The Grimoire — Story

The air was still, and the night was still young as the Hawkmoths crew searched around the dimly lit hallways of some long forgotten manor. They had arrived in a rather strange dimension for this particular excursion across the multiverse - one which seemed to be empty and void of any kind of life. Dotted around barren fields filled with decaying flowers, grass, and trees, were a selection of houses, crypts, small castles and other settlements that were all gothic, aesthetically speaking. It was as if this place was just one giant haunted house, stretched out for hundreds of miles… though the Hawkmoths were hoping that this place didn’t include any actual haunted elements one might find within the walls of a haunted house.

“Ugh… this place really gives me the creeps. Why can’t we ever go somewhere nice for a change? Y’know… like some tropical beach or something, instead of deathtraps and horror movie locations?”

“Because these places often contain the things we can get some use out of… magical items, dimensional tools… these things don’t tend to just be laying around in easy-to-get areas. If they were, almost anyone would waltz around and find them… and we’d be out of a job most likely. It’s only us who ever go to these sorts of places.”

Lilith responds to Ashley, as they scour through an ornate chest filled with various doodads and cobwebs, rummaging around for something useful inside. The small torches mounted upon their heads help to illuminate what was before them, though apart from that, the only source of light here came from the full moon, which was shining through the Victorian era windows. There was a slight draft in this room, too, which served to make the dishevelled house to creak and shake slightly, and send shivers up the spines of the pair every minute or so.

“I suppose… I dunno, I’m just saying a change in scenery would be appreciated every now and then. To boost morale and all of that?

“Yeah… I get what you mean… though work is work, and there’s nothing stopping us from visiting such places in our own free time. Anyways, there’s nothing in this thing, and I think we’ve searched through the entirety of this floor. I think Alvis and Isabella were covering the basement, and we already did the ground floor when we came in. Shall we go and wait on the front porch until they’re done? When they are, I reckon it’s about time we call it a day and head back to Mailor.”

“Yeah… that sounds good to me. Let’s just hope that they’ve had some better luck than we have at finding things.”

Having agreed upon a plan, the pair pack up their equipment, and head out of the small guest bedroom they were searching, with the wooden floorboards creaking and squeaking with each step they take. Meanwhile, down in the basement, Alvis was examining the contents of a desk drawer, which amongst old bits of parchment and junk, contained some old-fashioned jewellery. It was certainly nothing useful for dimensional travel, but it would certainly be worth a bit of money back home, and since there seemed to be no owner around here… well, Alvis figured that those fine pieces would be better kept under their watch for now.

Whilst Alvis was pillaging the contents of the desk, their friend and fellow teammate, Isabella, stood in a small sideroom, located in the corner of the larger main room of this basement. When she had entered, the air seemed to consist of around 50% oxygen, and 50% cobweb, which had taken a good while to remove; thankfully no spiders seemed to be living in the small space, at the very least. That’s when Isabella saw it, sitting upon a cracked stone pedestal at the far end of the room - a beautiful grimoire. It was a dark navy colour, the front being adorned with a crescent moon, along with sequins to seemingly represent various constellations.

Curious, Isabella went to pick up the book, taking a deep breath before puffing away the dust which had settled upon the hardback cover. It didn’t quite seem to belong in this house, having a strange aura to it as she looked it over. Plus, unlike most of the other things in the house, it was still in pretty good physical condition, whereas most of the other books the team had seen thus far on bookshelves were frayed, torn, and musty.

She opened it up, flicking through the off-white pages which had incantations written upon them in some archaic-looking language, along with strange diagrams and demonic seals… this thing seemed like it could cause nothing but trouble, though in spite of that, Isabella felt oddly compelled by it. After thumbing through random pages for a couple of seconds, she lands upon one inscribed with an image of a wolf, along with occult imagery such as a pentagram and a few different seals. Like the rest of the book, nothing there seems to be written in English, as the fey dragon leans closer to inspect what looks like some kind of faint watermark…

ZAP!

Isabella is suddenly hit with a sharp jolt of lightning as her fingertips brushed over the mark, which had begun to glow a faint red. The static discharge runs up her arm and is quickly passed throughout the rest of her body, prompting them to convulse for a split second as her muscles seized up. The book falls to the floor with a loud thud, as a cloud of dust gets kicked up as it makes contact with the decaying wooden floorboards. Isabella stumbles back, catching herself by leaning upon the wall.

