Nightmare Fuel / Shadows Over Hell

A collection of all the horrors and monsters that shadow over Hell.

• Throughout the story, there are small hints at something unusual and supernatural going on around Octavia and Stolas' house. She starts having weird nightmares in Chapter 3 and begins hearing voices in Chapter 11. Also in the latter chapter, as she's performing taxidermy on a large vampire bat, she accidentally cuts her finger while trying to clip through the bones. When she goes to examine it, she is disgusted to discover its bones have all been twisted and rearranged from the inside, turning it into a skeletal bramble patch. So far there's no clear answer to what's going on, but plenty of hints of something Lovecraftian going on. As the story goes on, it is clear that the various shenanigans the cast run afoul over the course of the story is not normal for Hell.
• Warden Rufus can also be quite the scary figure, especially during his first few appearances. While he'll often be friendly and amicable, there's always a dark, ruthless calculating side to the wolf underlining it. This, along with the way he can switch some reasonable to threatening, calm to angry, with a snap, always makes the scenes he's in a lot more intense. Best exemplified when he switches from cold and brutal, breaking Blitzo's fingers over his share of the money, to being completely friendly and charming when he greets Millie as the imp walks into his shop.

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Chapter 3 - Culture Vultures

• Despite only appearing once, Oz, the menacing and coldblooded skull headed right-hand man of Warden Rufus, is established to be a terrifying figure, as he comes to remind Blitzo of his debt. He gives the imp plenty of threats that he will kill and eat him, but what is more scary is his manner of speaking. From the way he acts and talks to Blitzo, it's pretty clear Oz wants to fuck him, with or without his consent.

Chapter 6 - Reviling Resurrections

• This chapter I.M.P. performing a hit on the Mad Doctor Crest. His house is littered with medieval equipment, chemicals and worst of all, bodies of his victims that have been cut hacked to pieces and stitched together into new beings. This only gets worse, when the mismatched corpses come alive and attack the imps, forcing them to deal with the doctors twisted abominations.

Chapter 11 - Temp Work

• The last third of Chapter 11, Octavia calls back Moxxie & Mille from what seems to be a regular job, only for their target, a would-be-sorcerer turned into a Humanoid Abomination, to emerge from the portal and try to attack them. It takes the combined efforts of all three to fend him off, long enough for the portal to close.

Chapter 12 - The Arena

• Verosika's last stop of her tour happens in the Ring of Anger, where a large, bloody riot breaks out. While the idea of a hellish riot is scary enough on its own, it's made even more ominous and haunting when it's revealed it wasn't caused just from Verosika's sexual inducing powers. While there are some theories to what the other cause is, from most of the attendants being drugged and the bloody, combat-heavy nature of the Anger ring influencing everyone, there's still no clear answer to what caused the big fighting to break out. This, along with many of the other going ons, hint at something larger at play going on in Hell.

Chapter 14 - Daylight in the Gardens

• An otherwise peaceful and lighthearted chapter, opens on a terrifying note for Stolas & Stella. As the two are about to make peace after their big fight, a badly wounded crow slams against the window. It's soon joined by another, then a third and once they breaks through the window, the couple are disgusted and horrified to see the crows are a part of a larger murder of birds, feasting on the long-dead, decaying cadaver of a manticore. Stella immediately senses something's wrong and that there's a presence in the house causing these horrific going ons, but doesn't tell Stolas about it. The jarring out of place scene, in an otherwise fluffy chapter, really makes the scene standout.

Chapter 16 - Growing Pains

• The bathtub scene. Oh boy, what a way to end a chapter. Octavia is seemingly relaxing with a bubble bath, only for her to feel something inside the tub. Before she knows if, the entity starts grabbing her feet and then her torso, before dragging her inside the water. For all her power, the princess is unable to do anything but scream wordlessly, as she's dragged beyond the depths of the tub, and brought face to face with an massive Eldritch Abomination. The monster calls out to her to come to it and lead the choir, while her many haunting names such as the "Breaker of Seals", "Herald of Mother" and the "Glorious key to empty night." When Octavia finally escapes, she sees nothing in the tub, and dismisses it as a dream. Though the last line hints that there is indeed something in the bathroom, calling out to her. After all the monstrous hints, it's a chilling, terrifying confirmation that something is very, VERY wrong in Hell and it's focused on Octavia in particular.

Chapter 17 - Birthday

• Admits the wholesome scene of Loona and Octavia making up, Chapter 17 ends on a haunting note. Octavia is already haunted by her nightmares and mysterious voice, but the last lines reveal that in her absentmindedness her hands have carved a series of twisted limbs in the shape of a crudely daubed eye; hinting that something is not only haunting her…but possessing her.

