Kio

A young Stolas’s eyes shoot open as he sits up in bed, “ My Birthday! It's my birthday!” The young owl squealed happily as he leaped out of bed before rushing into his dressing room, his imp butler following close behind.

Stolas continued to squeal as he sat as his butler began applying gel to his feathers, smoothing them down.

“Calm yourself, young prince, you wouldn't want me to mess up your feathers on your big day now, would you?” The butler said calmly.

“Oh! Right. Sorry,” The young owl responded, taking a breath to contain his excitement.

The Butler walked off momentarily before returning with Stolas' vest and cape.

“You know Father told me, today is the day, that I am old enough to know my purpose and responsibility!” Stolas said happily as the butler helped dress him.

“Of course I know,” The butler responded before placing Stolas’s crown on his head “I'm sure it will be wonderful.” The Butler smiled warmly giving Stolas a light pat on the head.

Stolas happily followed the butler out of the dressing room and down a large hallway. The walls are lined with giant pictures of himself, from when he was an egg right up until now.

The butler pushed on the large double doors at the end of the hall, opening to reveal a throne room. There sat Paimon, Stolas' father and King of the Ars Goetia, in a monstrous black form. As he stood up, his form shifted to display something more bird-like. The butler quickened his pace to stand next to him as Stolas approached his father.

“Ahhhh! There is my little, ah… Stolas!” Paimon smiled, greeting his gleeful son. Paimon leaned downward toward Stolas, slightly surprising the boy.

“Ahem,” Paimon coughed, clearing his throat. “Now then, my little fledgling,” Paimon said as he began to circle his son. “It is finally your day to become a true part of the Goetia family. Are you ready to know what you'll be meant to do to serve Hell?”

“Yes, Father!” Stolas responded confidently.

Paimon then opened a small portal to the cosmos as he spoke, giving Stolas a glimpse of the stars.

“You will be entrusted with the study of the Earth's skies, stars, and the prophecies they hold!” He continued as he pulled an enchanting book out of the portal.

“You will begin the studies of your grimoire, which will grant you access to the mortal realm to study and observe, you will grow to be a mighty Prince of Hell, with your own legions to lead and pass on your knowledge to!” Paimon exclaimed grabbing Stolas off the ground, holding the grimoire under his arm

“I will do my best, Father!” Stolas said bursting with excitement.

Paimon pulled him close into his arms and handed him his grimoire. “Wonderful! Oh, and one more thing; because you are destined to sire a precautionary addition to the Goetia family. You're now engaged!”

Stolas blinked in surprise, he could have sworn it would be a couple more years before this conversation “Engaged? To who?” Stolas asked, cocking his head to the side.

Paimon bent down a bit as the imp butler handed him a yellow envelope. “To a lovely little peacock named Stella! Isn't she charming?” Paimon responded by pulling a picture out of the envelope.

Stolas’s eyes widened as he stared at the picture. Her feathers were in a wild mess as she angrily strangled a Quieve, fiery fury blazing in her eyes. The background set aflame in a pink fire.

Stolas began to loudly wail, snapping his head away from the picture in fear.

Paimon stared at him with a look of surprised confusion painted on his face, before looking at the photo himself, that is. He let out a yelp himself before he began digging in the envelope.

“Oops! Haha, wrong photo! ” Paimon said with a nervous chuckle as he tried to show Stolas a better picture of Stella sitting with a sweet smile, her feathers groomed nicely, with not a Quieve in sight.

Stolas continued to cry, “ Ah, come on son calm down! We’re supposed to meet her today…” Paimon sighed as he wiped away his son's tears.

Stolas only gave a sniffle and a whimper in response. As tears silently rolled down his cheek.

______

Stolas sat silently next to his father in a dark carriage pulled by black horses, his eyes fixated on his talons.

His father looked down at him before lightly rubbing the feathers atop his head. “Just… try to be nice to her okay?” The large owl said with a smile in the softest voice he could muster.

“.....Yes Father,” The small prince responded quietly, without lifting his head.

The two sat quietly, the clopping of hooves racing across the road being the only thing that dared cut through their silence.

Soon the noise began to slow as they reached their destination, the carriage door opening allowing the two to exit. A beautiful large white castle stood before them, Stolas marveled at the flowers that lined the entrances a mix of blue and red. The butler knocked and the door opened, and greeting them was an Imp maid.

“Ah, I was told to expect you! Please come inside!” She said with a curtsy as she led them into the palace. Soon enough they came to a hall where there sat two peacocks and another that looked a bit older than Stolas.

