Blitzø deciding to pick her.
Overall, the process of sorting through so many children had been a long and grueling process, but it was worth it knowing that she and IMP had really helped make a difference. It didn’t seem possible that such a thing could only be done in a short amount of time, but with determination and skilled leadership anything was possible. By the time the last of the children had been placed onto the buses, it was already evening, close to dinner time, though Loona wasn’t in the mood to eat after the long day she’d had. The same could be said for everyone else, except for Millie who was experiencing cravings due to the baby in her womb.
For the first time since its creation, the Hellhound Foundation stood empty of all life. Not a soul stood present within, the main entrance locked tight with a golden padlock courtesy of Beelzebub. According to Beelzebub and Lucifer, the both of them had decided to condemn and tear down the building so that it could be rebuilt into a finer center for orphans. It didn’t feel right to either of them to keep the place running as was, especially not with what had gone on behind its doors.
It was there where everyone went their separate ways. Beelzebub had hightailed it down to Sloth to visit Cali after thanking the Loona and the IMP crew for helping her out as well as providing them a handsome check that Blitzø nearly fainted at after checking the dollar amount. Lucifer had also thanked the IMP crew for their fine service as he put it and gave each of them a rubber duck. It was a weird gift, but Beelzebub said that he only gave them to people he cared about or respected. So that was a plus she supposed. Though she did hear a more quiet conversation between Blitzø and Lucifer, in which the latter gave a subtle threat to the former to be extra careful with the humans on Earth they killed or else. Loona supposed it made sense considering that Lucifer would get in extra trouble if Heaven found out about IMP.
But with all of that out of the way, Loona just wanted to sleep and not wake up again until tomorrow morning. It had been an emotionally stressful day, and due to how busy everything had become as well as the fighting between her and the Foundation staff, Loona had needed to put the processing of her feelings on hold. If she was being honest with herself, Loona didn’t want to process them now, if ever, or she wouldn’t have if it wasn't for the imp next to her.
“Hey, Loona, are you okay?” Millie asked the hellhound worriedly. Loona lifted her face from the couch cushion to look at the imp.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. How about you?” she replied in turn.
Millie briefly inspected the hellhound, wondering if she should press further before shrugging her shoulders and answering, “I’m doing okay. Baby’s doing good too.” She patted her stomach as though to emphasize her passenger.
Loona sat up from the couch and patted the seat next to her for Millie to sit on, to which the female imp took the offer, plopping herself back as she relaxed on the sofa.
“I know it must not have been easy seeing that kid like that,” Loona noted.
“Yeah, that was, something else,” Millie admitted somberly. Loona could see the gears turning in Millie’s head, the imp thinking deeply about what she’d witnessed in that cage. “Makes you think ya know.”
“About what?” Loona queried inquisitively.
Millie shook her head, replying, “I think I need more time to process that. Get some sleep so that I actually know what I’m thinking.”
“Yeah, me too.”
The pair sat quietly on the couch and just basked in the silence. Moxxie and Blitzø were currently in the office talking. About what Loona didn’t know, but she was content to not talk anymore. Of course, Millie still had other ideas.
“That lady, she said some things about you that just–”
“She said a lot of sh*t. She was just blowing smoke out of her ass,” Loona replied, not wanting to talk about any of it. Millie didn’t say anything for another minute, the imp thinking about what to say next.
“Remember when you told me you had seen the effects of what a miscarriage did to a person?” Millie asked, Loona freezing at the mention of what they had talked about a few weeks back. No, not this.
“Millie I–”
“You weren’t talking secondhand were you,” she stated, not as a question, but more so as a fact, her eyes knowing, pitifully staring deeply into Loona’s soul, but not judgemental. No, more apologetic and comforting. Loona released a short but audible cry at the feeling of safety that Millie glowed around her, enough so that Blitzø and Moxxie had heard Loona’s distress as well.
“It’s okay sweetie,” Millie cooed, rubbing the hellhound’s shoulder.
“It shouldn’t have surprised me. That she would have willingly given me to that monster. Knowing what he was, what he would do to me. I just–” Loona had to take a deep breath as the emotions were beginning to overwhelm her.
“She was supposed to care for you and all of those other kids, Loona. None of us will ever hold that against you,” Moxxie attested.
“Mox’s right, Loonie. You were just a kid, a vulnerable, desperate kid that she took advantage of,” Blitzø added. Loona looked between the three imps, each of them spaced around Loona and providing her a sense of safety, of love. She felt so whole in that moment.
