Archive of Our Own

It was a pretty horrible evening in hell, a comfortable red-orange filling the sky. Crimson clouds were scattered up above, and beyond that, a crimson-filled wall, almost never-changing in the ‘day’. The traffic was bustling, and the city’s citizens were as abnormal, insane, and fucked up as usual. Beyond all that, there lies a mansion of royalty, emblazoned in gold and pink, although it appeared as purple at night. It was quite a lovely illusion, and you wouldn’t even be able to tell it was the same building if the structure were a little different.

Inside the castle, lies a prince and his daughter. No princess, as they had already divorced then. Forced marriages don’t really get you far, especially if the princess is also an asshole about it. Stolas, the name of our charming prince, looks to a desk filled with papers above, scattered out and about, messy, just like the feathers of our prince and the bathrobe which he hadn’t taken off since getting up from bed as he was cramped in his very room for a small five hours. Divorce papers, legal-regal business documents, a meeting every wednesday or so.. It was like an office job, but for rich people, and he was definitely not having any of it. He normally loved reading, although it was reading relating to his ex-wife, easily his least favorite topic of anything, at all, ever.

“..Daddy?”

Stolas holds his head, his thin fingers stretching out, eyes poking through the spaces of his long fingers. He was not having any of it today, but he would never ignore his daughter. His head twists over to his daughter, Octavia, who appeared to be concerned over the health of her dad. She appeared to be in a much better condition visually, as, despite the hardships her father has gone through, he’s still went out of his way to take care of her over anything else. He quickly uncovers his face. This isn’t much different right now.

“Ah, hello, my little owlet! Daddy is.. very busy and tired right now.” He can barely keep his eyes open to look at his own daughter. She hesitates with her words.. but she did burst into his room for a reason.

“...Um.. you have a visitor. Someone’s at the door.”

“A… visitor, you say?” ..Weird. Stolas didn’t know he was having any visitors. He assumed today was gonna be a quiet, lovely day of sorting through papers, like it has been the past week. At first, he thought about simply ignoring the call of whoever was outside. However, he decided to bite. He needed a reason to stop thinking for a bit, and let some oxygen into his system willingly.

“...Alright. I’ll go see who it is.”

“Dad, are you sure? I-I could check it for you if you-”

“No, no, heavens no.” He chuckles a little when saying that. Octavia is unable to ascertain as to whether he’s just patronizing her, or if he’s laughing at the usage of the word ‘heaven’ in this case. Dad jokes are truly the pinnacle of comedy, especially if it’s in hell. “Via, it would be horrible for something to happen to you if I looked away. I appreciate the concern, darling, but you must understand what can happen, hm?”

“..Come on! I’m old enough now, I'm a teenager, I can just open a simple, stupid door. I know you’re trying to look after me, but I'm already 17. Please? Dad?” Her eyes look pleading, practically shining like a baby cat. Stolas sighs a little.

“Well, you’re correct, but it can be anyone behind that door. We’re rich, Via. Best case scenario, it’s someone who asks for a little bit of our 𝔠𝔞𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔩.” Stolas puts some emphasis on that last word. He doesn’t really care about bragging in regards to money, nor does he care too much about the usage of it, which is why to him, it’s the best case scenario.

Putting her head down, Octavia.. looks sad, but understanding, unable to argue that at their status, someone could very well intend to rob them. Even worse, it could very well be someone who kidnaps Octavia for ransom, and even if Stolas finds her and rescues her easily, it wasn’t really a risk worth taking.

“..Fine, I get it.” Via then takes a walk back to her room. Stolas sighs, a little more sad now. He clearly didn’t want to create that impression on Octavia, that she wasn’t old enough to do anything anymore.

Stolas, in his head, was angry. Really fucking angry.

”...Why is someone even knocking on my sacred doors? Can’t they know that the prince of motherf*cking Ars Goetia is busy today?? WHOEVER it is, I'm absolutely killing them on SIGHT.”

Stolas blinks. Then having a moment of realization to himself.

“..Wait, I can just use my book to-”

…

…

…

“AGH, dammit all with a side of Asmodeus’s- VIA, SWEETY, HANG ON!”

He runs over to Via’s room who, thankfully, didn’t decide to haphazardly open the door in the disinterest of his father early. He was exasperated. Via quickly lifts her head up in excitement, and makes a quick, excited question:

“...CAN I OPEN THE DOOR?!? CAN I??”

“Welllll.. Yes, Via, but I would like to teach you a bit of a skill, first. It will be helpful for.. er... Future, door-opening related expeditions.”

Via’s mind goes blank for a bit, unsure of what he means by that, until she has yet another realization again.

“..Ooh! You’re gonna show me something new with your… 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢 right?”

She worded it in a way to mock his dad, even going as far as to do some silly little hand gestures alongside with the wording, in which he responds with laughter.

“Ohoohoohoo! Ah, yes, my.. 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢. Here, have a glance.”

Stolas flips through the pages of the 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢, to which Octavia could only quickly see the titles of a few pages, like “duplici duplici” and “vulnus sana”, until eventually arriving to a page with the spell by the name of “fenestra videntium”. There, the instructions of the spell are written out in clear cut precision. It creates a one-way window, where the input is about a few inches in front of your chest area and the output is from an area that you’re able to clearly imagine with your head. When Stolas uses this spell, he usually requires a photograph of the location, as he’s unable to replicate it perfectly from his mind. The location is able to be chosen as such instead of a different, similar location because the original person knows where that location is, and is able to imagine that place as if it were in front of them and they were standing in that area. The output window can be manipulated to be moved around by relying on the 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢 as a controller, but only at about fifty feet from the original location. The user can create regular portals without the use of memory, or memorization of the location with the 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢 using a different spell, but then the end route would be visible to the eyes present there, which is why this spell is necessary for what they’re about to do next.

“Now, Via, just do as I say. Recite the spell.. And imagine our front yard. If you need help with the memory, just use this photograph, and think about every little detail. Don’t worry, they won’t be able to see us from where we’re standing due to the nature of this spell.”

“..A-alright..”