Chapter 18 - Night Life

• Slaanesh states that if Loona loses the drinking bet, she would eat the dog right on the spot. Given that Slaanesh is a naga, that would be a very nasty way for Loona to go.
• Loona's sudden and vicious attack on the cyclops bouncer by ripping out his eye and crushing it, right in front of Octavia, can be pretty jarring by how quickly it happens. As is the reveal that Octavia, saw a tentacled monster leering at her in the end of the bar.

Chapter 19 - Negotiations

• Despite being a skilled weapons maker and having repaired guns for Blitzo and others for over three years, Warden Rufus is suddenly unable to fix one of the imp's guns. He seeks help from other demons including Overlords to figure out what the problem is, but to no avail. At one point, he turns to a goblin cultist. The next day, he finds the goblin dead from silver poisoning…that he ingested. It's a haunting show of things with I.M.P. are slowly starting to become increasingly more dangerous, with whatever's going on with Octavia possibly bleeding over to them.

Chapter 20 - A Charming Family Dinner

• Stolas gets a chance to examine Octavia's art, and seeing the disturbing, horrifying image she has created, is enough to make him very unnerved. Given what we've seen him to be capable of, that alone is enough to make whatever's influencing Octavia even more terrifying.

Chapter 22 - A Noble Bit of Horseplay

• After a long and wild ride on a horse, Octavia & Loona get ready to head back home…when Loona's horse senses something in the forest. The build up to the reveal is absolutely chilling, as Loona can sense something is wrong, with voices crying out for her to take Octavia and run, from what's coming after them. The presence itself being described as something so terrifying and powerful, that not even the strongest beings in Hell could hope to match. While it's ultimately revealed to just be a deer, there's still plenty of implication, that something else is going on in the woods and with the deer itself, making the scene quite unnerving.

Chapter 23 - An Exercise in Desecration

• It's in this chapter, that we're introduced to another mysterious and creepy client of I.M.P. A tall, freakish, one-eyed demon named Barlow, who offers to pay them a ridiculous sum of money to kill a cult that supposedly wronged his employer in life. Blitzø is understandably suspicious about the ordeal, and when he tries to push further into the subject, Barlow reveals he's connected to some very, very powerful people, including Dovecraft (the one who started I.M.P.'s series of cultish assignments) and indicates, through a smile of huge teeth that he'll have them all killed if they don't agree to it.
  • Then there's his mysterious employer. Given the large amount of creepy assignments the crew has been forced to go through at that point, and how unimpressed Barlow was by Blitzo's threat, it's a terrifying hint at the danger they and their group posses to Hell & the group.
• And then there's the cult itself. At first they only come off as slightly off putting, with their surprisingly well armed weapons and chanting, but once most of the action has died down, we and I.M.P. are given a full sense of just how off putting the group is. The place is riddled with an unnerving and unearthly atmosphere, as if it's alive and God himself has abandoned the place and its people. Everyone of them realizes the place as been desecrated to their worshipped god and the feeling of the place is enough to terrify all four of them despite their many hits. Even the air is corrupted and toxic, as Loona finds out when she ends up coughing up blood, after inhaling too much of it. It only gets worse once they travel into the basement, where it's revealed to be much bigger on the inside, and reeks of a similar air to that of Dovecraft and Crest, ending with a summing circle where three robed, disfigured figures are in the middle of a ceremony. One of them even manages to survive being shot, and is only killed from an onslaught of Loona's hellfire. And this was just one cult. If the rest of I.M.P.s hits were similar, there's no telling what the rest of them might be like…

Chapter 25 - The Uproar

• Chapter 25. Oh boy, chapter 25…
  • First off all we've got the nightmares spreading, with Loona, Blitzo and seemingly the rest of Hell getting them too. A clear sign that whatever's going on in Hell, it's growing stronger.
  • During the Loona & Octavia book hunt, there's a scene where a fox is run over by the streets, and while in agony is then crushed and eaten by an ogre & a herd of gremlins. While the display is horrific, given the pair's mostly casual response to it, goes to show just how common this is in Hell.
  • Octavia finally tells Loona about her dreams, and the things she's seen moving in the shadows. While the hellhound wants to be skeptical at first, as she continues to stare at the shadow, she sees something moving and stalking towards her. This is especially terrifying for her, as given her usually heightened sense it should've been impossible for something to sneak up on her like that. The scene is build with unnerving tension & atmosphere, that will have you fearing for any shadow that might come later.
  • It only gets worse once they leave, as the city erupts into utter chaos, as demons start killing and tearing each other apart, seemingly for no reason and in such horrific ways. Then they come to what looks to be a seemingly calm part of town, only to watch in horror was people start mutilating and butchering each other, while still going about their day as if nothing's wrong. Some of them start screaming for no reason, some start laughing, and others are casually drawing symbols out of shit or blood, as if nothing's wrong at all. The whole sequence until they reach Rufus' shop is nothing short of disturbing.
  • The screaming hell quake sequence and the build up to it, was very effectively built up and paid off, doing a great job describing what an earthquake would feel like for someone, as all of Hell starts breaking apart, a loud piercing sound wrecking their brains during it, and the trio of Loona, Octavia and Rufus are caught in the middle. Loona's internal screams and pleas, something she has rarely if ever expressed throughout the story, just goes to show just how terrifying the whole situation is.
  • While it's awesome to see Rufus take on the influenced Grevious Brothers, the sheer brutality and carnage on display, is can be quite hard to read and even more horrific to imagine.
  • The fact that even someone as powerful and high up in the food chain as Prince Stolas, is so absolutely horrified and confused over everything, really drives home just how dangerous this all is for everyone.
  • The way the madness and violence escalates as the chapter goes on, with hellborn becoming more violent, insane and bloodthirsty, goes a long way to show that something is seriously wrong with Hell. By the end of the chapter, the whole of the Pentagram is falling apart, with giant monsters tearing up the place, like it's a playground. Like all the growing tension & animosity that's been boiling in everyone these has finally been unleashed thanks to whatever's been influencing Hell. And it is monstrous.