“Can I ask what ever happened to the demon she sold you to?” Moxxie then asked nervously.
“That f*cker’s not still alive is he? I’ll tear him apart!” Millie cursed viciously.
“Relax, Mills. The kiddie diddler got his dick flayed by those angel f*cks,” Blitzø answered, pulling at the lapels of his jacket.
“It didn’t change anything though,” Loona whispered.
“What?”
“Sure the angels killed the f*cker,” Loona voiced, her tone more angry, “But that doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t change the fact that he violated me or paraded me to all of Hell as some kind of dare to try and touch him. I can’t even have children anymore because of what he did to me. What she let him do to m-me,” Loona whimpered, suddenly realizing what she had said. Even when she had told Blitzø the truth about what had happened to her, Loona had never directly said what the miscarriage had resulted in, mostly out of not wanting to admit the truth to herself.
Despite everything, some small part of Loona from her childhood had wanted to grow up, start a family of her own, and give them the life she never had. But now, because of that Sinner, because of the matron who cared little who she sold kids like her to, Loona would never be able to experience that. Sure, she could potentially adopt and she would, but there was something different about being able to create your own flesh and blood, and creating life. Stolas’ love for Octavia was proof of that statement.
Loona felt herself tearing up as the realization of what she’d lost hit her again, though she was almost startled when she felt her adoptive father hug her tightly, his warmth soothing her soul, if she even had one to begin with considering she was a hellborn.
“Just remember, Loonie, we’re a family, this company,” Blitzø vowed. “No matter what happens, we all have your back. Right Mills, Mox?” Looking at the couple, Loona felt her heart beat happily as the couple nodded their heads in support of Blitzø’s statement.
“You know Loona, I know we didn’t get off to the best of starts,” Moxxie started, to which Loona couldn’t help but chuckle at. “But these last couple of months, I can say that I’ve gotten to know the real you, and I’m happy to know her, to consider you a part of this family, this dysfunctional, insane family.” The IMP crew burst out laughing at Moxxie’s description of their flawed little group.
Millie, feeling a burst of excitement from the warmth and love of her second family, shouted, “Group hug,” and dove onto Loona, tightening her arms around her waist. Blitzø hugged his daughter tiger and placed his chin over the top of her head, squishing her ears. Moxxie rolled his eyes and decided to join in as well, scooting beside his wife and hugging her and Loona from the side. Two months ago, Loona would have been repulsed by such affection from the three imps she spent most of her days with. Now, however, she had truly begun to find herself, and come to be thankful of the people around her, to let them into her fractured, but healing heart.
“Thanks, you guys,” Loona mumbled with a small smile.
She’d never felt so loved.
. . .
Beelzebub
“You sure, you’re okay,” the Sin asked Cali. The saluki hellhound was wearing a hospital gown, her chest wrapped tightly beneath in gauze as well as her leg which was propped up on a device connecting to the ceiling.
“I’m fine, Bee,” Cali assured. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for those assassins you hired, I’d probably be dead.” Bee nodded in response, though she didn’t mention that she never originally intended to bring them along in the first place. Boy was she glad that Loona had even offered to come in the first place. If the hellhound hadn’t, then there was a chance, no, certainty, that things would have turned out much more fatal for Cali, and possibly Beelzebub as well. It was chilling to think how one small decision had completely changed the course of the day.
Oh I am so going to find a way to thank Loona for this. I’ll be giving her all of my cars if she keeps helping me like this.
After a long and strenuous four hours of making sure the children at the Foundation were okay while also making sure that her social workers weren’t too overwhelmed, Beelzebub was finally able to relax for a moment. She didn’t need to worry about the kids afterwards, not because she was tired as she could work all night. No, she trusted her staff enough to handle things beyond their transportation back to the orphanage centers in Gluttony.
Belphegor had been a little peeved when Beelzbeub started bringing in new patients for her to observe though she quickly dropped her annoyance when she saw who said patients were. Then again, it wasn’t like Beelzebub could completely blame her sister for her initial reaction as some of Bee’s own parties had gotten a bit out of control, with physical fights breaking out that led to serious injury. She remembered one fight that took place between two female hounds high on some kind of drug. Their fight had resulted in both of them falling two stories onto the floor. The pair had survived though Beelzebub had swiftly banned drug use on the upper floors for all future parties to avoid similar instances.