Nervously, as she always is with new spells, (granted that it’s a new process every time), Octavia closes her eyes. After reciting the spell, Octavia starts to imagine the front yard. It was like a drawing process, but much quicker. Only an artist could wish that they could simply put what they imagined in their head and put it onto a piece of paper. What Stolas in his perspective saw was exactly that, and this part of the process was also completely new to him. The picture of their own yard, being painted, right above Octavia as the 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢 projected it. He had only ever used the spell himself, so when he saw someone else use it, it felt like a new experience to him. He gazed as every little detail of the backyard was painted with perfection in Octavia’s head. And then.. A crack in thin air opens up.

Octavia opens her eyes, and upon sight of the crack, she breathes a sigh of relief.

“..Good job, sweetheart! It’s much, much less riskier than quickly opening the door, even if the surprise factor is certainly something that can kindle anyone’s curiosity. Anywhooo~.. Let’s take a quick looksy!”

Octavia nods, and takes a peek through the crack alongside Stolas. There, they were able to clearly see the man from the back.. Which didn’t help because all they could see from there was black. A robe, the head, maybe some legs? Not really close to clear at all. Stolas slightly adjusts the positioning of the one-way window so that they’re able to see the face of the man, showing Octavia the mechanisms of the book as a controller in the midst of it, and there, they spotted him. The man who had been waiting at the door since the beginning of this fanfiction. Red, luminous eyes, with black markings above and below, a white ‘mask’ or shell of some form positioned with those eyes of his, placed upon a black head with black horns extending out shortly. His body beneath his robe is invisible thanks to.. Well, his robe. But, you would be able to see his tiny, void-like stick legs from below, alike to two small yet very skinny nubs of sorts.

“..Do you know him, dad? He looks like a long lost relative of yours.” Octavia jokes. “Definitely the eyes.”

Stolas giggles, but then thinks for a moment.

“Heh...No. Never. He’s a complete stranger to me. He doesn’t seem like the most trustworthy fellow. I suggest staying back from the door for the time being.”

Octavia groans, but she’s a little more ‘whatever’ about it. She probably would’ve been more weirded out to see a complete stranger at the door without the knowledge beforehand, anyway, especially if they have a build similar to her own father. She thanks him for teaching that trick, and she quickly goes back to listening to her playlist of 5218 songs on Sinspotify, including hit bands like “Helly Tall” and “Sinkin’ Spark”.

Stolas walks out to the room, giving Octavia the room to herself, and closes the door of said room, striding over to the door like a slut, as if someone were watching him, and makes his way over to the entrance, decorated with an elegant mosaic pattern of warm colors. He left the 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢 in his daughter’s hands, being able to trust her with it after the prior incident (..because she learned her lesson from last time, of course), and he was practically ready for anything this mysterious guest had to provide for him. He takes a deep sigh. Gently, he opens the door, prepared for the encounter. He realizes now that he forgot to change clothes for this encounter, but it was a little too late for that realization.

Behind the door, was the same spiffy guest viewed from the rift. He looks directly at them. Surprisingly, they appeared to be of similar height, which was a rarity for Stolas. Most imps in hell could barely reach knee height of Stolas, and the only characters he’s ever seen reach his own height would be those alike to

“..Hello there! Now what might bring you here.. Random stranger I've never met before?” Stolas asks, with a genuine curiosity.

His robe slightly flutters in the faint wind. “..Greetings. My name is Grimm. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Stolas.”’ His voice was raspy, but intelligible.

He reaches out for a handshake, which stretches out his wings as they’re attached as such, which Stolas reluctantly (..and struggles to.) shake. Stolas isn’t too fazed about him knowing his name. After all, he is pretty well known in hell, as the prince of Ars Goetia. This is, of course, not including his notorious interactions with his petite little imp “”””””friend””””””. Grimm bows down as Stolas follows up

“A pleasure to meet you too… Grimm. Odd first question.. But would you happen to be a sinner of sorts? I don’t believe you’re one of my siblings and I don’t believe I've ever seen you before.”

“Not at all. We travel at the call of the lantern. This is merely one our my many destinations.”

“..Pardon?”

“A personage of some form lit the flame of the lantern buried deep within this landscape. And now, we must come to do our ritual. Although you were not the one who activated the torch.. The mind, the one who overlooks upon us all, allows an exception for today. Your skills.. may be more show stopping than one would normally anticipate.”

Stolas can only respond with a poker face, before quickly and comedically shaking his head at a fast rate to get his bearings together.

“...Well. This is.. certainly interesting. Very interesting indeed. Although, I’m very busy today, so if you’ll excuse me-”

“Pardon my interruption, but it won’t be much trouble, I assure you.“ Grimm abruptly interrupts him. “Even if the choice of location was very troubling.. Seeing through to the ritual won’t be. It won’t take very long.”

As he says that, Stolas notices something behind Grimm. He now sees a circus tent parked right in front of his own golden gates. Actually, it’s slightly clipping through the fence. He squints his eyes just to make sure he’s not hallucinating a circus tent parked in that empty spot, but unfortunately, doesn’t see the circus tent going away.

“...What, when, what, why, and WHAT. in the actual F*CK. is that?” Stolas screams out. Grimm appears slightly surprised. He didn’t even realize that he repeated "what" twice out of shere shock.

“..Ah. You don’t appear content. For a moment, I thought of you as a more refined figure.. But you let your true nature slip in very quickly. Do not think of this as an insult, merely a subversion to expectations. Do not be too startled by the appearance of our foundation.”

“Grimm, you.. weird foreign bug dracula thing that I met a mere two minutes ago. Please, pray tell- why the actual F*CK is there a circus tent there? When did it even get there??? i-”

“Save the questions for later, my friend. Right now.. I bestow this upon you. Seek my kin, claim their flame, and return to me. My child will guide you to the flame. Together, the three of us, we will make wonders with this ritual.”

“I-” Before Stolas can get another word out, Grimm disappears in a haze of red, causing Stolas to get into a coughing frenzy. He looks into his hands.. And sees a tiny child. A Grimmchild, to be specific. It floats out of his hands and right behind him. Stolas does not have time for this.. But, he would rather not have that bothersome tent in front of his gates. ESPECIALLY considering the fact that it’s touching a small 1% of the gate. Truly, it is of vast importance.

“...That conniving little..” sigh. “Well, I suppose now I just might have to play along with this foolish charade. It’s something a little.. different, for my tastes, save for the appearance of a random circus. Goodness, I can only ever think of him when I see a circus.. I’m sure there’s some fun to be had out of this.”

He clears his thoughts and slightly looks east towards the Grimmchild flying. It appears very unintelligent, and almost looks very similar to a baby.