“Ah, Paimon, I was wondering when you would arrive.” The male peacock said with a bow. “Well, weather as nice as this I would have taken my time too!” The lady peacock next to him said with a giggle and a curtsy.

“Yes, it is a nice afternoon isn't it Isabelle?” Paimon responded with a bow of his own. As he stood up straight he looked over, noticing the small blue peacock next to them. “Ah, and you must be Andrephuleus, my future son-in-law, correct? Hmph you take after your mother don't you?” Paimon said with a hum, the only response the small peacock gave was an icy cold glare.

“He truly does, but at least I got some of my genes in Stella!” The male peacock said with a small laugh leading everyone else in the room to quietly chuckle along with him.

“Hmph yes I can tell, but speaking of Stella I can’t help but notice she isn’t here,” Paimon asked,

“Oh, well she wanted to make sure that she looked her very best for her fiance even if it meant risking a bit of tardiness, I do hope you don’t mind.” The man responded with a sigh.

“Oh, not at all Alexander, first impressions are quite important after all!” Paimon smiled as he took a seat at the table.

Stolas looked over to Andrealphus, “Um, hello my name's Stolas! It’s nice to meet you!” he said nervously.

“Ugh, I already know that! You're marrying my sister after all!” Andrealuphus said slyly.

“Oh, I-i uh well,” Stolas shifted as Andrealuphus chuckled watching the smaller squirm.

“Ah, speaking of Stella, ooh~ there she is!” Isabella exclaimed as she stood, everyone's gaze turned towards the stairs as Stella walked down. Stolas stared at her, she was admittedly quite pretty, her feathers brushed down nicely in her light pink dress and silky white gloves, with a small simple gold crown sat atop her head, one the same as his. To be honest, Stolas thought she was quite cute, that is until the image of her strangling that Quieve flashed through his mind, he shivered.

“Ah, you must be Stella! Aren't you just a doll!” Paimon said as the girl came closer.

“Thank you Mr. Paimon!” She giggled as she curtsied.

“Oh, you look lovely dear!” Her mother marveled

“Come on now Stolas, say hi to your fiance!” Paimon said calling Stolas to his side, Stolas could feel a pit in his stomach but he went.

“Ah, I’m Stolas! It's nice to meet you Stella, I like your dress!” Stolas said, bowing as she greeted her, she giggled at his compliment.

“Alright, now that everyone's here, mind telling us where you planned to take the children?” Isabella said, clasping her hands.

Paimon blinked in confusion, “Um, I thought you had made the plans for them?” Paimon said, staring at her bewildered.

The two peacocks both looked at each other's eyes widening .

Paimon pinches the spot in-between his eyes seeing there reactions .“I'm sorry do you mean to tell me that neither of you have anything planned for this afternoon?” Paimon groaned

“I-it seems so… I sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, but I’m sure we can come up with something!” Alexander said with a shaky sigh.

The three children stood quietly as their parents did their best to come up with something last minute. After a moment Stolas came up with a suggestion, “Uh, maybe we could go to the circus?” Stolas said

Everyone paused, “The circus? For a first date?” Alexander said doubtfully

“Well, I mean that’s not a terrible idea but, I don’t know if Stella would be interested in a place like that,” Isabella said skeptically,

“What kind of plebian goes to the circus? For a first date at that!” Andrealphus said quite enough for only Stolas to hear. Paimon made a ‘hmph’ sound with no further comment.

Stolas shifted under the pressure of their comments.”Um, well I’ve never actually been to a circus, but it sounds like it would be a lot of fun! Especially with someone like Stolas to lead the way for me!” Stella chimed in with an innocent look.

“Mph, I don't know…” Alexander said

“Come on love, I don’t see the harm in it! Plus it's not like we’re coming up with any bright ideas!” Isabella said with a breathy laugh.

“Oh alright,” Alexander responded with a sigh

Paimon clasped his hands, “Well then if we’re all in agreement, then I guess the circus it is!”

“But I don’t want to go to the circus!” Andreluphus chimed in,

Paimon furrowed his brow “I'm sorry, who said you were going with them?” Paimon said still slightly annoyed.

“What- I obviously can’t let her go alone with him! She’s my sister after all!” Andrelphus pouted, puffing up his icy blue tail feathers.

“Calm down son, we’re not sending them alone obviously they’ll have imps with them. Plus you think we’d marry your sister to some ruffian?” Alexander asked

Andrealphus pouted, as Stolas sighed happily knowing they would be without him.

