Cole, Spider, and Harmonia appear out of a crack in the wall. It seals behind them.

They find themselves in a hall. A throne room, really. One with 3 thrones arranged in an arc on a platform. The whole place is dimly lit with red, blue, and green flames for the right, middle and left sides of the room respectively.

The candles provide a considerable amount of warmth, yet outside SOUNDS like it is just nonstop freezing cold winds.

There is a strange-looking owl sitting on his throne on the red side of the room, reading a strange-looking book.

They are a thin, 7' tall owl person. Their face is white and mask-like with a short beak. They have one set of pupil-less, glowing bright reddish-orange eyes.

Their feathers seem to be in a gradient. A fiery red at the tips into a more average orange for the rest of their body. They've got owl feet and legs, obviously, but their hands aren't winglike in the slightest. Instead, they're covered with the same sort of material as their legs with large talons to tip off their 4 fingers. The material which covers their hands and legs is black.

On their head, they've got a bronze crown bedazzled with carnelian. Their wings are fucking massive and, when resting, seem to appear like a cape. For an outfit, they've got a rather regal suit. A pleasant maroon. Quite a lot of bronze and carnelian jewelry on them.

The owl looks up to them with a quiet "Hmm?", shutting their book.

"𝕆𝕠𝕠𝕠𝕙... 𝔸 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤?? ℙ𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥, 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥!"

Carnelian gets up from his chair with a start, looking over Cole and Harmonia from afar.

"ℍ𝕞𝕞𝕞.... 𝕀 TRIED 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔸𝕓𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕒𝕡𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕖 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕚𝕗 I 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕝! 𝕌𝕟𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕧𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖, 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪."

"𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕘𝕠 𝕠𝕟! 𝔻𝕠 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕛𝕚𝕘!"

He sits back down, staring with a smile.

Cole looks over at Harmonia as if asking her to lead it.

Harmonia nods and starts doing her dancey dance, leading Cole.

Cole follows Harmonia's lead with a grin.

After a bit, she winks as if to tell him to do the lifting up part.

Cole runs at Harmonia and picks Harmonia up in a quick motion and spins them slowly.

Harmonia strikes a pose!

Carnelian claps.

"Throw me-" Harmonia whispers.

Cole throws Harmonia in the air and catches them.

Carnelian claps more!!!

Harmonia grins and waits to be set down.

Cole sets Harmonia down and bows to Carnelian.

Harmonia bows too. "Thank you!"

Carnelian seems pleased yet skeptical. "𝔸𝕟𝕪 other 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕤?"

Harmonia stares at Cole. "Do a funny voice.”

Cole sighs and his voice switches to Morgan Freeman. "I can smell you.”

Harmonia grins. "Oh yeah? What do I smell like, Mr. Freeman?"

“You smell like a woman, more of a woman than me in fact.”

"Do you want to know a secret?" Harmonia asks.

"Sure."

"I AM a woman."

Carnelian cackles.

“Ew, a woman.” Cole pushes his paw out towards Harmonia and they fly back but slow to a stop before they hit a wall and Cole puts them back on the floor.

"A-" Harmonia says.

Cole continues to cackle and slaps his knee.

Harmonia does a bow. "Thank you!"

Cole bows with Harmonia.

Carnelian takes a deep breath and stops the cackling. "𝔸𝕙𝕙𝕙... 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕒 HOOT!"

"Awww, thank you!" Harmonia exclaims.

“Thank you, you're so kind,” Cole says.

"Now, we gotta ask you for a little thing.”

Cole snaps and a cauldron appears in front of Cole with a big stir stick.

"What's that for?” Harmonia asks.

“The power so we can ya'know stir it.” Cole responds.

"..What??" Asks Carnelian.

"Why would we stir it??” Harmonia asks.

"Cause it says to mix it.”

"Okay, anyways, so basically Beezlebub’s a cunt and messed up Limbo and Enoch so we need to get soul fragments from each layer to fix them. Could you give us a tiny bit of your soul?" Harmonia asks Carnelian.