“..Well. I suppose this is what we’re doing now, little one, so get strapped.”

“wraaahhh…” The child was very stupid and was born five seconds ago.

“..Suppose I should first change into proper clothing beforehand..” and he slams the entrance door. Five minutes later, he comes out with his iconic maroon royal tunic and gilded buttons, his brown fancy pantsapproved by fancy pants himself, his long, extending robe, and of course, his wonderful top hat and crown.

Now imagine a montage with “I need a hero” playing in the background. It shows Stolas going to a variety of different locations just to find the flames of Grimm’s species. There were only three, and they were very weak. They didn’t stand a chance against Stolas, who was able to crush them easily, even without his 𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔬𝔦𝔯𝔢. After weakening them enough, the Grimmchild was able to absorb their flames.

We now bring your attention to the inside of the circus troupe, which has a bit of planning behind the scenes in regards to how the performance ritual is going to work, including lighting, special effects, and spotlights. A lot of spotlights. All perfect rituals require perfect practical effects. Grimm is, of course, here, currently walking around aimlessly in his confines. He’s currently in his subsection room within the tent, thinking to himself, curiouser and curiouser about the circumstances that are ongoing at the moment. He speaks aloud to himself, allowing him to process his thoughts more properly.

“..This will be very interesting. I believe this will mark a first in our rituals.. And, a first in which a higher being expresses a direct desire in such a ritual. Perhaps it could be from how alike our outward forms are? Or perhaps it’s something deeper, like a connection of sorts? Perhaps it is fate? It intrigues me so..”

Someone knocks against the door of his room. A little resounding, despite how small the compartment of Grimm’s room is. He opens the door to see a man he knows well, Brumm. A red fluff covers wraps around his neck, his height much smaller than Grimm. A mask covers his face, and on the left of his striped arm, he holds an accordion alike to that of a bug, that stretches and makes soothing music. Without music, there is no circus, so he indeed does play a key part.

“Master. The special visitor is here. They request your presence.”

“Special?” Grimm uttered in confusion. How strange. He didn’t ask for special visitors, nor did he assign anyone a special visitor. Prior to this, the ritual was only ever conducted and viewed exclusively by troupe members, minus the one who lit the lantern. Common denizens were only allowed in certain cases. Perhaps the big, beating hive-mind of a heart classified them as special? Maybe it was yet another connection that may provide an answer to the initial question? Any regular visitors were to be escorted by the troupe members, but it appears this set of them were an exception and needed to be escorted by the troupe leader himself.

“....Very well. Lead me to them.” He said, his cape fluttering once again as he walked through the center of the empty stage, escorted by Brumm, and down to the entrance. There, he saw a figure under the hood of the entrance, one of which appeared to be intrigued by the design of the circus, but also with a hint of annoyance to his face. Perhaps it's some form of skepticism? Grimm looks down to get a better look at the esteemed guest. He is very small, although his horns, black and white, spread out the top of his head for quite a bit. He wears a somewhat tattered suit with a red skull emblazoned at the collar area, red buttons placed down the center.

“Oh, hey, Stols, why are you.. the.. Uhh…who the fuck are you?” That was the first thing the imp said, and it left Grimm a little confused and slightly repulsed at the sudden disrespect, but he responded with a respectful tone anyway.

“You appear to be mistaken. My name is Grimm, ringleader of this-”

“Yeah yeah, circus, or whatever-the-fuck. Look, I saw this thing appear magically from a fuckin’ distance and got curious since it was in front of a.. friend’s… house, and it looks like it came outta nowhere… soooo…. Y’know? Yeah? I was also bored and-”

He blinks. As Blitzø continues blabbering, he thinks to himself about how he had assumed that a special guest would’ve had proper manners with letting the other finish their speech at least. However, that last part intrigues him. Not the bored part, the part before that. He takes a quick peek out the entrance, past the imp’s shoulder towards the Goetia household, which is the only thing he could be referring to. He holds his hand out to shut the imp up, to which he does, but he’s not really happy about it.

“...I see. What was your name? I don’t believe I caught it.”

“Oh, uh, it’s Blitzø. The o’s silent.”

“..................................Yes, okay. Blitz. Brumm here shall be able to escort you to your cushions, where you’ll be able to view the show at an appropriate area.”

“Oh shit, the gig’s starting already?”

“..Correct. It shouldn’t be too long. The attraction will begin within twenty minutes from now. We should be onstage soon then.”

Blitzø nods, as he gets escorted by Brumm to his seat, but it just leaves Grimm wondering more.

“..It can’t be a coincidence. He must have a connection to the chosen one to play out the ritual. He stated that he is acquainted with the fellow named Stolas, perhaps as mutual friends of sorts. Although, very rarely, does the heart allow an exception for even a mere friend of the chosen one. Truly.. It makes me wonder..”

“..What does it mean..?”

Under normal circumstances, Stolas would have to have gone back and forth between the Circus to evolve the Grimmchild, since that is how it occurs in Hollow Knight. However, it feels more fitting to begin the act the moment he acquires the sixth flame and returns. By this point, the Grimmchild had grown a bit. His tendrils extended, his chest’s frontal shell was a redder color and his void-like tail was lengthier, and wispier. He eventually gained the ability to shoot fireballs after the third flame.

“Well, that was certainly a trek that spanned an entire five minutes of my living day, little one. You appear to be well-fed with those.. weird flames that I borrowed from the souls of your brethren, probably. You are alright, are you not?”

“Wrrrahhhhh,,,!1!”

“Oh, that’s just wonderful!” It appears he already grew attached to this idiot child. “Come along now, let us go back to that circus. I believe the reason for the five minutes of my life I’ll never, ever freaking take back should be within reach, and should also provide a motive as to why I had to raise a child by forcing him to resort to literal cannibalism.. I think... just to keep it sustained.”

Subsequently, he opens up a portal to the entrance of the circus. He felt the wind from behind him cut off as he entered. The lights were dimmed, and all Stolas could see were a path of red flames and the sound of a distant accordion softly playing. He squints his eyes, but he doesn’t believe to be in any real danger. So, he walks through the path of darkness with his child who looks like he ate cement when he was 1 second old.

The only other noise was the sound of his talons (seriously bitch wear bird shoes those exist right, you’re rich right) resounding through the open stage. The accordion gets more intense, more louder.