______

Stolas squealed as they arrived at the circus, “This is going to be so much fun!” He yelled

“Mmph, I can smell candy even from here!” Stella said as she hopped out of the carriage, Stolas jumped at her voice but she seemingly paid no mind.

As they entered the two imps stopped them momentarily, “Alrighty, now listen here you two, I know this is a circus and I know y'all wanna have fun and you two probably outrun us a bit! But try not to get too far so you don’t get lost ok?” The imp maid that had greeted Stolas and his father, said in her soft country accent.

“Yes ma’am, we will,” Stella said, rolling her eyes, she turned around making her way into the circus with Stolas following close by her.

“I swear, I ran off one time and now I doubt I’ll ever hear the end of it! It’s so annoying!” She huffed

“Uh yeah, that um sounds annoying…” Stolas responded quietly

“Hmph, glad we agree! Now come on, I've always wanted to try carnival games!” Stella cheered excitedly as she walked through the crowd.

The two ventured through the carnival, playing different games, going on different rides, and eating food with enough sugar to give a small imp diabetes, soon they stopped for ice cream.

“Alright chocolate for Stolas, and strawberry for Stella, give this to her will you?” The butler asked he handed Stolas both icecreams,

“Oh, uh here you go Stella,” Stolas said as he tried to hand her her ice cream, but his hand faltered instead dropping it on her dress before it fell to the ground.

Stolas froze as he looked up at her watching her eyes begin to well with tears, “Oh honey, it's alright we’ll get you another one, with two big scoops!” Her maid said, trying to comfort her.

She began to tremble as Stolas tried to apologize, “I-I’m so sorry Stella, here I’ll help clean your dress off!” Stolas said shakily as she grabbed a towel to try to wipe off the ice cream staining her dress.

Stella smacked his hand away as she burst into tears, “This is the worst date ever!” She cried as she ran off into the crowd, her maid called out to her as she ran to go get the girl herself.

“Oh Lucifer, Stolas stay here please while I go get them okay!” Stolas’s butler said running off after the two before Stolas could fully process what happened.

Stolas sat on a bench near the ice cream van for a moment not even noticing he had dropped his own ice cream in Stella’s fit.

“First day meeting her and I get ice cream all over her! Father is going to kill me, or worse he takes away my grimoire!” Stolas whined to himself, and then he had an idea, “Oh! maybe if I go find her myself I won’t be in trouble!” Stolas nodded to himself as hoped of the bench entering the crowd.

Stolas walked through the crowd, his small size making it easy to get through the many people. However, it also meant he couldn't really see where he was going, unfortunately, he only realized this as he came to the back part of the circus. He walked nervously, the area was fairly empty as the circus was in its prime hours so most of its actors were busy.

He sighed to himself as he came to a wooden fence at the very back of the carnival, “Great, not only am I lost, but I’m going to be in so much trouble when I get back!” Stolas whined, but before he could turn around he heard something, it sounded like crying.

Stolas’s eyes flicked back and forth between the fence and the path, he then sighed and went closer to the fence, he came all this way after all. He squeezed himself through the fence and walked through the bushes. Soon he found the source of the noise, Stella, hugging her knees on the ground sobbing to herself.

“Stella! There you are, people are looking for you y’know !” Stolas shouted as he ran toward her. Stella smacked his hand away, “Go away, you’ve already ruined today!” She yelled causing Stolas to fall on his bottom.

Stolas sat there for a moment unsure what to do, he decided that the best thing to do was apologize first and foremost.

He took a deep breath before scooting a bit closer to her, “Listen, Stella, I’m really sorry about your ice cream and your dress, it was an accident honestly!” He said

“Oh please Stolas, do you think I’m stupid?!” Stella shouted

“What no I don’t-”

“I mean seriously after everything else you’ve done you really think I’d believe that you dropped ice cream on by accident, puh-lease!” Stella huffed, turning away from him.

Stolas tilted his head confused, “W-what other stuff?” He asked cautiously,

Stella grumbled “Ugh, it’s like you're being stupid on purpose! Seriously, how don't you remember bumping into me and then stealing my duck in that fishing game or letting that tent flap hit my face when we went to see that magician?! You don’t remember any of that?!” Stella huffed as she poked his chest with her gloved finger.

Stolas paused for a moment thinking about the adventure, sure he remembered winning the fishing game and seeing the magician, and he supposed he had bumped into once or twice but everything else was lost on him.