Chapter 26 - Pandemonium

• We continue to get displays of horror and madness that has befallen Hell, with more instances of monsters on rampages, citizens gouging out their eyes and scenes of death & destruction everywhere. Most horrific in particular, is when the gang find an abandoned crib on the streets, with the bloody interior clearly revealing even children aren't safe from the horrors that is befalling.

Chapter 27 - The Imps in the High Castle

• When I.M.P, Rufus and Octavia take refuge in Stolas' Goetia Keep, they overlook the sheer carnage that has befallen Imp City from the windows. Stolas even had a scrying spell of the city and the display of the entire city shows it falling apart practically everywhere. Stolas proceeds to reveal one for Pentagram City and the display is somehow even worse, with only Lucifer's palace and the Happy Hotel holding out. Rufus, who is worried for Yoshimo, immediately convinces Stolas to portal him to Pentagram City. Upon opening the portal, the carnage the cast sees with their own eyes makes what they went through just now look like a stroll in the park.

Chapter 28 - Damage Assessment

• Among the new reveals we learn, during the Warden & upper echelon meeting in Lucifer's palace, we find out that not even the Ars Goetia are spared from the wave of madness that's been driving demons rabid and insane, as several of its members have had to be put down. It further drives home the point that whatever's going on, it can happen to anyone. To elaborate, they lost two Princes, a Duke, a King and at least half a dozen Marquis. And that is just the known casualties.
• Rufus states that the death toll in the Pride Ring alone just by his own estimate is at least 250,000.

Chapter 30 - The Taking of Octavia Goetia

• Good Lord, the ending of Chapter 30. After all the build up, with Octavia and her nightmares, we finally get that haunting conclusion. Octavia has another nightmare, at first revolving around a darker version of her walk through the chaos, in which her friends were killed in burial fashion. Then, she ends up in a dark, empty, creepy forest, the atmosphere and tension growing thicker and creepier as she walks through. And while at first it seems she's alone, Octavia is then reunited with the Eldritch horror that haunted her way back in Chapter 16, now 50 feet high and made up of the rotting carcasses of different animal life, who calls back out to her and tries to catch her. Octavia runs for her life from the being, eventually hiding in her own room underneath the blanket. She tries to scream and call for her father but is unable to make any sound. When she tries to flee, she finds her exits blocked and her unable to move. Eventually the horror, hinted to be Shub-Niggurath, breaks into her room, through the bathtub, where in it grabs her and begins absorbing Octavia into itself, calling for her "Come...to....Mother." Octavia is unable to fight, as she's dragged into the creature's being. The last moments of the chapter, she's trapped on a cyclopean rock with the screams of the mad and voice calling for her to come to Mother. Octavia tries in vain to fight against it, begged and pleading to herself not to let it in until…she fades away.

Chapter 35 - Sentinel Duty

• The build up to the attack in Chapter 35. Ever since Extermination was hinted at coming, despite the already massive losses caused by the uproar, we and everyone has been at the back of our seats dreading the arrival. At first things look optimistic. Despite Heaven arriving early forcing them to quickly improvise things forward and to leave several of Imp City's residence at the hands of the Excorists, Blitzo and co. still manage to gather a large mass of hellborn and sinners inside Stolas' castle. While there's still the usual bloody massacre happening outside, everyone seems to be safe for the time being, as the angels focus on the big cities, with Stolas' magic wards keeping them out. Then, they start acting strangely. The manage to unexplainably break through despite the magical barriers, the light of their masks turns off and once they reach inside…they wait. They don't attack, they don't try anything. They just stand still and wait. The message is clear. They want everyone to know, they're coming for them. And when they arrival…it's going to be a massacre. And with twelve hours to go, it'll be a miracle if anyone survives the onslaught.