Lucifer especially had been a big help with finding all of the records of all of the children and transporting them to Gluttony. It had felt so nice to have him around again, to work alongside him like they used to. Definitely earned some brownie points with how committed he was to fixing things with both her and Pride.
From there, the kids would be given their own individual rooms. The facility was far larger than the Hellhound Foundation and had its own rooms for children to help give them space, yet there were hundreds if not thousands of staff at hand ready to handle the needs of the children when necessary. It was Bee’s most heavily funded venture in all of Gluttony, even surpassing that of any of her clubs, restaurants, and supermalls combined. She really did love children, not in a creepy way anyway.
Those poor kids are going to need a lot of therapy after what they went through. Either I’m gonna need to start increasing the salaries of my child psychologists or I’m gonna need to hire more of them. Probably both if anything.
“Where’s Mandy?” Beelzebub asked the tired hellhound.
“She’s on her way,” Cali replied. “She had rehearsal for the play they’re doing and she only just found out. My friend Donni’s bringing her over.”
Beelzebub smiled. Mandy, a chow chow variant, was an absolute gem. Always so peppy and outspoken. She reminded Bee a lot of herself nowadays, and the way Mandy would call her aunt Bee when she ever saw, oh it warmed Bee’s heart so much. The girl even got some cotton candy colored highlights in her hair to match Bee. Such an adorable young sweetheart.
However, Beelzebub was drawn from her thoughts when Cali asked, “How are you doing? The way you reacted to those children. I’ve never seen you react like that before.”
It was true though. Beelzebub had always appeared serious and/or excessively excited to the saluki hellhound, but rarely had she ever gotten overly emotional in front of her. There were only a few moments in Bee’s life where she had become overwhelmed by a flood of negative emotions. The last time had been during the Hellbies epidemic a decade ago and the first…the first had been a thousand years prior, when she’d been a completely different demon.
It was a day that Bee would never forget. At the time, Bee weighed, well she didn’t know how much she weighed, but it was likely between half and a full ton. The only clothing that could fit her had to be custom made, and even then it didn’t last long with the queen’s constant slobbish binges and increasing weight. During her early time as ruler of Gluttony, Beelzebub had made a lot of disgusting decisions. For one, she had made a decree that most of the food would go to her, the second being that the food that didn’t would be heavily taxed to fund her binges. On top of that, Beelzebub had put very little into maintaining the quality of Gluttony as well as the lives of her people.
Back then, Gluttony looked completely different from what it looked like today. Imagine an empty field from the aftermath of a battle during that first World War the humans had and then add some houses and a beautiful castle in the background. She had decided on that particular day that she wanted to go on a stroll around Gluttony. The queen had been placed onto the palanquin they used whenever she needed to be moved around before her servants, who looked a bit skeletal, carried her tirelessly out of the castle and into town.
Beelzebub, however, spent most of the time eating rather than admiring her domain. Then again, it wasn’t like there was much to admire given how post-apocalyptic the place and its people looked. She was too engrossed in her own food to notice the envious and angry glares her hounds were giving her as they watched her consume more food in a minute than they did in a whole week. Meanwhile, her servants who looked ready to pass out carried her more so out of fear than duty.
Then, one of her people ambushed the soldiers guarding her, trying to kill the over bloated Sin with an angelic knife. The commotion had led to the servants carrying her palanquin to lose their already fragile grip on the mobile throne, resulting in both her and the would-be assassin tumbling onto the pavement. Beelzebub, far too fat to get up, had called for help.
The citizenry around her however, had a different idea. Seeing it as an opportunity, many of the hellhounds around her who were already suffering from her iron rule had decided to join in and, while they didn’t have any angelic weapons of their own, they still had their claws, teeth, and whatever else they could carry to attack her.
Beelzebub had never felt so alone and vulnerable in all of her life as she was beaten repeatedly by the angry mob of vengeful hounds who saw it as their opportunity to usurp their tyrannical queen. The angelic weapon had to have been lost because she never felt its aura again after that. But it wasn’t just physically that she was hurting, but mentally as well. During the mob’s attack on her, Beelzebub had been taking in the emotions of her hellhounds as they beat and clawed at her, and what she felt from them affected her in ways she never thought about.
