After taking care of the assassins, they head into the room as Althea made sure her face was covered before they made it to the destination as Nico opened the door.

"We're back and we brought in some new guests!" he announced before heading inside along with Serafine, Mordecai, and Althea.

Althea was creeped out at the sight of the room as all the cat people stare at them, mostly at her which made her uncomfortable. She nervously smiled and waved at them, staying close to Mordecai who looks just as uncomfortable as her. Nico slammed the door shut behind them, making them move away from him a bit.

"Glad you two could join fo' de ball." he said to them.

~Allons au bal, colinda, Allons au bal, colinda

"I didn't even have a choice." Althea glared, moving away from Nico a bit seeing him attempting to get close to her.

"I'm not showing up for the ball, I'm retrieving you from it. I realize time—"

Mordecai turns around only to face a hissing snake from the shelf. This made Althea jump to see that and quickly pull him away from the snake, much to his relief.

~Pour faire facher les vieilles femmes, c'est pas tout le monde a danser

"We have a job to do. Althea wasn't supposed to be here. You were supposed to meet me at—"

He was cut off again as he faced a female short haired cat all dressed up nicely as she gives him a seductive smile.

"Hi." she greeted.

~Tandis at mere te voit pas allons danser, colinda~

Glaring, Althea pulled Mordecai back and hugged his arm, much to his surprise as he blushed a bit.

"You were to meet me at 6th and Washington at—" he continued only to be cut off again by a bawling rooster as it flew by.

Althea finds Serafine already sitting on a couch between another female cat lady and a male cat who appeared to be staring into a void.

"Yeah. But you wouldn' come here if we jus' invited you." she said, holding up a cigar. "We enjoyin' watchin' you dance, but you better set down before you fall over. You too, Althea. We would love to get to know you."

Mordecai and Althea reluctantly sit down on a chair as Nico leans against Althea's chair, much to her dismay.

"Don' worry. You missed most de fun parts." he said to them.

"The fun parts of what, exactly?" Mordecai asked.

"A fete exactly, peekon." Nico said.

"A what?" Althea questioned.

"For our patron, maitre carefour." Serafine informed them.

"...The chicken?" Mordecai questioned, looking at a rooster walking by.

"It's a rooster." Althea corrected him.

"Behind dat. De Loa."

Serafine pointed at a symbol on the ground that's marked with chalks.

"One of your swamp spirits?" Mordecai said, glancing at them. "Well, we've quickly stumbled on something that makes even less sense than a chicken party."

"What's so important about a swamp spirit? It's just a legend." Althea asked.

"It ain't no legend, Althea. It's real." Serafine said before facing Mordecai. "It makes sense if you know anything and he ain't jus' a swamp spirit. He is all around, in between-places. Off trodden pants, away from street light, where all's dim and dangerous. Where de strange animals are. Where people like us live. And you best acknowledge it when he been good to you. He even has set his eyes on you now, sweetheart." she continued, looking at Althea who let out a cold sweatdrop. "We was bebes when he saved us, me and Nicodeme. La societe de Notre Dame de bienfaisance-dey was gonna separate us. Boys over here, girls over dere."

Nico approaches his sister and leans over her from behind the couch.

"I tol' de sisters to cut my hair — I'll jus' be a boy and we can keep together. Nobody would listen. Dey gotta put walls up and draw lines around everything, like dey afraid of how it's all tangled together." she said.

"Nobody could listen cause she was yellin' like a coyote in a trap." Nico added. "I didn't tink she was ever gonna eat again if we stayed."

"Mais, we left dat place." Serafine said, starting their story. "For a time we was lost in de city, lost on de roads, and den lost in de bayou. We didn't know it, but we slipped into maitre carrefour's twilight place, between places. He saw us half-starved in our pirogue, and took pity on us and sent us a guide — a gator dat glowed like a full moon, and showed us a way in dat dark-water maze."

Althea couldn't help but feel a sense of the Princess and the Frog movie as Serafine continued her and her brother's story.

"He brought us to Maman Eulalie and de voodooiennes of de nowhere isles. So we stayed and lived dere and learned about how to survive in maitre carrefour's shadows, doin' what's in our blood... de blood of Laveau and Lafitte!"

Mordecai couldn't help but just gave her an unamused look while Althea looks more confused and a bit entertained with their story.

