Chapter Text
“Stella please-”
“Don’t give me that ‘Stella please’ spiel of yours! I can’t believe after all that talk about family and love you’d just go and have another one with another imp! I should have known better than to trust you after the last time!” Stolas ducked as his wife threw another potted plant over his head. “How many times must we do this before it gets old? You know what, forget it. I don’t know why I even bothered to put up with this for so long. Take it all in, you imp fucker, because it’s the last you’ll see of me for a long while!” The avian winced hearing the door slam shut.
He looked around the messy bedroom, waving his fingers and cleaning the worst of it with his magic. He sat down on the soft bed, putting one clawed hand over his eyes while leaning back.
“I’ve really done it now, haven’t I…” He mumbled. A knocking on his door drew his attention, and he sat up and called out to whoever was on the other side. “Come in.” The door opened, revealing a disgruntled younger owl.
“What. The fuck dad.” Stolas looked away from his daughter. “Do I even have to say anything? Or did mom chew you out enough already?” Stolas decided not to answer that, opting instead to stand up and leave the room. “Where are you going?”
“To the kitchen, Octavia. I need a drink.”
“Dad, you can’t keep doing this. I thought you promised to be faithful to mom!”
“...It’s hard to be faithful to someone you don’t love.” The prince’s comment made Octavia slow her pace. “I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, but your mother and I weren’t married by choice. We were married because of our status.”
“Then...then was what I experienced as a child a lie?”
“No, when you were born, we both promised each other to put up with one another for you. You coming into our lives was one of the brighter times. But as you can see, your mother is too obsessed with her appearance to put time aside for us.
“Aren’t you doing the same? Fucking an imp while forgetting about me and mom?”
“It’s not like that. Blitzy and I-”
“He’s using you dad. Anyone with half a brain can see that!” Stolas growled, slamming the refrigerator door shut.
“Octavia Goetia...you would be wise not to finish that sentence.”
“I’m not wrong. You might think it’s all fun and games, but I did some digging. Turns out he and Verosika Mayday used to date.”
“...Who?”
“A famous succubus singer. Look, the important thing is that he maxed out several credit cards on horseback lessons. Not even something that benefits that company of his! And now he’s doing the same thing with you and the grimoire!” Octavia gasped as she felt an ominous pulse blow through her whole body. Her father’s feathers turned even darker than usual, and his eyes appeared to absorb every last bit of light in the room.
“He is not. Using me! Both of us love one another, more than your mother and I ever have!” Stolas’ voice boomed loudly. Octavia waited for her father to calm down enough to return to normal, straightening her back and glaring daggers into the taller demon.
“He isn’t. You are. The thinly veiled threats to your flirting? The way he acts around you? It’s not love...it’s hate. And you’re too obsessed over his dick to realize that.” Stolas clenched his hands, opening his mouth to reply. “Until you realize that, I think it’s best if you see someone to help you with this problem.” Turning to leave, she threw one last look at Stolas. “You know, I really thought you meant what you said in the funhouse at Loo Loo land. I guess getting laid is more important after all.”
“Via I-” Stolas called, but the owl had already left through the door. Stolas let his arm hang in the air for a moment before dropping it to his side. He clutched his chest, squeezing his eyes as the pain of being turned away by the one good thing in his life was more than he could handle in his state.
Heaving lightly, he fumbled for his phone, opening the device and scrolling to the app that contained photos he kept of him and Blitzo. Swiping through them, a clearer picture of how the imp came to see the prince became more and more clear to him. In every one except for a few where Blitzo wasn’t paying attention or distracted, he had a scowl or disgruntled look on his face. It was painfully obvious next to his own gleeful smiles.
Bzzzz...bzzz… He jolted as his phone began to vibrate, another scowling picture of Blitzo lighting up the screen along with his name. He slowly swiped the answer button.
“H-hello?”
“Hello? Your highness? This is Moxxie, one of Blitzo’s employee’s. We met briefly at Loo Loo land?”
“I remember. What is it? And why are you calling from Blitzy’s number?”
“That’s the thing. He’s gotten himself into some trouble up in the human world, and we’re taking some time off while he recovers. We just wanted to call to let you know.”
“Oh dear, is he alright?”
“More or less.”
“I see...what about my grimoire?”
“That old thing? It’s sitting in one of our rooms at the office. We very rarely use it nowadays.”
“What? But don’t you need it to summon a portal to do your job?”
“We do, but recently one of our newer co-workers can do the same thing, though not as often as yours.” Stolas held a hand to his mouth, tears beginning to form.
“He’s using you dad. It’s not love you're in, it’s obsession.”
“Hello? Your Highness are you still there?”
“Y-yes. I’m sorry, there’s been a lot going on here recently. I don’t suppose you could give me back the grimoire then?”
“Eh? I mean, I guess so...we haven’t used it in over two months so…” Two months...that long?
“Sure, I’ll have it delivered to you by tomorrow then.”
“Alright. Take care now.” Hearing the drone of the call, Stolas put down the phone, seating himself on a couch. He rubbed one set of eyes, then the other. Glancing at the bottle in his other hand, he pulled the stopper, chugging it all down. The burning in his throat felt too similar to another feeling of choking on something, and he quickly tossed the bottle. The glass shattered, drowning out the wail that came from his own mouth.
“I...i-it can’t be true…” Stolas whimpered, curling up on the couch. No matter how he looked at it, his daughter and wife’s words began to make more and more sense the longer he thought about it. With a sob, he wove his hands once more, this time over his eyes. The magic he used was potent enough to do the job he wanted, and his breath evened out as he drifted off in slumber from his own spell.
“This is a job, not an excuse for you to fuck my ass in that park.”
“You’ll have to find someone else to plant that feathered ass.”
“We’re assassins, not bodyguards.”
“Stop…”
“I don’t want to see your pathetic, imp sucking face!”
“Stop...please…”
“I thought you meant what you said back at Loo Loo Land...guess getting laid is more important.”
“I said Stop!” Stolas kneeled on the ground, hands gripping his head as the voices piled on and overlapped till it became nothing more than noise. He couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe.
“When I’m older, I’ll find someone to truly love! Just like in my stories!” His own younger voice echoed louder than the rest. Raising his head, eyes wide with fear, Stolas screamed into the abyss.
“Another day, another art piece…” You quietly said to yourself as you finished the last bit of your painting. With a tired smile, you took a picture and posted it to your social media, seeing the numbers rise.
It made you feel better, if only for a moment. Your eyes caught some of the comments, lifting your spirits up even more.
Course, posting anything on the internet invites every type of opinion. You’d be lying if you said they didn’t get to you. Standing up, you glance around the room, looking at the covered up canvases of artwork you had made, along with some from when your mother painted. Yawning, you checked the time, noting how late it had gotten. Rubbing an eye, you leave the room and head towards your bedroom. Your bed felt very inviting to you this late, and sleep came very easily.
If you had stayed up just a little later, you would have heard something thud in the art room.