“Just a small donation.” Cole does puppy dog eyes.

"You're gonna scare him off.” Spider mutters.

"ℍ𝕞𝕞𝕞𝕞... 𝔸𝕝𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥! 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕨𝕠 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙! 𝕀'𝕕 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕚𝕥 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕." Carnelian stands and trots on over to the cauldron, taking out his bronze lighter. He opens it and holds it upside down over the cauldron, pouring out a large sum of lighter fluid.

"Yay, thank you!" Harmonia grins. "Do you know how we can convince your coworkers?”

“Thank you.” Cole bows.

"ℂ𝕠𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕖𝕣𝕤?" Carnelian asks.

“The other overseers,” Spider says.

"Yeah.”

"I have an idea on how," Cole says.

"ℍ𝕞𝕞𝕞... ℕ𝕠 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕒, 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪!" Carnelian responds.

"Well fuck. How about you, Cole?" Harmonia asks.

“A bribe,” Cole responds.

"Of what, money?"

Cole chuckles.

"What does that mean?” Harmonia asks.

Cole stares Harmonia dead in the eyes and with a dead-serious tone. "A Soul."

"Your soul I’m guessing??" Harmonia asks.

“Mhm.”

"Don't you need that?!?!?!?"

"I don't need all of it,” Cole says.

"Dude we can just beat the shit out of them instead, you don't have to get yourself hurt!” Harmonia exclaims.

"It won't even hurt me Harmonia, and this is for the team,” Cole responds.

"Okay...."

"𝕀'𝕞 𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝔸𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕𝕟'𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕕!"

"𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝... 𝕀 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟. ℍ𝕖 WOULD 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕! Obviously! 𝔹𝕦𝕥..."

"ℍ𝕞𝕞𝕞..."

"ℍ𝕞𝕞𝕞𝕞𝕞𝕞."

"I mean he did torture our friend for no reason so I’d be down to fuckin murder him,” Harmonia says.

"ℍ𝕖'𝕤 ALSO 𝕒 𝕗𝕦𝕟-𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕪𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕝 WHORE 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕒 LOT 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕞𝕖, 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪!"

"I mean, I do only have one soul,” Cole says.

"Bet, I'll kill another tyrannical whore." Harmonia says.

"I’ll help, I fucking hate tyrants,” Cole says.

"I'm Harmonia by the way," She extends a hand to Carnelian.

"𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 NEED 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝, 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣. 𝕊𝕠... 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝕐𝕠𝕦 COULDDD 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣!"

"Or we could kidnap him and make him our jester!" Harmonia exclaims.

Carnelian shakes her hand with a smile. His body seems perpetually stuck at a very warm temperature. Which... makes sense.

Harmonia smiles back. "We're part of The Kiss."

Cole giggles. "I wouldn't mind a jester of my own to make me drinks.”

"I think it'd be funny.”

"So just to recap, we've gone from "gathering souls" to kidnapping an overseer?" Spider asks.

“Yeah.” Cole says.

“Yeah,” Harmonia says.

"𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪, 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥. 𝔸𝕓𝕒𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕪 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟... 𝕄𝕞𝕞... SALTY 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙! ...ℍ𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕟. 𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕪 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕪. ℕ𝕠𝕨, ME? I 𝕓𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦! 𝕀 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕙! ..𝕊𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕦𝕤."

"Well, ta I guess,” Spider says.

"Lol lmao, get fucked Abalone," Harmonia says.

"So, when can I beat the shit out of him?" Cole asks.

"𝕆𝕠𝕠... 𝕎𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣! ℍ𝕠𝕨 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖?"

"I don't need a plan,” Cole says.

"Sounds amazing,” Harmonia says.

“Sounds fun,” Spider says.

"ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝔾𝕒𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕥, 𝕀 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕒𝕕 𝕓𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥! 𝕆𝕣 𝕀'𝕞 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕪𝕠𝕦. 𝔼𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕣."

"...𝔼𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕒𝕪, 𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕤𝕟'𝕥 home 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕤 𝕊𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕖. 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕚𝕤 𝕦𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕦𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖."