“Well?!” Stella huffed, snapping Stolas out of his thoughts, he looked her right in the eyes as she made the same angry face she had in her picture. But he knew he couldn't just stay frozen now so he swallowed down the lump in his throat.

“Uh, well I guess I remember bumping into o-once or twice but, I don’t remember anything else, any of that other stuff… ” Stolas responded, his voice quivering.

Stella huffed again as she pulled her hand away from his chest, “Well even if you don’t remember it, it still happened and all of that isn't even mentioning how you've barely looked me in the eye! I mean this is the first time we’ve met and yet every time you look at me it’s like you've seen a ghost! So explain that why don’t you!” Stella said crossing her arm across her chest while pouting,

Stolas took a deep breath deciding to tell her the truth, he was already going to be in another world of trouble when they finally got back so why not, he looked down and sighed before saying “Well it’s because of that picture your parents sent with you strangled that Quive, it uh didn’t exactly give you the best first impression.” Stolas said, while twiddling his fingers.

Stella stared gobsmacked at him, the anger all but robbed from her face. She blinked a couple of times before she began to speak, “W-what, how did you even see that? They told me they’d thrown it out, it shouldn't have even gotten developed! A-and I didn’t even mean to do it!” Stella said in a panicked frenzy, grabbing onto her feathers.

“Wait what? What do you mean you didn't mean to do it? How do you accidentally strangle something?” Stolas said still lightly cautious of his words

Stella took a deep breath to calm herself down, “Okay maybe that isn't the best way to put it…” She started, “You see when I was taking those pictures to send to your daddy my mum brought in those quives, something about them looking good with my palette or whatever.” She continued rolling her eyes. “And then out of nowhere, one of them bit me right before the photographer snapped a photo! I even have this bite to prove it!” Stella huffed pulling off her glove revealing what looked to be a deep bite mark, and Stolas blinked in a bit of shock.

“Oh my, that looks terrible, it must've hurt…” Stolas said as look at the nasty bite mark on her hand.

“Pft, you're telling me!” Stella huffed pulling her hand away and tugging her glove back onto her hand.

The two sat there quietly; the only noise to be heard was the rustling of leaves blowing in the wind.

Stolas sighed again as he looked up at her, “Uh, again I’m sorry for being rude to you and stuff I guess I shouldn't have judged you,” Stolas said scooting a bit closer to her.

Stella sighed “It’s fine I guess, I suppose I wouldn't be the nicest to someone if I saw them do something like that…” Stella responded, Stolas could feel her hand brushing up against his he lightly jumped at her touch. But after a second he put his hand back letting her grab a hold of it.

The two sat there quietly letting the wind blow through their feathers, both enjoying the tranquility of the moment.

Suddenly Stolas remembered where they were, "Uh Stella we should probably get back, there probably looking for us." Stolas said quietly.

Stella blinked “Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Well come on then let's get going!” Stella said leading them out of the underbrush holding tight to Stolas's hand.

After the two managed to squeeze themselves back through the fence and walked a bit through the trailer parklike area behind the circus they saw their two imp servants. They were frantically looking around for two, but somehow didn't notice them just up the path in their frenzy.

“Oh no we're going to be in so much trouble when they see us!” Stolas whinned

“No we won't! Just follow my lead alright?” Stella responded confidently leading Stolas and herself towards them.

Stolas became petrified when Stella stopped and called out to the two, “Miss Maid, Mister Butler, we're over here!” Stella called

The two snapped their heads around and quickly rushed over to the two. “Stolas, Stella there you are! We've been looking all over for you two!" Mister Butler said quickly inspecting them, Miss Maid doing the same.

Stella gave a sly smile before explaining things, “Ah, well you see, Stolas had actually come and found me! We were going to head right back to you two but then some mean imps tried to get us to we ran and hid in some bushes!”

Stolas gave a shocked expression at how easily she came up with it, “Uh y-yeah it was really scary but thankfully we weren't hurt!” Stolas continued nervously.

“Oh dear, well I'm glad you two are okay! C'mon we should be getting you two home it'll be getting late soon!” Miss Maid said with the Butler nodding in agreement.

They both grabbed their respective child's hand leading them back into the carnival.

“I can't believe that worked! How'd you come up with that so fast?” Stolas whispered with a small giggle.

“You know how I said I ran away one time? Well maybe it was more than once.” Stella responded with a giggle of her own.

As they continued through the circus Stolas looked up and saw the large circus tent. “Oh, Mister Butler, can we please go see the show?” Stolas squealed forcing the Butler to a pause.