Chapter 36 - Extermination

• The tense and dreadful atmosphere continues in the next chapter, as angels remain creepy, unnerving bastards, happily poking at Stolas' defenses and creeping around the building, as they try to break through. They even resort to killing many of the Prince's horses, when they go bored, as a means to creep everyone out. And then, one manages to sneak in through an open window, right next to Loona and a kid she's watching. The build up to the angel noticing them will have you at the edge of your seat, and when it does…it's not pretty. Even with Blitzo, M&M, Rufus and Stolas on her side, they're barely able to kill off this singular Exorcist, who still manages to take a life during the fight. When the others join in, they have no choice but to flee and use their last resort sacrifices to keep them off. It really sets home just how unearthly, terrifying and dangerous the Exorcists are for the people of Hell.

Chapter 37 - The Ravages of Heaven

• The decaying, decomposing mounds of flesh and death make a horrific return after Extermination Day, when Stolas & Blitzo find one in the Prince's garden, comprised of parts of horses and even angels. What makes it even more terrifying, is that it's implied to have killed several Exorcists during it's rampage, before finally being killed by Stolas & Blitzo. Whatever it is, it's a danger to both Heaven and Hell.
• During Rufus' and Andromeda's talk in Chapter 37, the hellhound recounts how her own aunt Nebula, who practically raised her since she was six, fell victim to the craziness and tried to kill several hellhound children and nearly tore out the throat of Castor. Andy, too horrified by the discovery and prospect of having to put down her own mother figure, couldn't bring herself to do it, forcing Vortex to kill her before Castor died. Just imagine having to take down a family member, your own mother even, after they've completely lost control of themselves and unexplainably became murderous.

Chapter 39 - Remembrance

• After the Extermination Day chapters hinted at someone from inside Stolas' palace letting the Exorcists in, this chapter seems to have confirmed it, as he & Loona discover someone having painted an eye on the prince's home; similar to the ones that were littered everywhere, during the Uproar. The pair quickly deduced someone or multiple people willingly let the angels in, and whoever the crazies are, they tried to get everyone killed that day. And they have no idea who did it. They try to look for answers but come up short, with neither nothing the horrific paintings being moved around in Octavia's room or her bookcase being moved. Or an emissary of Old Things, watching them from another dimension and plotting. Things are clearly starting to fall apart soon. And it won't be pretty.
  • Earlier in this same chapter, it is mentioned that Loona is experiencing nightmares of Octavia calling out to her and begin her friend to save her, as she's being drown by a sea of monsters and wraiths. Given how Via supposedly died, it makes you wonder how much of these nightmares are Loona's regrets, and how much is truth.

Chapter 40 - A Soiree in Sloth

• Not even Stella is spared from the nightmares, as she sees a flash of warm memories of her and a young Octavia, before it shifts into her daughter crying out for her. And with Via gone, it seems now Stella has become the target of monsters haunting her, as she sees a monster similar to one that used to haunt her nightmares as a child, lurking at her inside the closet. The unnerving sight is enough to send the battle hardened swan briefly fumbling for her life. Luckily, she's brave enough to confront the thing and scare it away, before it does anything to her, causing it to retreat.

Chapter 41 - Haunted

• Chapter 41, is pretty much a long big of nightmare, both figuratively and literally, whenever it's not focusing on Blitzo. It all starts with Loona find a creepy tome amongst her things, with the book being described as humping and pulsing in her hands and the inside is filled with unknown, horrifying writings, drawings and symbols which start to unnerve her. While reading, she briefly hears Octavia calling out to her, but dismisses it and goes to sleep. But it doesn't stop there. When we see her next she's in a nightmare, running for her life from some unknown one-eyed creature, amidst Hell falling apart and countless horrors happen around her. It's here that she sees a face from long ago…Octavia, calling for her help, while Loona tries to bring her friend back, she can only watch as she's ripped from her hand and she wakes up in a sweat. She tries to wash it off in a shower, but her departed friend follows her there, leaving messages in the window, and suddenly calling out to her, causing the bathroom to erupt into cries for help, churning pipes and haunting shadows gazing back. The entire scene from the slow pacing, the build up and the big reveal is enough to send goosebumps over your whole body.
  • The closing lines of the chapter further sinks in the dread, as something happens to Loona inside Mother's Realm.
  It was hard to breathe. So damn hard. She hit the barrier on the other side. It refused to open. And now she couldn't breath. There was vile slime filling her mouth, flooding her lungs.
  Inside her core, something that had grown and festered next to her galloping heart came Awake.