“Ah… ugh… w-what the hell was that… s-shit, that really hurt…”

She mutters to herself, taking in deep breaths as she takes a moment to steady herself, before pushing off of the wall. She glanced over at the book, wondering what could have caused that to happen when the door behind them swings open - Alvis had heard the commotion, coming in to investigate.

“What was all that noise? Isabella, are you good here?”

They ask, scanning the room for possible danger until they spot the grimoire laying upon the floor, now open on a random page after hitting the ground.

“What’s this… you find this in here?”

They ask curiously, taking a step towards it when Isabella is overcome with a strange sense of possessiveness… she found that grimoire, not Alvis… it was hers! And with that thought, Isabella quickly strides forward, picking the book up and pulling it close to her chest, following with a somewhat dirty look aimed at her friend.

“It’s nothing. Just something I found here… I can handle it.”

“Now now, no need to get agitated, I was just asking is all. Besides, I think I’ve snagged a decent amount of loot from this place already - I got my fair share, don’t you worry. I’m gonna head upstairs and meet the others, I’ll see you up there once you’re done, ‘kay?”

Alvis responds, giving Isabella a wink, though their face doesn’t really change from its rather sour expression, as Alvis turns around to head back into the room they were previously in. Isabella collects herself, placing her newly acquired grimoire into a satchel, before leaving the room to meet up with the rest of their team. Since Alvis had already left the main basement room by the time Isabella entered it, it was safe to say that it had been thoroughly picked clean, and consequently, there was little point in trying to scavenge around further. Whenever Alvis was tasked with gathering things, they never left anything unturned. Isabella travelled up the rickety basement stairs, hearing the chitter-chatter of her team above them, which was mostly drowned out by the squeaky, creaking floorboards beneath her feet.

After having made their rendezvous, the team’s return home was rather swift - after having completed their search of the abandoned property, there was no reason to loiter around. Summoning a portal back to Mailor, the whole crew jumps through it - a whirlwind of light and magical energy whizzes by them as she weaves through the spaces in between dimensions. Simultaneously, Isabella is briefly cloaked in a magical fog, her body warping and shimmering for a moment until the form of Zeydaan appears in her place, all before the Hawkmoths are spat out back in their headquarters. Dr. Asriel glances up from his workbench, seeing his friends find their footing before returning his attention back to the machine he was currently tinkering around with.

“Welcome back you guys. Anything eventful happen this time? Mind you, I don’t really think anything we do would be considered ‘uneventful’ by most… y’know what I’m getting at.”

“Nah, not too much really… that place was totally abandoned, so we just had a look around and snagged a couple of things to us to sell or use… in fact, on that note, I found this for you doc~”

Lilith says, before rummaging around in her pockets, and then tossing a small purple stone in the general direction of the doctor. They are caught off-guard by this, as they lurch upwards and try to catch the stone in her left hand. It ends up bouncing off their palm, and falling onto her desk, before Asirel lets out a sigh, shaking their head a little. They examine the stone, realising that it’s an Alonack Crystal - something which could be used as a sort of magical energy sponge, and was just the thing Asirel needed for a little project they were currently working on.

“You are aware that you have legs, right? Which you could use to just stroll on over and hand it to me, right?”

“Hey, just working on my 3-pointer is all Doc.”

“Uh-huh, very amusing. Regardless… thank you for that Lilith, this’ll be really useful I’m sure.”

Asriel replies with a slight smile upon his face, as the rest of the crew head over to their private rooms, wanting a well-deserved rest after a hard day's work, including Zeydaan. Asriel leans over their desk, looking at them skimming through the pages of the grimoire they’d brought home.

“You get that whilst out there, Zey? I wouldn’t mess with that thing, y’know... might have some nasty magic trapped inside. I would much rather do some tests on it first - find out if it holds anything unpleasant before you do any leisurely reading.”

“Whatever… I don’t care. I can handle myself.”

They respond abruptly, rolling their eyes before slamming the door shut, silencing the distant sounds of machines whirring in the central room of the headquarters.