Both Stella and her maid also stopped watching the two, “Stolas, it's getting late, plus you've seen this show several times.” Mister Butler sighed

“I know but we are already coming up to it so we may as well!” Stolas responded practically hopping with excitement.

Mister Butler looked over to Miss Maid who gave a shrug, “Fine we'll go see the show.”

Stolas squeeled as he went over to grab Stella’s hand pulling her toward the circus tent.

“Uh, why are we here, it looks like we’ve missed half the show by now,” Stella asked as Stolas sat them down at one of the seats in the crowded tent.

“Because we're just in time for my favorite part!” Stolas said excitedly, clapping his hands.

An imp with horns seemingly too big for his head came into the spotlight as one of the performances finished, “Now, everyone's favorite thing about circus shit: the motherfuckin' clowns!”

Several frightening Imp clowns with glowing eyes leap out at the audience from behind curtains. The large horned imp laughs as they fly outward disappearing into the darkness. The audience scream and pull away in terror, with Stella grabbing onto Stolas as he giggles knowing it’s just part of the show.

The spotlight flashes over to a small foot stepping on a pedestal board accompanied by the sound of a bell jingling.

“You ready, Blitzo?” A young voice says out of view.

A young imp presumably Blitzo gives a rope a quick tug. “Born ready!” Responds Blitzo as he and another, more clown-dressed imp leap off of their boards and begin a flying trapeze act. Blitzo passes by Stella and Stolas’s section of the bleachers, time appears to slow; they both stare up at the imp in awe.

Blitzoo then lands on a ball the other imp swings away, “ Haaaaa! Tada~!” The imp laughed “Heya, folks! Wanna see me make a horse?”

Blitzo takes out a green balloon, blows it up, and attempts to tie it into a horse shape. It appears as a knot, before immediately popping.

Blitzo’s eyes widened in surprise “ Crap.” he said quietly, he then began pulling out balloons and attempting to make a horse, with them popping all the same. His expression grows more worried with each popped balloon.

The audience stares dead silent, unimpressed as Blitzo keeps trying and failing to make the simple shape.

“ De-de-de-de-do-do-do-do- Ah, hehehe, Horse!” Blitzo exclaimed nervously as he finally made a horse except it had no legs.

“Well, heh. It was a horse, but then it ate too much sugar and its legs stopped working so he had to amputate. Now, it's a gross worm horse.”

Stolas begins to laugh softly,

“See? He gets it. Because horses - they make no sense.” Blitzo said with a small laugh

“Uh, Stolas that wasn’t really funny,” Stella murmured

“Obviously not! It’s part of the act, Fizzarolli’s coming on next!” Stolas whispered back

Fizzarolli the clown-dressed imp jumped down, joining Blitzoo with a red balloon of his own.

“Okay, Blitzoo, that's enough horsing around! Hey, everybody! Look at this, it's Banana Pudding the clown horsey!” He smiles making horse noises, a perfect horse balloon in his hand the crowd laughed as Blitzo stood to the side giving an awkward laugh.

—------------------25 years Later--------------------—

In the present day, an adult Stolas wakes and stretches in the morning, he stares dejected at the empty spot next to him in bed. He sighs before perking up a bit and grabbing his wine-red robe. He heads into his bathroom splashing his face with water before brushing his teeth.

He leaves his room humming to himself as he goes to his library to check on his grimoire. He picked it up off the shelf before flipping through the pages unaware of the imp in a tattered jacket looking at him through the window, staring at the magic flying off the pages. He tugged at the window trying to get inside, falling off it as Stolas closed the grimoire.

Stolas jumped at the thud going over to open the window, he stared down only seeing the bushes that lined his house. “Must've been a bird,” He shrugged as he closed and locked the window.

He heads down the hall, stopping at one of the doors, peeking inside giving a loving smile seeing his peacefully sleeping daughter Octavia. He softly closed the door and continued down the hall.

He makes his way to the kitchen pouring himself some coffee as he hears his wife, Stella come in. He turns to look at her on the phone being held up by an imp, she readjusts her pink fluffy robe, her feathers fluffy and uncombed as she hadn't fixed herself up. Her white tail feathers flap as she speaks to someone on the phone.

He poured another cup before coming up behind her, “Morning love,” he said, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek, as she handed her her cup.

“Ah morning Stolas,” She responded flatly, rubbing the feathers on the back of his head before continuing her conversation on the phone.

“Um, Stella, I know you want to plan for our anniversary and stuff, but don’t you think you could take a break and let the servants handle it? I mean they're called ‘help’ for a reason.” Stolas asked as they sat down at the table.