So much loss, hunger, pain, sorrow, but most importantly, fury. Fury toward her and the monster that she was. Despite the amassing pool of negatively furious emotions directed toward her, Beelzebub was able to discern through it all what the consequences of her decisions as ruler had had on the hellhounds of her ring, her people. They saw her as a monster who left them and their children to starve, and in that moment Beelzebub did too. Taking most of the food for herself and leaving them with scraps all the while she sat in a palace of luxury while they sat in decrepit huts. It was a miracle her hellhounds had survived as long as they had.
In her desperation to fill the emptiness that falling from Heaven had left her with, she had uncaringly tossed aside her hellhounds and used those she could get her hands on as slaves to her own desires, but never considering their’s. Any and all attempts beforehand had been dealt with properly, but never directly by Bee herself as she was too busy either eating or having one of her servants pleasuring her in more carnal ways. She had never truly tuned into the emotions her people or servants were experiencing, what they were living through. Then, however, the veil was dropped, and she was forced to face the anger and wrath of her people.
The only reason Bee had survived that day was because she had managed enough stable thought to use the Asmodean crystal Ozzie had given her in order to escape the mob, teleporting herself back to her room, and falling from three feet high onto her bed which shredded to pieces beneath her bulk. It was the most humiliating day of her life to say the least, but also the most revelating.
For that had been the moment that had finally forced Bee to look inside of herself, to realize that her coping mechanism of eating and drinking all day, all while forcing your people into a life of oppression, was a horrible way to live. The near death experience and the emotional overload had helped Bee to come to terms with her flaws and begin to embrace change for both herself and her hounds. It took her a few decades to lose most of the weight and a few hundred years beyond that to gain back the full trust of Gluttony, but it was so worth it in the end. Because for the first time in so long, Beelzebub finally felt full.
“Bee, Bee you good?” Cali asked with worry. “You’re thinking again, and your face is telling me that it’s not nice thoughts.”
Beelzebub shook her head. There she was getting caught in her own head again. She needed to stop getting off topic like that.
“I’m okay, but not okay. Just thinking about some old memories is all,” Beelzebub told her truthfully. Cali raised an eyebrow at the Sin but didn’t say more. Beelzebub continued, “The emotions are mostly out of my system, but I can’t help but feel like I failed those kids.”
“Don’t put this on yourself. You’ve been doing everything in your power to help those kids. Take the win okay,” Cali spoke, a warm smile on her muzzle.
“I’ll try.”
“Got to admit though, that was a lot of vomit. I keep wondering how someone has that much digested food in their stomach and then I remember that it’s you,” Cali teased.
“Hey, a girl like me likes to eat,” Beelzebub jested, patting her stomach playfully.
“I couldn’t tell. Your figure makes that deduction a little hard to swallow,” Cali teased sarcastically.
“Best body in all of Hell.” The pair laughed at their banter. It was nice to just build up some positive vibes after a long and terrible day.
“Whatever you say boss,” Cali sighed, laying her head against her pillow, absentmindedly checking her phone for word from her daughter.
“Well, I’m going to head home,” Beelzebub announced, getting up from her chair next to Cali. “I just want to sleep. You should get some too.”
“Not until my daughter gets here. Don’t want her freaking out when she first sees me,” Cali noted.
“She’s gonna freak out regardless. But yeah, I get it. See ya later Cal,” Beelzebub waved, opening up a portal to her room.
“See ya, Bee. Take care.”
As Beelzebub stepped through the portal, she looked back one last time at her head social worker, giving the hellhound one final wave before the portal closed, leaving Beelzebub alone in her room. Or so she thought.
“Bee,” a deep voice called behind the Sin, startling her. She turned to see who it was and immediately let her guard down as she realized it was only Vortex.
“Tex, babe, you scared me there.”
“Sorry, girl, but you haven’t been answering your phone. I was worried.” Beelzebub, surprised by the mention of her phone, checked it and found indeed that Vortex had sent her several text messages and had even called her a few times within the last few hours. Oops.
“Sorry Tex, I got so caught up with everything I completely forgot to check my messages,” Beelzebub replied guiltily.
“It’s okay, but what happened exactly?” the male hellhound asked. “That blood and vomit on your clothes tells me I missed a lot.” Looking down at her outfit, Beelzebub was shocked to see that it was covered with blood and vomit. How did I not see that until now. I mean it shouldn’t be a surprise, but still.
“You have no idea, babe.”