"So, this is all a ploy to sell me some gris-gris? Is that it?" he asked. "Or is this a joke. Is this a joke? I said no more jokes. ...Is this performance art?"

"No. We been mullin' you over. We decided... we want you to join de congregation." Serafine declared.

This made Althea tensed at that word. Oh, she does not like where this is going. There's one thing she doesn't like and rather avoid is joining a cult that is very... sinful and evil. She should know since she goes to church that believe in one God.

"What? Congregation?" Mordecai questioned.

"Oui. All of us. Except not dat one." Nico said, looking at a rooster. "He invited himself."

"And what about that one? Is he alive? He doesn't blink." Mordecai pointed to the frozen cat man.

Althea was just thinking about that guy as well since she's concerned with him. Serafine snapped her fingers at the frozen cat's face, only to not see him blink still. She turns to them.

"He'll be fine." she assured them.

"You should join too, Althea. You have so much potential in you." Nico suggested.

"No. I'm with the Lackadaisy." Althea said, showing them her black clover pin on her tie.

"Well that's a darn shame." Serafine chuckled.

"This just got more interesting." Nico thought, already liking Althea.

"Thank you, I decline." Mordecai said.

"Not gonna listen to—?" Serafine asked.

"No, I'm answering no."

"Why don' you jus' let me f—?"

"No, I don't want to be in your weird club." Mordecai said firmly.

"Couyon." Serafine said.

"It's not quite enough that we have to work together?"

"No. Not when we know what kind you are. You talked to de fat man about us — I wonder what did he tell you?"

"He said you were hijacking shipments coming up from the south. And he hired you instead of having you shot — a stroke of generosity you've clearly indulged to the utmost. And precisely what kind am I?"

"Hah." she scoffed. "De kind who turns on his pardners. On a dime."

"You don't understand anything about that." he argued.

"Mais we do. It's jus' business." Nico grinned, crossing his arms.

"We are de same kind, us. But dis here — it's more than business." Sera explained, placing the blade of her knife close to the lighted candle. "Dis way, we got more to talk about. And we stay frens, whatever happens. And if no, den whatever happens — it's jus' business. But you should know — maitre carrefour, he set us on dis criss-cross path. He says he knows you. You met him before."

Serafine looks straight at Mordecai as she starts with his story, making Althea listen and watch throughout their conversation silently.

"On a lonely road somewhere. In an alley. By de tracks. When you was in dat same little boat as us. When you was lost. Right at de last moment, right at de right moment, he come right out de shadows... in one form or de other, like a strange light... Like he been watchin' all de time... 'cause he was. And like dat, he's lit up a path out de black mire you got youself in. Shinin' a direction for you, real clear. His direction." Serafine continued, standing up and walking over to them with a knife in hand. "But once you take dat direction, once dat light is on you, dat's all you got. De other paths gone forever. De other loa leave you. You are obliged to him only, always. Or else you are lost again."

This made Althea look at Mordecai with sympathy as he glances down for a moment before looking up to see Serafine already close to them.

"Alone in de dark, not sure if you comin' or goin', dead or alive... But you are where you suppose to be, here — where he wanted you, so we can take up de path together. Now. You want to know where it goes?"

Mordecai immediately stood up from his chair and moved the chair in front of her to block her as Althea did the same and quickly grabbed her stuff.

"Toward professional complications? More fortune telling? You're less inert in your off hours than I supposed, but whatever your plans for this menagerie of oddities, consider me uninvolved. I have my own path laid out. It includes doing my job tonight, whether you're coming or not. If you'll excuse us..."

The same cat lady that greeted Mordecai grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving as she touched his shoulder.

"Miss, please don't touch—"

"Stay a little longer. We have something for you." she suggested.

Serafine pointed a knife at a red flower that's attached to his suit jacket as one petal falls off.

"We'll put it right here. I figured dis one, he'll wanna tink it over. So we gonna send a gift wid you, to watch out for you — give you a little time and help you get you mind right. De same gift maitre carrefour sent to watch and guide us — our diable."

Nico clinked the crocodile skeleton's mouth up and down.

"Leblanc l'ancien." he said.

Staring at them, Mordecai calmly pushes the blade to the side with his paw finger.

"Ah... I'll pass on the diable, thank y—"

Suddenly, the cat lady removes his tie from behind.

"This'll be in the way. And you can call me Zulie if you like." Zulie said.