“Hm… seems as if someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…”

Asriel comments, finding their friend’s attitude rather off, as they return to their work. Meanwhile, Zeydaan takes a secret, underground pathway, located underneath the HQ which was connected to her little cottage home. It’s only a short walk, and before long, she arrives back at her own cosy house. She goes up her stairs, entering the bedroom before taking a seat upon the single bed in her room, placing the grimoire on her lap as she starts to flick through the thick pages. It had really been dominating her mind ever since she’d found it, back at that old house. Zeydaan was infatuated by what it all meant, along with what power it might hold… not realising that such a power had already taken hold of them.

Thumbing through the pages, her eyes start to sting a bit, as her irises start to shift in colour… or more specifically, to a lack of one as she faded to white. In contrast to this, her sclera turns bloodshot, building up more and more until it’s become completely red.

The book seems to shimmer a little bit, as the transformation progresses, morphing Zeydaan’s body without them realising it. Her fur starts to bleach as the colour slowly drains out of it, tufts of grey fur bleeding out to cover up the blues which were there before, whilst she finds her already sharp teeth getting even more so. It was as if she were a sword on a grindstone, getting worked on by whatever magical force the grimoire contained, as they became razor sharp within just a few seconds.

her chest starts to flatten, shrinking down to become more modest, as some amount of body fat she had is burnt away, giving them a slightly more slender figure. Dropping around 20 pounds was just enough to make her uniform feel a bit loose, as Zeydaan starts thinking about how… lame it looked. Like, it just didn’t feel like her style at all. The idea of having to wear any kind of uniform at all also just seemed to be very unappealing to the wolf now; the thought of being told how to dress was a deeply irritating one. No one was gonna tell them how to dress from now on, she think to herself, smirking, with this internal proclamation giving them a newfound sense of empowerment. Though a wardrobe change would have to wait for just a little while longer, due to the fact that she didn’t really have any alternate clothing options in this room with them, at the present time.

Zeydaan rubs her eyes, looking up at the clock, as she notice how late it was… usually she were more of a night owl, or at least she felt that way now, though the recent trip she’d taken today with the rest of the Hawkmoths had left them feeling particularly drained. Her attention turns to her bed, as she figured it was about time to hit the hay. As she wanders over, she rubs her eyes, stopping for a moment as she pricks herselfever so slightly… since when had her claws been so sharp? Maybe she just needed cutting, she wondered nonchalantly to themself, whilst her tail grew out to be longer and fuller, the fur getting thicker too, as her new grey look even spread to coat over her tail.

she clamber into bed, feeling somewhat off, though she has not yet perceived any of the changes which had occurred to her form thus far. Closing her eyes, Isabella feels much more content than she had been a few hours ago, with this new, rather abrasive and aggressive persona she’d adopted seeming very natural to them already. She didn’t stop to consider where this sudden change of heart may have originated from, as she slowly drifted off to sleep. This slumber, however, doesn’t prove to be a very lengthy or restful one though, as in the middle of the night, Zeydaan awakes in a cold sweat. Whilst her mind was struggling to comprehend the goetic magic which had cursed them, her body had taken notice, seemingly trying to fight it off like some sort of invasive disease. Zeydaan looks down at her body, taking a moment to process what she was seeing, until at last, her brain was able to clear the mental hurdle that had been preventing them from noticing the changes which’d been made to her body thus far.

“Oh my goodness… this isn’t right! W-What the hell is happening to me…”

She blurted out, before covering her mouth in shock after hearing her own voice… only it wasn’t her voice… it sounded totally different - the accent, the pitch, even the cadence of the way her words came out had changed. She scrambled out of her bed, shoving the bed sheets off of them as she fell into a heap on the floor, as she made her way over to the opposite side of the room before stopping.

A large, thin mirror leans against the masonry, a very fine layer of dust coated over it. Zeydaan examines it from a distance, inspecting it in order to kill some time before she would inevitably have to take a look at herself in the reflection… she grimaced at the thought of what it’d most likely show them. With a deep breath, she steps forward before the mirror, as she looks at herself.

she had become almost unrecognisable. Whilst still clearly a wolf, her features had seemed to have gotten much more feminine, not to mention her fur now having various shades of grey all over. her uniform, once relatively figure-hugging, had gotten slightly baggy, whilst her new, piecing hellhound eyes stared back at them in the reflection. Though the strangest thing of all - the thing that worried Zeydaan the most, was ironically her lack of worry about her new appearance. She found that they didn’t seem to mind it too much, nor care about how this could have come to pass. She takes a moment, thinking of what she could do to handle the current situation, until they get an idea - perhaps switching to her other form would wipe the changes that’d happened to them? Resetting them, in a way?