Beelzebub did her best to recap the events that happened throughout the day. She started with her and Cali arriving at the Foundation where they met Lucifer as well as meeting up with Loona and her father and coworkers. Vortex seemed happy that Loona was doing well and that she had adjusted alright to the setting. Then came her description of the decrepit and unsanitary conditions of the Foundation as well as her vomiting violently after seeing and feeling the state of the children. Vortex had appeared particularly upset at the matron’s blatant disrespect toward Bee and the children. Though he was also horrified by Bee’s reaction, his grip on her tightening in its comfort as he held onto her. He was pleased to know that Beelzebub and IMP had disposed of the matron and her cronies, while making sure the children were properly taken care of before being sent to Gluttony for processing.
“That’s just f*cked up. I should have been there for you,” Vortex noted. The pair were laying in bed together at the moment.
“I’m the one who convinced you not to come,” Beelzebub countered.
“Still, I should have just ignored your request.” Beelzebub leaned into her boyfriend, giving him a peck on the cheek as she scratched behind his ear.
“All those kids. So many kids I didn’t see, that I couldn’t save. Lucifer wouldn’t even let me near where he found their remains,” Beelzebub told him. Lucifer had pushed her away from the furnace room, telling her firmly to not go back there for her own sanity.
“He made a good call, I’ll give him that. I know you enough to know that seeing that would have killed you. And I don’t mean that figuratively,” Vortex stated. Beelzebub agreed, nodding her head in confirmation.
“I would have torn that bitch to shreds had I been there,” Vortex continued with a scowl before turning to Bee with a weirded out look. “I can’t believe you ate her.”
“Well, on the bright side she’ll now actually be useful for once,” Beelzebub said, patting her stomach.
If Beelzebub was being honest with herself, it had been a long time since she had eaten a person whole. Vore was not a particularly appealing form of fatal punishment that she enjoyed performing on others. So much so that she had only done it one time thousands of years ago, and she couldn’t for the life of her remember whom to and why she had done it.
It wasn’t like there were any adverse health effects from it either as her stomach was powerful enough to digest literally anything, but it felt weird eating something that used to be a sentient being. She could make an exception for people like that matron though. Anyone who treated children like that didn’t deserve to be even considered a living being.
“Girl, you are dark when you want to be,” Vortex laughed. The two cuddled together on their bed, enjoying the other’s touch as they made out and shared their love with one another. I f*cking needed this badly after today.
After a brief period of having separated, Vortex surprised her by suggesting, “I think you should call your kid.” Beelzebub blinked back at him, unsure if he was being serious.
“You think so?”
“I never thought much of it back then, but,” Vortex recalled, “On days where my mom was feeling upset, the one thing that seemed to brighten up her day was spending time with or just talking to us.”
“You talk like you don’t make me happy, babe,” Beelzebub teased with a pout.
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m kidding. I’ll call him,” Beelzebub decided, pulling out her phone from her pocket and clicking on Gabriel’s contact. The phone rang for a couple seconds before Gabriel picked it up at the other end.
“Hola, madre, whatcha up to,” Gabriel responded through the phone.
“Hi, baby bee.” She didn’t mean to but hearing Gabriel’s voice brought some tears to her own eyes. After having been exposed to so many sad children, hearing her own child’s voice brought a sense of comfort she didn’t realize she needed. It reminded her just how important her own child was, how much he meant to her and how she would do anything to protect him. Guess Vortex was right. I did need to hear his voice.
“You okay? I can feel that you’re a little upset,” Gabriel noted. Perceptive. Gabriel was his mother’s son after all.
“I’m good. Just been a really bad day.”
“I get that,” he empathized.
“But I don’t wanna talk about that. How was your day?” she asked.
“It was alright. Just another busy day at the cafe. Been a little weird working with only one hand.”
“How is it?” she questioned worriedly. She really didn’t hope he caught anything from his time in Hell. That would have been a blemish on her record as a mother.
“It’s okay. Doesn’t hurt too much. I retreated it this morning so it’s feeling fine.”
“You know first aid?” she queried.
“My dad was in the military. Of course I know first aid,” Gabriel replied.
“Touche.”
The pair spent the next ten minutes just talking about their favorite desserts, sharing recipes and new ideas for making new food combinations. It was just something simple to keep her mind focused away from the day’s events. Her interest certainly peaked when Gabriel mentioned a sweet and spicy honey recipe to put on chicken and waffles. It sounded so delicious that Gabriel could hear his mother’s stomach growling through the call.