Having enough of it, Althea swiftly pulled out her switchblade and pointed it at Zulie's face to prevent her from touching Mordecai any further and then pulled out her heavy autopistol and pointed it at Serafine, making everyone tensed as Althea glared at Serafine that's holding a knife.

"I've heard and seen enough. If Mordecai says no, he doesn't have to join your sick cult. I suggest you back off and let us go." Althea commanded her.

Serafine stares at Althea with slight surprise before chuckling.

"What's the matter, Cherie? Why so... pent up?" Serafine asked as she tried to get closer, only to be stopped by a autopistol to the chest.

"I'm not a big believer in forcing people into a religion. Especially if they have already said no several times," Althea said, her glare prominent. "As sweet as your proposition sounds, a cult lifestyle is not for everyone. You can try to force ideals, but there will always be those who wish for the worst for someone else. And sometimes, you can't burry the hatchet." Althea said, standing in place.

Serafine and Nico looked at the girl, slightly shocked, before chuckling.

"Very well, Cher, we'll leave him be. For now." Serafine said, smirking at the human girl. "But in return, you owe my brother a date."

This caused Nico, Althea, and Mordecai to look at her in shock while her lips turned up in a sassy smirk.

"E-Excuse me!?"

"Sis, what are you doing?"

"How outrageous can you get!?"

The shocked trio exclaimed as they looked at Serafine. Nico, now sporting a blush on his face, looked at his sister indignantly.

"You said to leave him be, well, this is my price. A date with my brother and that's it." Serafine stated as she looked at Althea. "You should know something never comes for free, you must be willing to pay." Serafine noted as the two stared down.

"Alright, but I'm not interested in anything Voodoo or joining this religion of yours." Althea said as she put away her weapons.

"Promise, my brother's a good man. He wouldn't do anythin like that." Serafine reassured.

"Alright, Mordecai let's go." Althea said, grabbing a stunned Mordecai by the arm.

He stayed stunned all the way down to the lobby.

"Mordecai, you okay?" Althea asked before her shoulders were grabbed and shook violently.

"What. Were. You. Thinking?" Mordecai hissed as he shook the human girl.

"Um, getting you out of a difficult situation and making sure you didn't join a cult or something like that." Althea answered.

"You know how dangerous those two are? They aren't as easy going as you may think they are." Mordecai said as he watched the two leave now donned in their suits.

"We're waiting on you. See you around, Althea." Nico said, smiling at Althea as he left.

"Mordecai, I can handle myself. You saw me take out guys much bigger than myself. I think I can handle one professional hitman." Althea reassured Mordecai, who sighed, his ears pinned to the back of his head.

"Alright, but let me know what happens the moment something goes wrong." Mordecai said, earning a nod from Althea. "Okay then, let me call you a cab."

In the car with Nico and Serafine while Mordecai and Althea are in the hotel lobby.

"Sis, what de hell were you thinkin?" Nico asked his sister.

"You mean hookin' you up with tha sweet belle? You're welcome." Serafine said with a smirk while her brother groaned, slamming his head against the wheel.

"But why?" Nico asked as he looked at her.

Serafine gave him one of her natural smiles, the one that held real emotion—not the ones that came with scheming or mischief, the ones only he had the pleasure of seeing when it was just the two of them.

"I saw de way you looked at her. And I knew if I didn't set you up, ol stick in the mud would've." Serafine answered. "She's a good, honest girl for you. One that I can see you protecting her and her protecting you." Serafine continued as she looked at Althea when she went into a cab. "I have to make sure you're not on your own if somethin' were to happen." Serafine finished as she turned back to her brother.

Nico looked at his sister and sighed before letting out a chuckle.

"That ain' ever gonna happen, not while I still breathe." Nico vowed as the two shared a knowing look.

Mordecai then got into the car and looked rather unhappy as he glared at the two.

"Don't drag Althea into your little schemes again, Serafine." Mordecai warned.

Serafine's smirk returned, giving him a taunting glance.

"Be glad I set her up with my brother instead of moi. She's a fine girl." Serafine teased causing Mordecai to grind his teeth.

Serafine laughed at his expression, waving a paw in the air.

"Oh relax, I ain' gonna hurt that sweet belle. She too good for me, she'd make a fine friend though." Serafine said with a small smile, pulling out a cigarette and placing it in her mouth. "So who you tink lit up at pig farm?" she wondered, turning to her brother.

"Musta been dem pigs." Nico guessed as Serafine handed him another cigarette. "I saw revolution in dose beady eyes."