Stella rolled her eyes, “Oh please! The last time I let them plan things everything went to shit! They got Alizarin Crimson instead of-”

“Wine red for streamers…” Stolas sighed,

“Exactly!” She huffed while hanging up her phone.

“I’m pretty sure you're the only one who noticed but alright,” Stolas mumbled under his breath as another imp brought them their breakfast.

“Oh, and speaking of the party do you have any requests? Like food, or special guests and stuff?” Stella said, taking a bite of her pancakes.

“Um, well I'm sure you’ve already planned for any food either of us would want and I’ve never cared for special guests. But I do have one teeny-tiny little request about the guest list.” Stolas started shyly.

“I’m not uninviting my brother,” Stella deadpanned

“But Stellaaaa,” Stolas whined

“Don’t ‘Stellaaaa’ me! You know I can’t uninvite him, plus he’s not even that bad!” Stella snapped, rolling her eyes.

“Ugh maybe not you and Via, but he’s certainly ‘that bad’ to me! He’s just so, so ugh!” Stolas responded by dragging his fingers down his face.

Stella sighed “Either way, you know I can’t uninvite him! You remember the stink he made when he found he was invited last, how do you think he’ll react to not being invited at all?” Stella asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

“I know but still, I won’t enjoy it…” Stolas pouted

Stella paused and set her utensils down, “How about this, if you do act right then I’ll add an extra surprise to your anniversary gift~.” Stella said in a sultry tone, as reached over the table.

Stolas's feather puffed up in an instant, “I uh, suppose a few hours with him wouldn’t be too bad,”

_______

Stolas stood next to Stella as they laughed along with their friends, Ville and Evelynn.

“Wow Stella you really outdid yourself, this party is great!” Ville said with his raspy voice, swishing his wine in the glass twice as small as his white feathered hand.

“Doesn't she always~?” Evelynn giggled flipping her short purple feathers.

“Oh stop you two are making me blush, uh but do continue!” She tacked on at the end giving the group a laugh.

“So, how's Octavia been doing?” Ville asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Oh, she’s just fine, she has been doing quite well with her magic studies I must say!” Stolas responded pridefully.

“Oh trust me we’ve heard plenty about it from Christopher!” Ville laughed

“Y’know Stella if those two ever got married then we’d really be sisters!” Evelynn squealed

“Oh my goodness you're so right!” Stella squealed along with her.

Ville chuckled at their excitement, “Oh actually speaking of Octavia, where is she? I've barely seen her all night.” Ville asked, scratching his jaw.

“Oh, you know how she can be sometimes, she’s probably up in her room taking a break from the party.” Stolas responded without a thought.

“Mm yes, as much as I love her I do wish she wasn’t so shy sometimes.” Stella said with a small sigh.

As their conversation continued, Stolas spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Blue glitter feathers peeked out from the crowd, he bit his cheeks.

“Uh, do pardon me, I —ah need to head to the bathroom,” Stolas said, shoving his glass into Stella’s free hand as he excused himself from the group. Stella gave him a bit of a funny look but shrugged as he ran off.

Stolas closed the door of the ballroom and went a bit down the dark hall, “Just a few hours, and then you get that gift you've been waiting for!” He mumbled to himself still grimacing at the thought of having to interact with his Brother-in-law.

After there for a moment or two, he heard Stella’s voice as she came up behind him, “Stolas guess who just got here!” She said happily, grabbing his arm and ready to drag him back to the party.

Stolas panicked knowing who would soon follow and be by her side. He then heard a noise like someone struggling, they both looked forward to see two large white hellhounds holding an imp between them.

“Excuse us, sir we found this imp snooping around, we’ll take care of him.” The left one said ready to continue on their way, but just then Stolas had an idea.

“Ahem, as a Goetia I believe I should deal with this disrespectful imp myself!” Stolas straightened his posture as Stella gave him a funny look.

The two hellhounds unceremoniously dropped the imp, Stolas quickly grabbed him by his raggedy jacket pulling him off to somewhere. “I’ll be back in a bit, so don’t have too much fun without me~!” He yelled as walked deeper into the hall.

“There he goes running off again, like a coward,” A sly voice behind Stella said.

“Are you saying you wouldn’t deal with an imp breaking into your house? Sounds pretty cowardly to me.” Stella responded with the same sly tone in her voice.

“Wha-”

______

“Dammit, Dammit, Dammit! Why isn't he responding?!” A male imp with white hair is at the top of Stolas’s mansion.