Following that, Beelzebub then asked Gabriel how his family was taking to her and him being on speaking terms. Gabriel was hesitant at first to say anything, but he admitted that while his grandmother was okay with it, he hadn’t spoken to his aunt since their fight. While Beelzebub couldn’t stand the woman, she hoped that Gabriel and her could at least make up. The woman probably had helped to fill in the role of mother for Gabriel when Beelzebub wasn’t around, and she was in debt to the woman for that. However, it wasn’t just his family that Gabriel had been talking about her with.
“Then some of the employees started talking about you,” he added with a hint of annoyance in his tone.
“They were talking about me?” Beelzebub asked with surprise.
“Well, I may have dropped that you were my mother, to which I was barraged with a whole load of questions,” Gabriel admitted.
“I’m that big of a talking point.” Beelzebub didn’t mind being the center of attention on occasion. Although she had made it a part of her life’s mission to shower a light on all of her hellhound’s, her de facto children, she couldn’t deny that it was nice to have such praising glances toward her while she performed. Though, being a talking point for humans without it being anything related to her demonic nature was an odd feeling.
“Me and mi familia, well human familia anyway, are well known in the community, but you’re an absolute mystery,” Gabriel pointed out. “Papa never gave anyone a straight answer on who you were. And I guess they all jumped at the opportunity to learn as much about you as possible.”
She supposed it made sense. Having a child out of wedlock was considered to be an immoral tradition in some cultural circles still. Plus, in close-knit communities such as the one Gabriel lived in, rumors were bound to be rampant and spread fast. Beelzebub didn’t care what the rumors would be about her either. None of them really knew who she was, and even if they did, they only knew the false Christian interpretation of her. They knew nothing of the real Beelzebub. She just hoped it didn’t negatively affect Gabriel’s reputation or business.
“They didn’t give you a rough time did they?” she questioned.
“Nah,” Gabriel chuckled through the phone. “They were more curious than anything. They were asking who you were? Where you’d been, and what you did for a living? Just some basic questions. They couldn’t care more beyond that.”
“Well that’s good. But seriously what else were they saying? I know from your tone that basic questions weren’t the only things they were asking,” she spoke humorously. If Gabriel’s embarrassed tone at the start of this part of the conversation was anything to go by, then Bee had a feeling that the questions became a little more awkward for her son.
“A few of them are male teenagers. What do you think the conversation was going to end up leaning towards?” Gabriel groaned.Ah, now it makes sense.
“Oh you poor thing,” Beelzebub teased. She could feel the blush on her son’s face through the phone.
“Yeah, I’m literally listening to a bunch of horndogs, no offense, talk about ‘hitting that ass’,” Gabriel complained, to which Beelzebub burst out laughing for a moment at Gabriel's emphasis on that particular line.
“All the while I’m trying to tell them to both stop and avoid calling you ugly at the same time. Because it's like you’re my mom, and I’m not trying to hit on you either, but at the same time I don’t want to call you ugly, cause you’re not. But I don’t mean that in a ‘I find you attractive way’. Though you are attractive…and I’m not saying I want to get all incestual like that. Wait, is incestual even the right word for that?…Is it even a word?...I’m rambling aren’t I?” Gabriel inquired.
Beelzebub felt herself trying and failing to hold back a chuckle at Gabriel’s rambling over trying to tiptoe around the topic of addressing the beauty of relatives. She could sympathize with her child on the matter. Like mother, like son, she supposed. The rambling itself was also another key commonality between him and Bee, something Vortex was all too familiar with if his reaction was anything to go by.
“You’re perfectly fine, Gabe,” Beelzebub assured him, though she could see Vortex holding in his own laugh at Gabriel’s rambling conversation.
“Listen, I don’t want to keep you, but thanks for picking up and talking with me. It means so much to hear your voice right now,” she voiced.
“Anytime madre,” Gabriel replied.
Beelzebub took a breath, a thought coming to her mind of what else to say. There was only one thing she could think to say. “I love you, Gabriel,” she spoke softly.
It was quiet on the other end for a few seconds, Gabriel not saying anything or even breathing into the phone. Beelzebub was worried that Gabriel had taken ill of her words until he spoke. And when he spoke, Beelzebub felt warm like never before. Five words she hadn’t heard from him yet. Just five words that made Bee’s evening and reminded her of how far she had come as a demon and as a mother.
“I love you too, madre.”