“..Halt, being of royalty. It is nigh time we begin”

And so, Stolas did as such, next to the child who, in turn, also remained at his spot slightly above Stolas’s shoulder. Their vibrant red eyes stood out, appearing luminescent in the dark, almost blending in with the surrounding torches. Their blinks were visible within the darkness. Grimm chuckles a little, as he brings all the torches to a wall of sorts, suspended in the air. He still appeared invisible, but as he snapped his fingers, a red fog formed, and there was Grimm. His back is turned to Stolas.

Grimm begins.

“..Magnificent. Our kin has finally arrived. The time has come.”

“...Grimm, friend. I’m not angered, not even a slight bit, but I’m merely just a little.. piqued. What in this ever living hell have you brought me to do? You’ve made me scurry around for five minutes of my day, collecting these.. Flames. These flames that are so foreign to me, and feeding this random child that is also foreign to me. By the way, for the record, I’m not signing child support papers for a child you left onto my arms with, that’s your child.”

“Hmhm. You humor me so. But the child has grown well. I believe the stage has finally been set and readied.”

“...Stage…? Ah. of course. We are in a circus, after all, hmhm..”

Grimm puffs out a small red flame, dissipating in the air instantly, before a small smirk, invisible to most eyes, slowly spreads out from his face and becomes a view anyone can see from any angle.

“..Dance with me, dear Stolas.. The crowd awaits! Show them the capabilities of what the prince of Ars Goetia can do!”

Stolas eyes light up in surprise at the Grimm’s sudden energy, as he snaps his fingers, and the Grimmchild manually approaches towards Grimm as the child dashes into his chest, disappearing and bursting as he absorbs it.

“..Oh! The child!.. He isn’t hurt, is he? Despite his inability to speak or communicate, he made for quite lovely company for the time I spent with him…”

“..Dear Stolas.. of course not. However.. It is most important that you remain with your concerns for the duration of the show until the end of it. Because right now..”

He snaps his fingers once more, two spotlights forming onto Grimm and Stolas.. And more torches forming, the arena lit up. The audience begins to cheer, which appears to be a mix of troupe members and nearby imps who saw the event begin. Blitzø appeared to sit in his own special row.

“..The act has finally begun!” Grimm finally shouts, doing a grand bow as Stolas smirks, taking a general glance at the audience (missing Blitzø entirely somehow). He locks eyes with Grimm..

He was very conflicted about all of this, but one thing’s for certain:

Stolas was excited to perform.

“...Hoo-hoot! Very well! Let’s do this then, b*tch dracula!”

As the accordion plays loudly, and the fog starts to sink in for effect, They both dash at each other in ferocious rapidity! The audience does loud cheers as their wings quickly clash against each other. Strong, beastly blows, all up against each other as the entire arena feels constant strong winds from the impact of the rush of jabs they hit. Grimm is the first to make a move beyond this. He stylishly twirls into a haze of red, leaving Stolas a little confused at first, before he looks up and sees Grimm floating above him, his body in a drill formation. Quickly, he drills down diagonally into Stolas’s head, to which he hurriedly jumps up and avoids it, perching onto Grimm’s head.

As Stolas is about to attack from above his head, the perch is short-lived as Grimm simply slips away by teleporting away from him, Stolas bringing this battle to the air and lifting his wings out. Stolas quickly notices Grimm’s cape opening up from below, as he shoots out red flames, almost like bats from his body, to which Stolas avoids them all. All the flames perfectly align and strike onto the already lit torches, which cause them to burn brighter, as if Lucifer struck upon it. Grimm smirks, as he quickly flies up as well.

They start sharing clashes from above, slicing each other using their wings, all while stylishly maneuvering around the air with perfect ease, like fighter jets. Occasionally, you could barely see them because of the speed both of them are going at. It was an incredible aerial show, and neither of them seemed to get tired of slashing at each other. In fact, they both just seemed more thrilled.

An arcane circle of sorts appears at Stolas’s arms, and he shoots a minigun of butterfly shaped bullets! Quickly, Grimm twirls and turns into a handful of bats, dodging through the bullets through number, albeit losing a few in the process. The bats form back together and transform into a physical flame that hits hard into Stolas’s head, pushing him down to the ground. Speedily, Stolas grabs Grimm’s legs and throws him up into the air, before perfectly landing a shot into his arm! Stolas quickly rises up back into the air.

Grimm quickly pulls away and puffs up like a pufferfish, his body inflating partially and spikes protruding off of it, as a bullet hell of flames come toward Stolas. He dances around them, through them, and spins around like an acrobat, dodging the flames like it was nobody's business. The audience cheers harder. Blitzø could only view in some form of awe. It wasn’t anything he’d ever seen before.

“...You truly live up to your name, dear Goetia. But let’s give the audience a real show!”

“HooohooohoOOoot~! I cannot wait! You thrill me so, my dear friend, and to think there’s even more to this show! I haven’t had this much fun in such a long time!”

Flames circle the ground, as they suddenly start to shoot up, creating a circular arena. Thankfully, the audience could still see through the fire. Grimm goes back to the ground and holds down his hand. Stolas gleefully goes back down and holds his hand too..

And so begins the dance of death. A mixture of an accordion and a piano (thank you unnamed troupe member) plays with remarkable intensity of the notes and with clear affection for the rhythm.

They begin to tango, sharing and avoiding punches while they dance together. A step forward leading into a ferocious kick, leading into a quick step back to dodge the kick into a mighty headbutt, all while maintaining a perfect dance together, keeping up still for the audience. The movement of their legs and arms were a symphony of some form, most certainly alike to the wonderful accordion played in honor of the blood and souls put into the rituals prior, watching, clapping along witht he tango. They were in perfect unison, and the best part about this is that it was completely inadvertent. 

Stolas twirls him, as he quickly slams him down overhead, only for Grimm to quickly poof away before he lands down, as Grimm grabs him by the shoulders from the back and spins him away in exaggerated fashion, firing flaming bats once more. Stolas ducks below, his legs still on a passionate fire, spinning, like a beyblade that had just been shot out.

As he lands right back into Grimm’s arms, Stolas finally lands a hit on Grimm, bashing into him, knocking him back. The flames dissipate, and he slowly floats up into the air.