Seeing no other options they could try out at this present time, Zeydaan concentrates, and within a few seconds, the wolf morphs into her fey dragon counterpart, a hazy cloud of magic enveloping her body during this brief process, like how it had during her trip home last evening. She keeps her eyes closed throughout, and once it’s over, she opens them slowly, and gaze upon the mirror again in the hopes that she has been successful. Alas, they were met with a disappointing sight, as Isabella’s body was still halfway through the process of turning into… well, whoever it was that they were becoming. The grey fur still covered her body, along with her demonic eyes looking no different than they did ten seconds ago. And to add insult to injury, they observed the transformations resume once more, though they are now aware of it happening…

Isabella’s yellow horns slowly begin to recede, getting thinner and shorter with each passing second, whilst her pink hair starts to grow longer with added volume. Much like her body fur, it’s desaturated until it’s completely grey and colourless. It even seems to style itself as it grows, sweeping itself over to one side, whilst two holes get punched into Isabella’s ears, in order to put earrings into, making them wince a bit.

her waist slenderises some more, giving them a shapely figure, whilst the end of her nose hardens a bit, turning slightly moist and dark until a canine nose forms at the end of her snout, much like Zeydaan would have. Her eyelashes lengthen, as they start to calm down with each passing second. They aren’t sure why this is, still not having considered that this was all the grimoire’s doing. That’s when a new thought starts to brew in her mind… they’d been wondering why they weren’t overly alarmed by all of this… why she hadn’t let her friends know this was happening to them… there’s one simple reason behind it all.

She liked this.

Isabella didn’t want it to stop, in spite of knowing that it was changing them into a totally new form. What they were becoming seemed to fit them perfectly, as she chuckled to herself, posing in front of the mirror. She wished she had her phone with them to snap a couple of photos, though she could always do that later. Isabella smiles, feeling much better about herself, as once again they become oblivious to the changes happening to them, after accepting it in her heart.

New memories start to form in her mind, co-existing with her ‘real’ ones. They’re very hazy… something about working in an office, with little creatures comes to her mind, along with a general sense of angriness and teenage rebelliousness. She took the book, finding that it now seemed to make a little more sense. Loona flicks through it, wondering if there was a way that she could avoid her friends doing something about her new form, as she came upon a page which seemingly could help her create a portal to a dimension that would be well-hidden from the Hawkmoths

“Zeydaan! Stop that… put the book down okay? Damn, I told you that you could have done something like this!”

Asirel shouts, the rest of the team standing behind them, as if ready to pounce.

“I know… just leave me alone, alright? Why can’t you guys just let me do this? I’m not gonna go back to living that life!”

Loona snaps back, as she places her hand upon the open page of the grimoire, feeling its magic flow through them as it starts to glow a crimson colour. Seeing this, Asriel stands aside, allowing Lilith to pass him as they run over, their feet thumping rhythmically against the floor as she goes to snatch the book away from their friend… though she didn’t get to them nearly soon enough. A portal opens up after Loona reads the incantation on the page out loud - it spun around and around, flicking specks of magical red light about the place, like some kind of hellish sparkler. Without a moment's hesitation, she dives through it, as the rest of the Hawkmoths go to pursue their friend through the portal… only it’s already too late, as it seals back up before they can reach it. Loona doesn’t spend a great amount of time travelling through this portal, as they sometimes did when dimension hopping with the Hawkmoths. Before long, they came out of the other end with some speed, causing them to lose their footing and tumble onto the floor on the way out - the portal closing behind them in the blink of an eye.

Getting up off of the floor, Loona finds herself in some kind of… shopping centre? At least it was one filled with an assortment of hellish creatures - imps, demons, sinners, hellhounds… they populated the entire area, making it quite an odd sight indeed... though one that didn’t seem too alien to her, as her new memories started to get more clear. This was her home… she lived here, in Imp City, within the Pride Ring. After taking a moment to observe her new surroundings, her attention was brought back to the fact that she was still wearing her old uniform, which had been slightly strained and torn during her transformation thus far, not to mention the slight scrape during her tumble.

Loona stops to think for a moment, spotting a clothing store at the end of one of the hallways before her. She figures that it’d be wise to ditch this lame outfit for something more her style… plus, it’d make it pretty damn easy for her former colleagues to spot her if… or rather, when they came looking for her, if she was still wearing that thing.