Chapter 42 - Abominations

• This chapter continues the previous chapter's dive into unnerving, horrifying terror, pretty all the way through after Blitzo & Stolas' date. First there's the sudden tone shift of Blitzo & Stolas relaxing and stargazing, to Stolas encouraging Blitzo to call Loona, when he notices the constellations shifting. The last time that happened resulting to Octavia's supposed death. For a brief moment we are left in suspense on wether something will happen to Loona and if the two of them will be able to get to her in time.
• When they do find her mid-spell, the sight itself is unnerving, with the once clear water having turned into a sickly, foul, putrid liquid unlike anything seen in Earth or Hell. Loona eventually manages to burst out of there, sending the water splashing throughout the room. And upon waking she does so in a frantic, hysterical panic before vomiting out a small, but growing, living thing out of her mouth that is by Blitzo's estimate, at least a foot long. It's a haunting series of events made even more unnerving by how realistic it's portrayed, with simple mistakes like Blitzo being pinned by a panicking Loona and Stolas tripping on the stairs.
• Loona's state upon returning from the real is especially haunting. Here we see a brave, ruthless, savage and dangerous person, who's faced some of Hell's worst horrors and still manage to keep her mental state in check, reduced to a shell of her former self, hysterically muttering unnerving rhymes to herself, panicking not wanting Mother to hear her, regressing into a more child-like state and breaking down from the sheer horror of it all. Whatever was inside that realm, scared her more than anything she had seen so far. More so than crazy trolls, creepy cults and exorcists. Think about that.
• It's here that the main trio finally get to see all of Octavia's paintings and drawings, now revealed to be illustrations of Mother's Realm. There are several dozens of them! And they aren't pretty. Filled with unnerving, horrific monsters even too awful for Hell, disjointed and impossible architecture, a Tower upon a monolith of bone and rock, beasts covered with teeth and eyes, symbols of the Mother which was also the symbol used by the cult in Canada and all of it drawn in terrifying detail. One of the volumes even had a short, haunting warnings crippled upon it…"BURN THIS."
• The reveal of the fake Octavia corpse is quite goosebumps worthy, as it starts to crumble and rapidly turn into a withered husk that is then reduced to dust leaving only Via's funeral dress and watch.
• The supposed final shot of the horror inside Stolas' garden is it melting into goo, as the bodies and skulls of it's consumed victims silently cry out much to the trio's disgust.

Chapter 43 - The Archive

• Pendergast. When we're first introduced to the badger keeper of the Archive, he sees to be of little note; coming off as meek, clumsy and good-natured. But once he learns of the Loona & co.'s mission to learn more of the Elder Gods, his true colors shine through and the librarian becomes a cold, serious and sadistic bastard, taunting the foursome of their mistakes and failings, challenging them to a brutal game for their prize and forcing them to cough up their darkest secrets; both figuratively…and very, disturbingly, literally. For a one-off character, he might be one of the scariest of the story.
• The chapter ends on a haunting, ominous note, as the foursome prepare to decent into the forbidding archives dedicated to the Elder Gods. We do not even get a glance at it, only a terrifying, scary dread of what lies in store of everyone on the other side; knowing that whatever they find will not only shake their already traumatized selves but their view of the universe as a whole.

Chapter 44 - Madman's Knowledge

• It's revealed the Mother has been haunting Octavia long before the story started. As far back as her childhood. You know that scene in "Loo Loo Land", where she had a nightmare? Yeah, that was Mother trying to reach out for her. And all this time she, Stolas and Stella were none the wiser.
  • The worse part is why the parents were none the wiser. The nightmares in Octavia's early years and bizarre art in her teens was taken as her coping mechanisms for her broken family. Her messed-up home life practically gave the Mother a perfect cover for her plans. It wouldn't be surprising if Stella's testimony of having nightmares when she herself was in a similar familial situation as a child was anything to go by, this messed-up home life was another reason why Octavia was picked as her key.
• So the Uproar? The horrifying, Earth-shattering and cataclysmic event that shook all of Hell to it's core, completely destroying almost everything in a single night, caused half the population to go insane and sent the rings into an almost apocalypse? Just a small distraction, meant to avert everyone's attention away from Octavia, so Mother could more easily bring her into the Elder God's realm. All that death, all that chaos and all the lives ruined, just so one god could kidnap a girl to use as a potential key to open up her realm. Makes you dread to think what she'll do, when she shows off her full power.
• The peak into the realm of Mother and the rest of the Elder Gods. Even if it was only a shadow of the true thing and an illusion, the brief glimpse into it was enough to temporarily petrify and break the foursome through the sheer horror of it all. In particular is Loona witnessing one of them eating an entire galaxy. In one chapter, we get a sense of just how outclassed and unprepared everyone is in the face of someone like Mother.

Chapter 45 - Old Wounds and New Recruits

• Warden Volthor makes a chilling revelation to Stolas & Rufus at the privacy of his office. His true identity. Mephistopheles. Lucifer's former right hand man and spymaster on Earth, who became human and forgot his identity after years of secrecy. The reveal and build up to it, with the warden effortlessly talking down to the prince and Rufus, really helps to drive home how dangerous and tricky he is, making for a terrifying ally for the group.