“My.. you are very intense and passionate. Your style is like that of a master. Who could’ve guessed royalty was a prodigy at the art of dance?”

“..I’m flattered. But we’re not quite done yet. We’re not here for compliments either, dear Grimm. It’s nigh time you show me what you’re made of.”

“Hmhmhm.. Very well! Let’s commence the climax!”

Once more, a flame cloaks Grimm. However.. It’s a little different. Stolas could feel an intense wind again, almost pushing him back a little. The flames around him sputter a little from the intensity, and some of the audience members even struggle to stay on their seats. Before long, the wind stops. Floating there, was Grimm, in a coat of red, with a completely new aura. The deepest powers of the Nightmare’s Heart awaken to manifest.. Nightmare King Grimm. Unholy particles surrounded him as he stared down at Stolas.

“...I hope you’re ready to really put on a show.”

Quickly, Grimm appears right behind Stolas at a distance and once again, shoots the same flame bats. But.. they were different. As Stolas swooped aside quickly to avoid them, they quickly spun back, spun around Stolas, and quickly homed in on him, hitting him directly! The impact knocks him down to the ground, his eyes shocked at the sudden change of patterns. The audience oohs.

Stolas scratches it off, but now realizes his cloak’s a little burned up. He looks a little annoyed as he inspects it. However, he quickly picks himself back up, and places a smile back on. He’s not here to worry about the little things. However, the big thing is that he now realized...

Grimm had now just disappeared.

All that’s visible are shadows below him.

“GET THE FUCK OUTTA THERE!”

Blitzø quickly shouts from the row.
The audience look towards him, then to Stolas.
He tilts his head to the voice first thing first, and he’s now just realizing Blitzø had been watching the entire show.
His face gets warmer all of a sudden, his eyes glowing brighter, but before long..

Loud snaps reverberates through the room.

Maroon spikes came from through the floor.
Razor-like, very fast.
Almost impossible to see with an imp’s eyes.
However, one thing was for certain.
One thing could not be ignored.

Stolas’s body was held up in the air, suspended, stabbed through the arm, stabbed through the legs, stabbed through the chest.
Blitzø’s eyes squint, and they widen quickly.
He could feel his heart spike up, not unlike Stolas’s body, and his tail scatter about, in some form of a frenzy.
He quickly tries to leave his seat, muttering curse words under his breath, trying to escape to Stolas, trying to get to his side, but isn't able to.
He realizes that he is now bound to his seat, a ‘physical flame’ covering his wrists and ankles, binding him down.

Grimm reappears.. and bows down to the audience.

“...N…hm. Oooh. Oh.. hmm. I see. I see what this is now.” Blitzø huffs under his breath.

“...A stellar performance indeed. His moves.. They were rabid, rapacious, and remarkable. He clearly radiated, like a shooting star through the night, snug, crimson sky. A star so very vigorous, so very luminous. But of course.. a shooting star must make a crash landing at some point.”

Blitzø… has already calmed down. His heart rate is back to normal, and his tail isn’t at a frenzy anymore. Now he’s the one.. Smiling? Giggling a little. The audience claps and cheers, but Grimm can only just look at the corner of his eye towards Blitzø in confusion, while remaining presentable to the audience.

“...Now that’s very peculiar. I’d assumed he’d be more distraught than that. This is a friend of his, is he not? I’m not a particular expert on emotions, but surely he would’ve felt something more?”

The flames go out, as the audience gasps, a complete eerie darkness. A threatening accordion plays, long and distraught. Brumm truly is a master at helping the mood of an act. Once again, the glow of Grimm’s eyes are all that can be seen. Grimm.. Is now more seemingly perplexed at the current circumstances.

“..This isn’t a part of the act. I didn’t plan that to occur… Could it be? I don’t believe he could’ve found a way outside of that attack.. It clearly hit him directly. The gentlemen, the gentlewomen, and the gentlethems in the audience witnessed it..”

A single flame shows itself out of thin air, floating center stage, as it slowly lowers towards the pierced owl. His blood was the only noise that played throughout the darkness, the glow of his eyes dead, a broken flashlight, and his body remained eerily static.

“..Wait.. I can’t sense my spikes from beneath me anymore. But.. they’re clearly there. I can see them with my own eyes.. Even the flame makes it clear that he’s still stabbed. Are.. are my eyes deceiving me? What had he done?”

The flame approaches closer to his face, his neck now drooped down given the position his body is at. The flame quickly dissipates..

As the glow to his eyes return. He snaps his neck to face towards Grimm, his eyes locked onto his. Grimm looks back at him in a state of admiration, enthralled even. The audience cheers loudly, Blitzø included.

“AUUUUUUuughahhaa~… You know how to butter me up so smoothly, dear Grimm. Truly, if I had died there, and my spirit had listened to your words just then.. Why, my little owl ghost would’ve just adored it.” Stolas giggles.. As he quickly jolts his body back into an upright position, the holes remaining onto his arms and legs. The wounds quickly regenerate back onto itself, the feathers of the owl quickly covering up the blood. “Fortunately... I believe we’ll be able to have just a little bit more fun before the end of this act, though.”

“Hmhmhmhm..! I concur! Let us use the last of our power to give a grand finale that is deserving of the eyes of the audience!”

The circus tent suddenly flies up, an immense amount of wind breaking a few eardrums, thankfully not having any ill effects on the golden gate that had 1% of it being clipped into, as the outer border of the tent flies off and lands onto Lucifer-knows-where after being unable to hold on to the tent's ground. Stolas quickly transforms into a partial demon form, black and red coating his entire body, aweing the audience and Grimm himself. The accordion continued to play intensely, rising in notes as the circus did.

Now begins the final act.

At inhumane speeds, pillars of flame rise beneath Stolas, as Stolas spins around and dodges them gracefully. Stolas quickly launches himself into Grimm, aiming for a headbutt, but misses and leads into a grab by Grimm.

He spins him around like an advertiser with a signboard, before quickly going for a slam in the center. Stolas quickly slips out of it, his thin body being of extreme benefit to his slippery escape. With his telekinesis, he quickly pulls out parts of the floor and shoots them at Grimm, leaving a hole in the center from where he picked the blocks up from. Quickly and swiftly, Grimm teleports between each of them, posing, very clearly fruity in the midst of it all. After avoiding all the blocks, Grimm flies up front and center, urging Stolas to come forward. He takes the hand once again.. And now begins the final dance.