The hellhound makes her way over to the store. Taking a step inside, she can see that the place is totally empty, barring a small, stocky imp lady behind the cash register, who currently had her head down in some kind of lifestyle magazine. The store was split-up into different sections, as Loona wandered over to the back which seemingly contained mostly gothic, dark articles of clothing. She places her furry hand upon a carousel of shirts, flicking through as she feels her body twitch a little… now that she had returned to her proper home, the last of her changes were about to commence…

Her snout slenderises, getting a bit thinner and longer, whilst she spots a lovely pair of black shorts, adorned with a grey crescent moon on either side. Her toenails grow to be equally as sharp as her fingers and teeth had gotten, whilst the fur from just above her knees, to the bottom of her feet becomes a darker grey tone. She picks out a spiked black dog collar, checking to see if it fastens, as she leaves it on. Tucked away at the back of this rack, she finds a faded blue crop top, with black straps at the top shaped like a pentagram.

She carries her chosen garments into a little changing room, as she quickly strips down and tosses her old uniform aside, having no intentions of ever donning it again. Loona stuffs it behind one of the chairs in the rooms, before dressing herself in the clothing she’d picked out. As she does so, she realises that she’s not carrying any money on her to pay for these items… though the cashier didn’t seem to be too attentive to the store right now… it was unlikely she’d notice that one of the customers had gotten a change in attire whilst browsing.

Loona chuckles to herself, watching herself in the mirror, before quickly leaving the store. On the way out, she nabs a pair of black faux earrings, stuffing them into one of her short’s pockets to put on later. Though just before they can leave, Loona feels a presence behind them, before she are tapped on the shoulder.

“Hello there dear… I hope your trip wasn’t too bad getting here.”

A voice asks from behind the hellhound, causing her to jump slightly - of course, she does her best to play it off cool, turning around with a frown to be greeted by a tall, lanky owl demon. He was adorned in regal, expensive looking clothing which seemed to be tailor-fitted to his form, as he gave Loona a warm smile.

“I’m Stolas… and don’t worry, I’m aware that you’re not from this place. I’m afraid that my Blitzy has recently been using my grimoire to explore new places and realms, and had gotten it lost in the process a little while ago. Though thankfully, you have returned it to me now… I knew it was only a matter of time.”

He explains, before holding out a hand, clearly signalling his desire for her to voluntarily surrender the grimoire to him, and in spite of Loona having grown so attached to it after discovering it in that dank, dark basement… this felt right. It had helped her out already, and now, it needed to be returned to its proper owner - she had little use for it at this stage, after all. Loona nods silently, before lifting the book up and presenting it to Stolas, who promptly takes it from her.

“Just be more careful with it next time, okay? You should know that Blitz sure as hell won’t take much care of that thing when he has it.”

“Of course, though it’s nothing I can’t handle dear. Now then, I have some

business to attend to… and I’m guessing that you do too? I believe you’re expected in Blitzy’s office right around this time, so I’ll leave you be darling - you take care of him now, whilst you’re working away there~”

The goetic prince asks of her, before strolling out of the store with a particularly flamboyant stride. At last, her transformation, both physical and mental, was complete - she was Loona, through and through. It felt good to have gotten rid of the grimoire… now that it had served its purpose, it was better left in the avian hands of the prince… and his little imp boyfriend, when the occasion called for that. Loona leaves the mall, wandering down the busy, sketchy streets of the city, as the blood red sky above her basks the buildings in an ominous hue. She wonders when the Hawkmoths would be able to track her down… deep down, she knew it’d come, in time, though for now she was free… and this thought was a pleasant one, as she arrives at her place of work.

Looking up at the office complex which towered up before them, Loona felt at home… even if said home was a place they’d rather not be at most of the time. Being a receptionist was a rather boring job, and most of the calls she’d receive throughout the day often were either prank calls or wrong numbers - the time in between those often being spent browsing social media on her phone. Still, as a hellhound, her situation could be much, much worse, and whilst she’d never admit it, she liked the others she was with there.

The thought of her former teammates faded to the back of her mind; they would most likely come for her at some point in the future, and find a way to bring back who she once were, though thanks to the chaotic nature of this dimension, that may take a good while indeed.