Chapter 46 - Tuning In

• We learn how Rufus' last, bloody battle with Alastor ended. Turns out it was a bloody note that left the warden with a broken spine and fused with the nearby sidewalk, shortly after being killed. As is the fate for all sinners who die in Hell without heavenly involvement, their bodies are destroyed and their souls now merged with the nearby architecture. Fully conscious, but unable to move or speak in any form. Thankfully, it didn't take for Rufus, as he painfully pulled himself free of that fate and managed to return to his duties, after killing everyone nearby.
• The Radio Demon makes his grand return, after being done for almost 30 chapters. And soon reminds everyone why he is feared. His entrance alone shows him deliberately keeping everyone waiting, so he can make a grand appearance, emerging from the shadows behind Loona, giving the hellhound and her friends one hell of a fright. Even when he's chatting with them and offering them drinks, the tension and dread is thick in the air, as the gang are worried on how to address the terrifying monster, who might chose to eat them at any point.

Chapter 47 - Infernal Affairs

• When Lucifer himself shivers at the thought of Mother returning, you know the eldritch horror is a serious, horrifying threat to all of hell.
• The Emperor of Hell himself, manages to be a terrifying presence to the group, keeping them all, even Alastor, but not Charlie, on edge throughout his whole scene with them. It is noted that if it wasn't for Charlie intervening, he would've just erased the seven out of existence without any issue right there as them knowing about the existence of Mother gives it power.
• We got an answer as to why Extermination came early. It turns out that the thing in Stolas' forest has been using the local magics to hide its presence from both Heaven and Hell. So when the Uproar happened, it seized the chance to kidnap her. This was what alerted both Lucifer and Heaven about Mother. While Lucifer's response is to just continue playing dumb, Heaven's response is to immediately rally their Exorcists and use the annual Extermination as a guise to hunt down the cosmic blight. The Exorcists gathering outside Stolas' palace and killing his horses seemingly out of sadism and fun while waiting? They were simply gathering enough numbers to take it on while the horses were released as bait for the horror to consume. The worse part? As later chapters would show, they failed to kill it and lost several of their own in the process. Note that this is just one of Mother's spawn in action. Lucifer's dread at Mother's return is not unfounded.

Chapter 52 - Familial Bonds

• The requirements for the magic circle to access Mother's realm. The blood needed at least the sacrifices of demons of all kinds for the 200 feet magic circle. The party is greeted with it being capped off by an imp baby getting his throat slit right in front of them. Even Alastor doesn't snark about it and calls it a waste of good meat. When Charlie asked how many were sacrificed, Lilith only said one word:
  "Enough."
  • The very next chapter reveals that the demons in question were from an orphanage. Countless children and teens died for this!!

Chapter 53 - Parting Words

• We're given one more small moment of dread, before we fully enter Mother's Realm. Alastor takes a shower and is given a haunting message, seemingly from Mother herself, telling him to join the choir. It is enough to send the Radio Demon into shivers and terror so deep, it follows him through most of the day. When Al himself is terrified, you know something bad is about to happen.

Chapter 54 - The Nameless City

• The first chapter in Mother's Realm does not hold back on it's horror, as we're given our first real, fully view of the place. It is a living place, with each new horrific discovery, the realm grows creepier and more dangerous, nightmarish monsters from Lovecraft's nightmares, filled with ever-shifting landscapes, smells and sights unlike anything that should be possible, unknown colors that terrify the viewer, bizarre alien architecture and a loud ringing sound that makes the Extermination Siren looks tame by comparison. And the gigantic titan form of Mother, standing watch over it all. This is the world the rescue party have to traverse to find Octavia. And even with all their preparation, it doesn't seem to be enough.
• We get a sense of the uncanny abilities the realm has on its travelers, when everyone tries to check for time. Suddenly all their watches, which were synchronized before they left, all display wildly different times, further making their already difficult trip, so much harder.
• The rescue party, quite nearly get their first taste of action while at a library. Their path is blocked by a hideous and terrifying monster, later identified as a shoggoth. As more and more of the beasts start appearing, the party is forced to hide from the eldritch terrors, as the spell cast by Stolas and Alastor nearly breaks apart. What follows is a tense, nerve-racking scene of the party attempting to hide from the shoggoths, just barely getting through unharmed, thanks to some clever thinking from Blitzo.
• Yoshimo and Vagatha nearly loses their mind and sanities, as the two become blinded and driven to obsession by the colors of this realm. The rest of the party almost fall suit, before covering it up, allowing them to continue, but watching two strong-willed fighters, become so easily swayed by colors is quite a scary thought.
• We're treated to a traumatic memory of Loona's childhood. While living on the streets, she had a close encounter with a sinner, pretending to be friendly but likely with very dark ulterior motives. While she's able to escape mostly unsoiled, the struggle and sickly false kindness of the stranger, make this an absolutely tense and chilling moment, that left Loona so scarred, thinking about it again, nearly broke her.
• The ending. Holy shit, the ending. As the party enter a cave, leading to another horrifying section of Mother's Realm, everything starts shifting and the party is separated from each other, tossed into the dark unknown and whatever might await them, now more scared than ever. To further emphasis the terror of this moment, an ominous chorus of voices call out to them all:
  "Come, hellspawn. Come Seekers. Come and Sing."