"Yeah... when do they come back?" Harmonia asks.

"Can I plant a bomb on his chair?" Cole asks.

“No finesse.” Spider sighs.

"ℕ𝕠! I 𝕤𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖! I 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 ASSASSINATED, 𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 HIM 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕕! 𝕀'𝕞 corrupt, 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕝!" Carnelian exclaims.

"I'm both of those last things,” Cole says.

"Not for long.” Harmonia teases.

Carnelian seems a bit taken aback. "𝕄𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕛𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤. 𝕀 𝕤𝕖𝕖. 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕀 𝕨𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕛𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖!"

"And what will happen if he dies? Cause from what I understand you guys aren't the princes right?" Spider asks.

"I got crucified by the former Prince of Gluttony so,” Harmonia says.

"I am deranged and have violent thoughts every time I look at someone.” Cole is staring right at the overseer.

"𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕤, 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕥." He is oblivious of Cole's stares.

Harmonia walks over to him. "Bend down Cole.”

“Why?" Cole looks over at Harmonia.

"I'm gonna pet you.”

“No.”

"𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕤, 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕪! 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕥."

“So you can get more powerful than overthrow Sapphire, right?" Spider asks.

"Why not?" Harmonia asks Cole.

"𝕎𝕙𝕒𝕥?!" Carnelian seems a bit offended! "No! 𝕊𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕙𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕤 𝕟𝕚𝕔𝕖! I 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕟'𝕥 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕪 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕤𝕖!"

"You're trying to make me not have violent thoughts.” Cole crosses his arms. “Also overthrow them, no balls.”

"Yeah but like, pets good,” Harmonia says.

Cole grumbles and bends down.

Harmonia pets him.

Cole's tail wags slowly as he smiles.

"Good boy!" Harmonia exclaims.

"Awwww!" Carnelian exclaims.

Cole grumbles something under his breath.

Spider sighs.

Harmonia pets Cole more.

Cole's tail wags a little faster as he quietly whines happily.

Cole whispers as he whines happily. “Can we pleeb at least go home first?"

"Yeah, sure!" Harmonia says.

"Hmmmmmmmm..." Carnelian looks between all 3 of them, squinting with his arms crossed.

Cole looks at the overseer. "Whatcha thinking over there?"

Harmonia looks back at him.

Spider rolls her eyes. "Any day now mate.."

Carnelian takes out his lighter, flicks it on, and holds his hand over it. The flames form into a bronze key in his hand. He holds it out to the three. "𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕖, 𝕪𝕖𝕤?"

“Sure?" Cole says.

"Yeah, sure,” Harmonia says.

Carnelian looks to Spider. "𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘? 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕝... 𝕐𝕠𝕦 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨. 𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣'𝕕 𝕦𝕡!"

Cole grumbles. “More like a buzz kill than a manager.”

Spider chuckles and ignores Cole. "Why yes, I am.”

Carnelian looks her up and down with the buzz kill comment. "ℍ𝕞𝕞... 𝔻𝕠 𝕒 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕡."

Spider rolls her eyes and does one.

Carnelian grins and hands her the key.

"𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕛𝕠𝕓! 𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕠𝕟𝕖. 𝕎𝕖'𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕥!"

They turn, returning to their throne. A door manifests in front of the 3 of them.

Spider takes the key. "I look forward to it.”

Cole stares at carnelian with a face of pure anger as his ears flatten against his skull.

Carnelian is in their own little universe right now :}

"Cole? are you okay?" Harmonia asks.

“Anger.” Cole says.

"What's wrong?" Harmonia asks.

Cole storms over to the door and tries to open it.

It opens and Cole sees Carnelian in his own little cheerful world, reading on his throne. It's just a doorway.

Cole no longer feels angry and is just confused as he walks through the door.

It is literally just a standing doorway in the middle of the room. There's a keyhole.

Spider heads over to the door and closes it before using the key on it.

Click!

Spider opens the door, removing and placing the key in her pocket.

It's Harmonia's living room!

The three walk through and the door shuts.