“You don't think he got caught right Moxxie?” A female black-haired imp asked,

“Why else wouldn’t he respond, Millie? Ugh, I told him this was a bad idea! He’s probably a stone statue by now! ” Moxxie responded, pulling his hair out.

_______

Stolas entered a room with the imp, “Alright, little imp, usually, I would have already turned you to stone! But since you’ve helped me a bit tonight I’ll let it slide just this-” Stolas turned around after locking the door, he paused before bending down and getting close to the imp’s face. He grabbed the imp by the chin as he began to sweat, Stolas examined his face in silence.

“Do, do I know you?” Stolas asked still looking at him.

“Wha- nooo, I’ve uh only ever seen ya’ on TV!” The imp responded nervously waving his hands as he scooted back from the curious owl.

Stolas’s eyes widened as it hit him, “Wait, I do know you! You're that circus performer!” Stolas exclaimed “Oh what was your name? Buz, Bucko, Bing?” Stolas inquired, tapping his chin.

“Blitzo, it was Blitzo.” The imp responded quietly

Stolas cocked his head, “Was Blitzo?” he asked innocently

“Yeah, the ‘o’ is silent…” He responded avoiding the owl's eyes

“Huh, why silent the ‘o’?” Stolas once again inquired innocently.

“Reasons… a lot of reasons. But listen you're gonna kill me can you not turn me stone and just, like, shoot me or something?” Blitzo laughed nervously

“Mm, no I don’t think I’ll do that,” Stolas laughed, waving his hand. “But I’m curious now, since you're here, what ever happened to you and your circus troupe? I assumed you would rebuild after that fire but it was like you all disappeared!” Stolas said crouching down to be on eye level with Blitzo.

“Uh, a lot of things were happening behind the scenes, b-before after the fire, i-it was better we split.” Blitzo responded as he crossed his arms close to his chest, still avoiding the owl's red eyes.

“How unfortunate,” Stolas responded, Blitzo could barely tell if he was being sincere or not. “Well let me ask you another thing, why exactly did you break into my house, on my anniversary no less?” Stolas asked his tone a bit more annoyed.

Blitzo paused, “I uh was trying to find a way to the human realm, and since there was this big party I thought everyone would be too distracted to notice me! Plus you're like royalty so I doubt you’d notice if I nabbed an asmodeus crystal or two, aha ha…” Blitzo responded, twiddling his finds as Stolas stared back at him.

“And what pray tell, would an imp need asmodeus crystals for?” Stolas inquired

“My uh business…” Blitzo responded

Stolas gave a surprised hum, “An imp with a business, now that’s certainly new! What does it have to do with the mortal realm?” Stolas asked his curiosity, growing with the imps nervous replies.

“Uh, well uh me and my team are assassins and get revenge for ya’ if someone killed you or anything similar! Ah, here's my business card if you're interested!” Blitzo said, perking up as he handed Stolas a crudely made business card.

Stolas stared at it, it looked to be a colored piece of cardboard, he smiled “Well then, tell me little imp how would you feel if I were to hire you then?” Stolas smiled

Blitzo stared back at him, his eyes widening in shock, “A-are you serious? This isn't some prank to try to embarrass me in front of your friends or something??” he asked cautiously

“Why of course not! You’ve helped me a bit tonight, and plus I really did enjoy the shows! So it's only fair if I help to repay you! So little imp do we have a deal?” Stolas asked, giving his hand to Blitzo.

Blitzo stared at the hand before grabbing it with his own, “Yes, yes we do!” He laughed happily, shaking the owl's hand. “Well, uh I guess I should go and call back later?” Blitzo laughed as he went to the door.

But as he grabbed the knob Stolas grabbed the collar of his coat, “Ah, I kind of told them that I was going to deal with you. And by deal, I mean you were supposed to be a statue long before now…” Stolas said with a bit of a sigh.

“Then how am I supposed to leave?” Blitzo asked, Stolas looked over to a window as a devilish grin appeared on his face, “I have an idea.”

Moxxie and Millie stood on the roof panicking as they tried to get in contact with there, until the sound of someone talking could be heard.

“Uh, Moxxie do you hear that?” Millie asked, they ran over to the edge of the roof, only to see Blitzo flying out and landing far across the yard.

Suddenly Moxxie felt his phone buzz in his pants,”Hello, sir is was that you?!” Moxie yelled over the phone.