Chapter 55 - Whisperers in Darkness

• The Choir. The big, terrifying, eldritch beast of legion that has trapped the rescue party threatens to assimilate them. The way it is presented as an army or collective of tentacled, trapped victims, all of whom speak in a chorus of twisted voice, really helps to add to their creepy and otherworldly factor, making them almost as terrifying as Mother herself. To add even more horror to the case, they're able to seemingly take the form the loved ones of their victims past, such as Millie for Moxxie, Millie's brother Tommy and Sofia for Rufus, mimicking their behavior flawlessly, and managing to manipulate them into joining their folds through words alone. Watching Rufus' daughter act all innocently and sweet, before transforming into a mass of strangling tentacles begging for her father to sing, is unnerving as hell.
• And when those fail, they resort to trapping their victims in torturous and horrifying nightmare realms, haunted by their trauma and regrets until they concede. These include Moxxie having relive his painful past, Millie reliving a much worse version of the night the barn caught fire and her brother was killed, Vaggie reliving the night she was gun down by a careless guard for attempting to smell drugs for her boss and Rufus being sent into a war zone, where he is haunted and dragged down by all the closest people he has wronged throughout his life.
  • Speaking of Moxxie's painful past, while it was implied back in Chapter 51, it is confirmed in here that his abusive ex-boyfriend Striker raped him in a hayloft. Bite the pillow indeed.
• And then there's the fact that the Choir, seems to possess limited reality warping abilities, briefly regressing Millie into a child and turn Rufus into a human again. Makes one dread to think what Mother is capable of.

Chapter 56 - Dreams Beyond the Veil

• The nightmares continue as Alastor's forced to relieve a twisted version of the chase through the bayou that lead to his death, while his abusive father mocks and hits him along the way and his mother calls out for him. We're shown a version of Al that's at the most vulnerable and weak we've seen him thus far, as all his previous magic is stripped away leaving him at the Choir's mercy. Running away from living trees, wild dogs, snapping alligators and the ghosts of his parents, the whole chase is very intense and unnerving as we get to see it in Al's POV. A big mention goes out to the Choir asking him to join them, while in the form of Al's mother.
• Charlie is given a hell of an emotional gut punch, as the Choir taunts and manipulates her by taking the form of dead children. These kids, turn out to be students at a school Charlie would frequently visit and volunteer at before the Uproar. So now it seems the ghost of the children have returned, their body mangled and twisted almost beyond recognition as they blame her for abandoning them and beg her to stay with them, while the Choir encourages her to help them, forcing Charlie to kill them herself. It's a sad moment that is further made uncomfortable by the horrifying premise and execution.
• Near the end of the chapter, we're treated to what might be the worst of the Choir through Loona. The hellhound is treated not just to her own painful reliving of her past, but dragged into the null of the universe, where the Old Ones and the Forgotten dwell. Through her horrified and traumatized eyes, where forced to witness the many horrors out there, where even the weakest among them is powerful enough to fracture reality. The descriptions of the monsters is bad enough, but hearing of their immense hunger really sets home how powerful and terrifying these gods are; strong enough to completely devour the entirety of existence as they tear apart Hell, utterly decimate Heaven and continue to consume until all that is left is Empty Night. Had it not been for a last minute save from Octavia, Loona almost certainly would've lost what little remained of her sanity right then and there, at the sight of these universe ending nightmares.

Chapter 57 - The King in Gold

• The final opponent blocking the rescue party from Octavia is a massive, golden, winged, squid-like monster the size of a forest, known only as the King. Even without attacking them the monster brings the party to fear, telepathically taunting them and attempting to get under their skin and into their minds. And in battle it proves to be as powerful as it is monstrous, taking tons of abuse from the team's hellish/holy weaponry, yet still standing and even managing to restrain them for a moment. And once it does, it even briefly manages to break their minds and compel them to sing as they lose themselves into the madness. Had it not been for Octavia's last minute save, he would've likely have killed them right then and there.
• The team realise that they have to brave The Choir again for their return trip after rescuing Octavia. Because it is either that or running into some other eldritch location they cannot hope to endure. Thankfully, the trip itself is relatively short and less painful.

