Cut The Strings

The Deal

"There's nothing here to fear, little imp; no need to run or hide." Alastor cheerfully reassured as he lead the timid Moxxie to his secret hideout that had been located deep within the woods behind the hotel.

"You're in my World now, not their World and I have friends on the other side..." Alastor then sang in a sinister tone.

"He's got friends on the other side..." Nifty and Husk then chimed in with an eerie, ghostly backup.

"Sit down at my table, put your mind at ease!" Alastor then gestured to a large, flat rock that was decorated with melted candles and surrounded by four, tree stumps.

"If you relax, it'll enable me to do anything I please! I can read your future! I can change it around some too! I look deep into your heart and soul, make your wildest dreams come true!" Alastor continued to sing as his shadow danced and shifted into seemingly, impossible shapes along with him. As Moxxie listened to Alastor's musical promises with a drained look of faint hope, he took a seat at Alastor's makeshift table.

"I've got Voodoo, I've got hoodoo, I've got things I ain't even tried and I've got friends on the other side!" Alastor continued with his rhythmic, sales pitch as he showed off a few of his magical tools to Moxxie of whom watched with wonder.

"He's got friends on the other side..." Husk and Nifty chanted once again. Alastor then snapped his fingers, signaling Husk to spread out his massive wings, revealing that a deck of Tarot Cards were stuck to their undersides.

"The cards! The cards! The cards will tell: The past and the present and the future as well! The cards! The cards!

Just pick three and take a little trip into your future with me!" Alastor ended the first part of his song as Husk used his wings to shuffle the deck with a stoic expression. The winged, cat demon then allowed the cards to fall upon the rock-table, somehow in a perfect row. Moxxie did as told and picked the three that called out to him the most before handing them back over to Alastor. Alastor then spread the cards out along the rock's surface before flipping them over to reveal: The Devil Card, The Ten of Swords and The Star, all upright, in that order.

"Hmm...Interesting..." Alastor narrowed his red, glowing eyes at the cards that now rested before him as he studied their message closely.

"What do they mean?" Moxxie squeaked anxiously.

"In your past: You seemed to struggle quite a bit when it comes to relationships...You have a habit of attracting people who at first glance, appear to be saints but over time, they show their true colors, turning out to be monsters more vile than you could have ever imagined..." Alastor explained as he pointed to The Devil Card. Moxxie felt himself beginning to tear up again as he bit his bottom-lip with a nod of agreement.

"It seems that the same fate befalls you with your current wife as she has already betrayed you many times and plots to do so again in the near future." Alastor then elaborated further as he pointed to The Ten of Swords.

"M-Millie?! No...She couldn't...She wouldn't!" Tears fell as Moxxie attempted to deny the mere thought that Millie could ever betray him. However, memories all of the times she sided with Blitz, Loona and her family over him began to flash throughout his mind.

Mentally, he tried to tell himself that those things had happened because there was something wrong with him or with the things he was doing. He must have provoked the hatred of so many people somehow. There was no way it could all have been coincidence. His own father had even told him once that he was the common denominator in every conflict he had ever been in, that it could not be someone else's fault every time. However, deep down, Moxxie knew that in every conflict he had ever been in, it had been unprovoked on his end and that he was being treated unfairly.