Their punches are swift. Even if their fists are clearly not made for the sake of punching, any of which do land are very clearly hard hitting to the opposing person, knocking each other back a little. They’re going at a speedy rate, almost too speedy. The wind gets so intense that actual audience members are getting blown off into the atmosphere. Blitzø, on the other hand, just has a bag of popcorn prepared and a toy horsie right beside him, the physical flames that bind him working as a seatbelt to his favor.

Stolas misses a punch. Grimm quickly seizes the moment and punches him in the head!
The accordion comes to a halt.

…

…

…

Grimm can feel a volatile punch to the back of his head, as Stolas was able to quickly fly behind him. The punch.. He thought he felt the impact, but he realized all he hit was Stolas’s fist blocking his head again. He kept the palm to make sure he assumed in his head that the impact remained, as he bent his arm in a crooked, allowing him to keep his fist in one place and his body in another. Once he realized what had happened.. It was already too late.

“...It’s time to put an end to this show, darling.”

Stolas applies an anvil’s worth of pressure onto Grimm and pounces him down, an owl’s grip as tight as it can be, a flame forming around them, like a meteor. The circus tent falls alongside them, which is back for some god forsaken reason, getting quicker exponentially, like a roller coaster dropping from above. It got faster, and faster, and faster, until they finally landed, creating a loud impact against the ground, cracking it a little, the outer walls of the tent landing back right on again, as Grimm dramatically dissipates into red fog, in tandem with Brumm’s intense accordion.. And he poofs completely, unable to fight anymore.

Stolas picks himself up, huffing a little. Not out of exasperation, but from excitement. Grimm reappears in front of him, staring right at Stolas, in a standing position.. and bows down. Stolas bows back.

“..I concede, my friend. You earned my respect. You have fought well. The ritual.. Is complete.”

The audience (or what remains of it) loudly cheers as the act comes to an end. Stolas could only feel himself blushing as he hadn’t had a standing ovation like this in a long time, let alone from such a crowd of people. Blitzø, jovial, does that really loud whistling thing that people do in the middle of cheering (you know the thing).

“Now.. Stolas, was it? Let us.. Speak one last time. Before we have to permanently depart.” Stolas eagerly nods. The imps of hell are escorted by the troupe members, as Stolas is escorted by Grimm to his room to have a private conversation. Stolas takes a seat down on a stool, as Grimm hangs his legs onto the ceiling like a bat, staring right into his eyes again.

“...Your performance was impeccable, friend. It was as if.. we were in sync, without a script, free to dance and move and sing. Your fighting prowess.. Was also remarkable. Truly one of a kind.”

“Ohoho.. Well, you flatter me, dear Grimm. I was only providing a show for the audience. I initially viewed this unique.. event, with a form of distaste, but it dawned on me that.. Well, it was good to simply take a breather from the things that stress one out the most. It truly is a.. peculiar set of circumstances, but one that I particularly appreciate.”

“...Hm. A breather is of no use to us. What we do normally is enlightening enough to our own kind. However, I do not discredit the importance of having a simple break. Truly, I cannot emphasize how incredible your skills were. It’s as if you had done this before.”

“Ohoho! Well.. ahh.. In more.. unconventional circumstances, certainly. It also helps that I got some inspiration from my darling little Bli- Ah!”

Stolas quickly covers his mouth in surprise, but Grimm can only respond with a soft chuckle.

“Matters of intimacy are beyond me, friend. However, it does clear up many things. Why the heart allowed him as a special guest.. and why he reacted the way he did. He must be aware of your nature and your abilities, no? ”

Stolas was a little confused at this statement. He wasn’t paying too much attention to Blitzø’s face that time around surprisingly, minus the one time before the spikes, so he wasn’t even aware what kind of reaction he had.

“..Ah. Would that refer to my little trick with your spikes there? Yes.. He’s aware of my many abilities. I’ve shown him outside of.. ‘’Working hours’’, if I daresay, hoohoot~.. “

He clears his throat.

“You’ve already clearly seen my abilities of telekinesis. I also have the ability to teleport, but I wanted to.. Hm.. how should i put this.. “challenge myself” a little and limit that too. I did use it once, though.”

“..Once, you say? I am piqued. Please.. I would request you to further provide details to me on the machinations of this trick.” Grimm leans a little closer, intrigued, causing Stolas to jump back a bit in surprise, making a little ‘hoot’ noise as he does.

“W-well, the spikes, I could’ve simply slid away and avoided. However.. Hmhm.. I have a flair for the dramatic, you see.”

Grimm nods, almost completely understanding what he meant there. He’s pretty dramatic, too, and he likes to give a show for his audience. His pufferfish attack is evidence of that, as was their ballad. Actually the entire fucking circus act to fulfill a ritual was evidence of that.

“One of my spells allows me to create a body double. Once this body double was created, I temporarily disappeared, and became invisible. However, for that part, I had to stand completely still. If I had moved even a single bit, the sound my talons made would’ve given me away, or would’ve hinted at a trick.”

“..Intriguing. So the vessel that got stabbed..”

“Was perfect in appearance, yes. But it was not life-like. It does have it’s differences, but they’re very subtle ones. A slight ride in the feathers.. and a lack of glow in the dark. My darling Blitzy.. hmhmhmm.. I’m sure he noticed.”

“..Of course. He looked as if a sense of ease washed over him when he realized what was going on. He seemed horrified at first.”

Stolas squeals a bit at that statement, jumping a little in his chair, causing Grimm to giggle softly again. Stolas, at the realization of the noise he made, starts clearing his throat a little more loudly this time.

“Y-yes.. Hmhm.. well..I was able to then disable the flames by using telekinesis and slamming them against the wall. Surprisingly, that worked a little too well. I was surprised that it even disabled them in the first place, as that goes beyond the function of flames. I used one of my own flames and summoned them in the center in order to add a bit of flair.”

“...Ah.. how extravagant. Then.. how were you able to do the swap? Your body double was clearly ‘busy’ then.”

“..This is where the magic becomes a little less perfect. It was a bit of a 50/50, as you may call it, as it depended on the durability of your spikes… and it failed.”

“...Pardon? It failed, friend?”

“I was unable to properly cut them. You may have felt something.. or nothing anymore, for that matter, but I was unable to properly disconnect the spikes from ‘my’ corpse. I tried to uproot them and transport them away, but they couldn’t come off the ground.”