"Oh, why? Dey was so well fed." she asked.

"Dose farm boys was feudin' wid somebody, all I know, dey take some guns an' never come back." he shrugged.

"Mais non! Dey rushed in, dat revenge business... You got to take time." she said.

Nico then started driving.

"What's dis work we supposed to be doin' tonight? You got anudder hatchet job in store?" he asked Mordecai.

"No. I've brought more precise instruments this time." Mordecai answered, fixing his tie.

He glances at the window where Althea's cab is driving away. Mordecai wishes her a good luck and to be careful. Little did he know, Althea was looking back at the car Mordecai is in that's also driving away. She frowns and prays that he'll be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in Viktor's place, Viktor, who's in his pajamas, is sitting in his desk looking down at the letters with a cup of Old Fashioned drink Althea made. He silently rips out the envelope with his claw and pulls out a picture of a young cat lady with short curly hair. Viktor grabs a cup and takes a big sip of the drink until he accidentally drinks a little too fast, causing him to cough and accidentally spilling some of his drink on the letter and a picture. He calms himself down from coughing as he took a deep breath. In the letter with a date "12-9-1925" reads in cursive:

"Dear Father,

Hello! This is my photo from the start of the school year. I wear my hair much shorter now, and so I wanted to show you. I can't believe it's already the holiday season! Will you write back? You don't have to write in English if you don't like to I can ask Mama or Zeta to translate. Merry Christmas!

Alena"

Looking down sadly, he swipes the envelopes and letters to the side as they fall onto an opened suitcase where all of his stuff are with the name "VASKO". A photo of Alena lands into an opened gap of the wooden floor, making him look down. Viktor tries to reach in to grab it only for it to fall through the hole and into the basement. He slams his fist onto the floor in frustration. Viktor gets up from his desk and walks over to the door where the basement is. He stops to see his telephone for some reason is inside the back. He takes it out and clicks it back where it belongs before turning on the light where he could see stairs that leads him down into the darkness.

With one step, Viktor tries to walk down the stairs as he grits his teeth in pain, his knee is still bad from the injury Mordecai gave him. Suddenly, he heard the door opened with a key jiggle and then footsteps coming inside before closing and locking the door.

"Viktor, I'm back! Sorry I took so long, but I brought some groceries for dinner! You're not gonna believe what just happened but it's a crazy night."

It was Althea as the cab had took her to Viktor's place. Surprised at her return, Viktor accidentally slipped and landed on his rear end on the stairs, creating a loud thud. This caused Althea to ran over to the noise with worry.

"Viktor? Viktor!"

She then gasped to see him downstairs in the basement.

"What are you doing here? You know you have a bad knee." she scolded him, gently grabbing his arm to pull him back up to the surface. "What are you trying to do in that basement?"

"Photo. Dropped it." Viktor said, sounding sad.

Hearing that made Althea realize that it must be important.

"I'll go get it. You stay here."

She then grabbed a lantern for her to see through the dark as she walk downstairs. Once she made it down, she looks around for any sign of the photo until she found one lying on the ground. Althea leans down and carefully grabs a photo of Alena. She stares at it, admiring her hairstyle. She wonders who this woman is as she walks back upstairs to Viktor, who looks relieved to see his photo still intact. Althea hands the picture back to him.

"Who is she?" she wondered.

"...My daughter." he answered solemnly.

This made her feel that it's a sensitive subject and could tell that he had a family, but something went wrong after that.

"You don't have to tell me if it's too much for you to handle." she said, making him look at her. "But just so you know, that I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

Hearing that made him look like he was about to burst into tears. Without a word, Viktor gives her a warm, gentle but firm hug, much to her surprise. Althea eventually wrap her arms around his torso as she closed her eyes, feeling him take in a deep breath as his chest rose and fell against her head.

"...Althea." he whispered out.

Suddenly, their moment was cut off by a phone ringing and they glanced over to the telephone.

"I'll get it." she said, pulling away from a hug and walking over to it before answering it. "Hello?"

...

"Hi, this is Althea. Yes, I'm Viktor's friend."

Althea listened while Viktor stared.

"Hello, Elsa. Is there something you need?"

The next word made her look concerned while Viktor perked up at the name "Elsa".

"Everything okay?" Althea said, having a bad feeling about this.

Viktor on the other hand knows the reason Elsa is calling him as he glares.