Blitzo sat on the ground quietly not answering for a moment, “You guys are never who might've just hired us,”

—--------------A little while after that—---------------

Stella sat at a table with her, a large cake in front of them. However just as they were about to indulge an imp came crashing down onto it, “Sorry I fucked your husband!” Blitzo laughed as he quickly scurried off the table.

Stolas came rushing toward the balcony only to see the mess Blitzo had left, “STOLAS, WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!?” Stella yelled at the top of her lungs

Stolas only stared back down at her with a cowardly expression.

—-------------------------Now…----------------------—

Stolas blinks awake, groaning in pain, lying next to a bottle of absinthe. He's still wearing his outfit from Ozzie's, his mascara he took an hour to perfect now running down his cheeks.. He pulls himself up, grabbing his phone out of his pocket, and scrolling through his recent photos, a series of pictures of Blitzo or things related to Blitzo.

As he stared at them he couldn't help but sing,

♫ Owl in a cage ♫

♫ You show your age ♫

♫ Your sweetness has run foul ♫

♫ Without a change you're lost, exhausted ♫

♫ By your time on stage ♫

♫ Then you walked in my room ♫

♫ And like sparks in the dark ♫

♫ Life was suddenly thrilling and new ♫

♫ What between you and I ♫

♫ Just a comfortable lie ♫

♫ I'm the fool who believes when you look in my eyes ♫

♫ Prince, all alone, upon your throne ♫

♫ Your power is so frail ♫

♫ You raise your voice ♫

♫ You have no choice ♫

♫ Inside your gilded jail ♫

Stolas stood, his hands on the balcony as he stared into the stars he usually studied. So entranced by them he didn't notice the clicking of heels coming towards him.

“Stolas…” A calm but angry but angry voice said.

He turned quickly to see Stella, he was a bit surprised to see her still dressed up at this hour.

“Ah, S-stella darling I didn't expect to see you up this late!” He stammered.

She stared back at him with clenched fists, “Don’t you Stella darling me! You were with that imp again werent you!” She yelled coming toward him.

Stolas gave her a panicked look knowing that he couldn't argue. His silence only seemed to enrage her further, “Oh, I can’t believe you, do you even know what you've done!” Stella yelled.

“Stella please, I-i know I hurt you but-”

“But nothing! Not only have you completely disgraced our marriage, but you've also completely embarrassed us! Do you have any idea how difficult it was to track down all the newspapers of your little speech in the Wrath ring?! Have you thought about any of that!?” Stella screeched, coming closer to his face.

She raised her hands seemingly ready to crash down hard onto Stolas’s chest. However her fists came down onto him rather softly, she held them there lightly hitting on his chest as tears began to fall from her eyes.

“Stella…” Stolas said softly as they both sank to the ground.

They both sat there as Stella shivered while quietly sobbing, after a moment Stolas went to grab one her hands now in her lap. However, the second he placed his hand on hers she quickly pulled them away.

“No, no,no I-i’m done with you! I can’t do this, I hate you!” Stella yelled as she rose up.

“What, no Stella please can w-we can talk about this!” Stolas said standing up with her.

“After all you've done you think you deserve that!?” She yelled back.

“I-i don’t but please, j-just give me a chance. I’ll agree to whatever you want to do just-” Stolas begged, returning to his knees.

“Fine..” Stella said, Stolas gave a sigh of relief, before Stella continued. “I’m calling my brother..” She said, crossing her arms.

“W-what, but Stella he has nothing to do with this a-and-” Stolas stammered

“Ah ah! You said you’d agree to anything, this is anything!” She replied snlyly, Stolas sat there on the ground as Stella walked back into the house.

Stella clutched her chest as she closed the balcony door, sighing as wiped the mascara off her face.

“M-mom, are you okay?” Stella snapped her head up to see Octavia, from the looks of it she seemed groggy as if she had just woken up.

Stella sighed seeing that she probably hadent heard their conversation, “Y-yes, I’m just fine dear! Come on you should be getting back to bed!” Stella responded grabbing her daughter shoulders to lead her back to her room.

“A-are you sure, I heard you two arguing, again…” Octavia said planting her talons in the ground to keep her mother from moving her.

Stella paused, “I- yes dear, its just-” Stella paused again deciding to bite her tongue, “I-it’s nothing, we’re fine! Now come on lets get to bed..” She responded softly.

“Mh, alright…” Octavia responded, but even then she couldnt help but turn back to the balcony door.

And on the other side sat Stolas wallowing in his own mistakes and misery.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And I’m done, this took so much longer than I anticipated!