“..Ah. I lost my connection to the spikes because you were able to sever my physical connection to them. And yet.. They remained on the ground, albeit still rooted.”

“Oh dear! I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly, in that case. I had no idea the spikes were an organic connection to you.”

“Ah, no worries. As you can clearly see, I’m perfectly fine.”

Stolas nods, a little relieved.

“So then.. how did you go about doing the swap?”

“I had to go for plan B. I waited for the body to dissipate as that is an aftereffect of the spell’s duration of the body double.. And then I teleported myself in the exact same position. It didn’t have the exact same effect as if it were to.. hohoot.. stab!.. into me, But I certainly felt as if I desired to scream into the void, and let everyone know that I’m actually alive earlier than intended. I projected that screaming.. In the form of my regained speech. When I properly swapped in.. my eyes started to glow again.. And I snapped my neck to face you. You may have noticed as such.”

“..Incredible. To think you would go just as far for a dashing performance.. You truly have the approval of the Grimm Troupe… and, more certainly, the approval of I. Unfortunately, I do not have much time left.”

“..Oh? Why is that?”

“I trust you enough to detail the purposes of the ritual. The child you held in your hands.. The beloved new spawn of the heart.. He is to take over my place as ringleader, as I inevitably disappear to time. We may only have a few minutes left of conversation before that happens.. So, whatever you must say.. I desire you make it-”

[SNAP]

Stolas quickly takes a photo together. He does a peace sign, with the upside down Grimm, as he blinks a little from the sudden camera shutter.

“...Hoot. I hope you do not mind flash photography, dear friend.”

He blinks a little, but shakes his head. “..Hmhm.. Of course not. Please.. continue your words. Let these words be your last words to me.”

Stolas sighs a little, thinking. This was a bit sudden for him. However, it didn’t take too long for him to come up with the proper words to say to Grimm.

“..Grimm, should I call you. You provided me with an experience like none other, only second place to Blitzy of course. The performance we had… truly, it was stellar, and it was nothing short of excitement for me.. And, as I’m sure, you, too. Today will not be a day I’ll forget. Thank you for bringing me here on this little excursion between us.”

“..Yes.. even if all my intent was to fulfill my purpose, I appreciate your politeness and compliance. It was rude of me to assume your personality from an honest reaction to something so sudden. Perhaps in another life, we’ll meet again. But for now.. I bid adieu. Look after your daughter very, very carefully.. as our stories may not be so different after all.”

Stolas’s eyes widen

“...W-wAIT, WAIT, WHAT- before you disappear, how do you know about my dau-”

As Grimm says those final words, he covers himself up in his cloak.. And a flame devours him top to bottom, as he slowly disappears. Stolas sighs, as he takes a minute of his time to be silent for Grimm, before he procedurally walks out of his room, deep in thought about Grimm’s words.

As he exits the room, he notices that the entire circus tent has quite literally just disappeared. He looks at the doorframe of the door he just opened, which also disappeared in the blink of his four eyes. It’s as if the tent never existed in the first place (it did, don’t go into conspiracy theories). The only thing left there was Blitzø, who Grimm forgot to unbind from his chair, who is now forcefully unbound because there is no Grimm to bind him anymore. He quickly rushes over to Stolas.

“...Stolas, holy shit, man!” He rushes up to him and looks up to him “That was fucking cold! And hot. But really fucking cold! Like, the hot kind of cold! Fuckin’ badass!”

Stolas could feel his face heat-up quickly just upon the sight of Blitzø. Quickly, he comes up with a coherent sentence.

“Aah! Well, umm.. You see, Blitzy.. I.. uhh.. quite! It was.. Uhh.. I could’ve done.. A little better,, uhh..”

“Ah, don’t sweat it, bitch. You nailed that fuckin’ vampire with a handmade stake and your own two talons. You really showed off there, eh?”

“Hhooohoo.. Aahah.. Thank you.. B-but I believe I should be off now. I need to go see my daughter.” He awkwardly tugs on his collar, clearly panicked and a little flustered.”

“Ooh yeah, Loony wanted me to record it. Would be fun to see her reaction up-close. Bet she won’t see that shit coming.”

“y-YOU RECORDED IT??”

“Relax! You get recorded all the time, don’t you? I’d think you’d-..”

Stolas slightly tugs on his own arm, looking to the side a little at the comment. He likes it when the cool stuff he does gets recorded, but he doesn’t really like thinking about the kind of people who would want to use him for the sake of recording and monetizing him. Not that that exact scenario is happening right now, but it does give him a bit of a reminder of such a scenario. Blitzø quickly takes notice, surprisingly.

“..Oh. Uh.. shit.. well, uh, I can delete it?”

“Ah! N-nono, it’s fine. I’m glad you even told me about the fact that you recorded it in the first place. I’m not uncomfortable with it, it’s a natural thing for someone at my status. Totally.”

“Oh, awesome! Alright Stolz, I’ll see you later. Once again, real cool show you put up there.” Blitzø snaps both of his fingers, his grin as goofy and as wide as ever, and he walks away, Stolas watching him with a fluttered heart, almost fainting on the spot, his collar a little crinkled from the amount of unhealthy tugging that he'd been doing to it.

Stolas opens up a portal to enter his home, despite his home being walking distance away from him, and strides across the hallway like a slut again, with an extra dash of sluttiness, before eventually walking normally and reaching Octavia’s door, promptly doing three consecutive knocks.

“Sweetie? I’m back from my.. odd encounter!”

“DADDY??”

Octavia quickly slams the door open, which accidentally slams against Stolas’s face

“aAUGH- DEAR-”

Before Stolas can react to the sudden pain, Octavia quickly dashes forward and weakly tackles Stolas with her head, unbeknownst to the fact that she just slammed the door in his face, leading into a.. hug.

“Aaaaauugh.. good lord… Sweetie.. What’s the matter? I-i’m here now.. Nobody hurt you, right?”

“..Dad… dad, H-holy shit, dad..”

“Language, Via. Please, speak to me. What happened?”

“I-I thought.. For just a moment..

..I thought you just.. died..”

Stolas’s eyes widened in distressful horror, before hastily realizing the implications of her words.