Chapter 58 - The Last Stand

• Now that the Key to Empty Night has been wretched from Mother, she is now bringing everything she has to our team to reclaim her key. With their biggest heavy hitters (Stolas, Charlie and Alastor) busy opening up a space-time rift to bring them back to Hell, it is up to the rest to defend the trio while they complete the spell. And as the battle dragged on, the seven defenders are heavily injured one by one and had to fall unconscious by the very trio they were supposed to protect. To list:
  • Moxxie is the first to go down. He resorted to setting off a massive explosive blast at near point-blank range to save his wife which rendered him unconscious.
  • Blitzo got gutted by a powerful blow that went through his protection like paper. He was barely holding on to his open intestines while a horrified Loona cries out.
  • Loona, horrified at what happened to her father, came to save him. While carrying him to safety, she wound up taking a blow meant for Blitzo that shattered her right leg in multiple places.
  • Rufus saw the trouble I.M.P was in and carried them deeper into the infernal barriers. Afterwards, a regenerated King impaled him right through the chest and the blow was able to nullify his natural Sinner regeneration abilities, something that previously only holy weapons were capable of.
  • Vaggie, Yoshimo (who already has a barely working left arm) and Millie made their stand after carrying the injured to the spellcasters' circle. The trio didn't last long, with Millie going down afterwards, Vaggie limping back and Yoshimo crawling back last. It was only then that with Stolas' sacrifice, that the rift was finished and our heroes along with Octavia had to be picked up by Lilith and Stella.
• After being built up over the entire fic, Mother herself shows up to personally crush the team at one last attempt at reclaiming her Key. One "glare" from her eye was enough to completely pin them. Stolas was forced to draw upon his life and soul to finish the ritual and protect the others at the same time.
• The terrifying descriptions of Mother's army also deserve a mention. We get numerous beast straight from a lovecraftian nightmare with animal parts mixed together, grossly enlarged or disfigured making for several horrific sounding beasts. Just hearing of their appearances and what they can do is enough to chill just about anyone.

Chapter 59 - Aftermath

• We get to view the Rescue Party's return through the eyes of Pringles, Reginald and the other servants, and it's quite the haunting sight. The description of their friends all piled up in a bruised, near-death experience, all the while the otherworldliness and horror that is Mother, begin viewed through the simple servants who have had little to no experience with the true horror of the Void, is incredibly haunting. Not only that but to witness the full chaotic aftermath of the party returning, everyone scrambling to deal with their horrific injuries, struggling to control the situation was also very effectively chilling.
• While we don't get to see the first week of the Rescue Party's recovery, we're treated to some disturbing descriptions, as they apparently spent the first few days either screaming or laughing like psychopaths, whenever they weren't resting. Mother's realm has left them all with scars. Ugly, possibly permanent scars that can never fully heal no matter how much time passes.
• Stolas' opening sequence starts out innocently enough, as he's listed by a friendly nurse named DeeDee. Bit by bit though, you discover alongside Stolas, that something is up, as she keeps telling him to sleep and that he was close. As one of her monsters suddenly pops up and DeeDee starts getting cryptic, it becomes increasingly clear the entire sequence is a dream. And DeeDee is possibly Death, wanting to claim Stolas' life. It makes for quite the chilling reveals, as the prince is barely able to talk away the mysterious angel and wake up, though in a fit of screaming madness. When he wakes up the third time, it is thankfully for real, though it is very haunting to see how close we were to losing our favorite owl prince.
  • Also the brief appearances of one of Mother's beasts in the dream, is a simple but effective way of reminding Stolas & the audience that for all they've accomplished and suffered through, Mother is not defeated. If anything they've only slowed her down. And while it may be a long time before she makes an attempt at them again, one day she and her kind will break free and then, there'll be nothing anyone can do to defeat them.

Chapter 60 - Krampusnacht Gifts

• Not even on Christmas are we safe, as the chapter closes out on a haunting note. Lucifer and Gabriel have their annual meet up, wherein the Archangel reveals that Heaven wants everyone on the Rescue Party dead. As a result of them visiting Mother's Realm, they have been touched by Mother's presences and as a result, have all become prime candidates as her future conduits, should they ever reveal the horrors they have seen to the masses at large. A terrifying possibility to be sure, and just what something like Mother might be banking on.

Chapter 61 - A Warm House in a Cold Hell

• Lucifer crashes the Krampusnacht party to give everyone a haunting reminder, that Mother is still out there, and for all they've done to her and her army, including Octavia slamming the door to her realm in her face, she's still alive and out there. Not only that, but we learn that Mother…is the weakest of the Old Ones out there. There are stronger, much more powerful Eldritch Gods out there looking to escape, only kept at bay by sleeping. Octavia in particular mentions a male old one, so powerful even thinking his name is enough to wake him. It sets home just how lucky the heroes were. Had it been any of the Old Ones other than Mother…they likely would've died.
• Octavia seeing the door to Mother's realm, near the end of the story, as it calls out to her. After all she's been through, the Old Ones are still trying to tempt her into opening the door, and likely will for the rest of her life. All she can do is ignore it and hope one day her nightmares will go away. A bittersweet note to end on.