“O-oh.. oh my goodness, no, sweetie, I’m.. I'm so sorry for scaring you like that. You shouldn’t have to have seen a sight like that. It shouldn’t have been now, and it should’ve remained that way. Don’t worry.. I will be here for you until I grow old and cranky, my little starfire.”

Octavia can only cry into Stolas’s tunic. Stolas hugs her tighter, letting the emotions stream out like an eonian waterfall. After a bit, she recovers, able to speak properly, her tears drying up.

“..I’m sorry. I used that spell you taught me to see what was going on inside the circus tent. I needed to know. I saw the first half, t-then.. I saw the s-spikes stab you. I p-panicked, and tried to run into the t-tent. I tried, I really, r-really tried.. But i couldn’t g-get the stupid door open.. It was l-like..it was like.. T-they knew..”

Stolas, in his mind, tries to piece what she’s talking about but can’t seem to harbor a clue. He completely understood the first half, but he's thinking about why she wasn't able to enter. It must be some kind of magic that Grimm used that he wasn’t aware of because he was already inside of the circus tent then. 

“..So that’s how he knew.. He must’ve sensed her presence with a spell of sorts. He really did think about everything.. didn’t he?”

Either way, he brings the hug back in as Octavia is about to cry again, softly patting the back of her jacket as Stolas comforts her. Stolas couldn’t hold back his own tears, softly crying a little with his daughter, sharing the emotions a little.

[SOME TIME LATER, AFTER THAT VERY SMALL CRYING SESH]

It is around 10:00 P.M.. Stolas is now in his room again, and he just finished looking over his legal-regal jargon-filled papers. The adrenaline from earlier the day must’ve helped him be more productive. He sighs, in a rewarding manner, feeling happier about himself, as he looks at the picture of him and Grimm. He walks over to a wall of neatly placed photos on the side of the room, which house many memories of adventures and mishaps that Stolas has had with I.M.P. and his daughter as of recent times.

“...Thank you for creating another story to talk about, Grimm. I will never, ever forget about our performance, my friend.”

He carefully pins the photo onto the wall, and goes to bed, sleeping like a little baby.

Fin.

[nah actually POST-CREDITS SCENE WAHOOOOOOO]

It was a pretty horrible evening in hell, a lofty red-orange filling the sky. Actually, who cares about the weather right now. Octavia was in her room, busy switching the music around to try and cure her boredom, but ultimately to no avail. All of her friends were busy that day, and not even her own father was available to do any such action. Lest, she could beg him really hard, but she’d end up feeling really bad about it. So, instead of standing around, she does some mindless dancing around the mansion, to try and get her mind off of anything.

She was in the library. She stared down at her phone, trying to copy the dance moves present.

“Mmm.. Alright, it goes like..”

She twirls around, holding one leg up, before she nearly trips and hits her back against the bookshelf.

“Oof!- FUc-mggh” She quickly covers her mouth. She doesn’t wanna bother her dad, not now. She wouldn’t want him to check up on her. She looks behind her to check the bookshelf’s state instead.

However, it’s very apparent that the bookshelf was no longer there. All that was there was a room. A very dark room. Under normal circumstances, anyone would be able to see even a pinch of the floor in that room, thanks to the light of the library. However, it was as if there were a void consuming the light. Nothing was visible. Octavia was very confused.

“I’ve never seen this before. Why would dad have a secret room?”

Carefully, and yet ever so hesitantly, she pulls out her phone and turns the flashlight feature on it. There, she wasn’t able to see much. Under normal circumstances, she would’ve used a flame spell that Stolas taught her for a form of light. However.. She might risk burning the books here. That would get her into real trouble.

So, she instead pulls out her shitty Apple™ (one of the few corporate brands to also carry over to hell) phone. She turns on the light which, as you might expect, flickers a bit from how much it sucks ass. Octavia groans, before slamming her phone against the wall. Now it works again.

Reluctantly, she enters with the phone light, taking in the surroundings. As she walked through, red flares lit up across the hallway, giving view to what were initially invisible cave-like walls. This was probably a sign to turn back, but her curiosity ended up getting the better of her. Curiously, she walked on forward, the steps below her going from a regal mat to rubble. Eventually, she comes across something, hitting her chest against it. She flashes her phone light towards it.

“..Wow. How scary. A random lever. I’m sure all the lights will go out if I flick it.” Octavia is very familiar with horror movie tropes, and surely, in her head, this was an exception. Actually, she isn’t expecting much of anything to happen if she were to flick the lever. The only thing that really stood out about the lever was the tiny red light beneath it, and its beautiful, ornate design.

Therefore, she did.

It required a bit of brute force, but eventually, she was able to forcefully pull on it, as she jumped back forcefully from recoil. Suddenly, flames flare up from beneath the lever, like a furnace was built into it. She slightly backs away a little more, eyes widened, but.. Before she could say even a peep, the flames collapsed. All that can be heard is the faint sound of an accordion.

“...What..?” She blinks. Before she realizes she’s back in the library again. She quickly tilts her head around. “..How..?.. How did I..”

A knock. All she could hear was a resounding thud throughout the mansion. For the first time in a while, (not including the recent Hollywood incident) she felt a small bit of fear well up inside her, thinking that she may have caused a domino effect of sorts. She takes a deep breath, as she quickly dashes through the halls and approaches towards the entrance. She thinks about the bright side of this. It might be something new, something exciting behind that door! Hell, it could just be a friend who wants to talk to her. However, she reconsiders, thinking for a bit.

“..I.. should probably tell dad. I know he’s busy, but.. I don’t know, I just can’t get my thoughts straight. It's probably a coincidence.. but.. I.. ugh, just fucking talk to him.”

Octavia trudges up to the door of his room, where he was busily reading and signing through papers, clearly stressed out for the love of him.

“...Daddy?”

Stolas holds his head, his thin fingers stretching out, eyes poking through the spaces of his long fingers. He looked stressed. His head twists over to Octavia. He quickly uncovers his face, putting on a bit more of a happier, droopier smile.

“Ah, hello, my little owlet! Daddy is.. very busy and tired right now.” He can barely keep his eyes open to look at his own daughter. She hesitates with her words.. but she did burst into his room for a reason.

“...Um.. you have a visitor.”

“Someone’s at the door.”

…

…

…

Needless to say.. Octavia was able to sleep easy tonight, dreaming about every star in the solar system and beyond, knowing her dad is safe and okay.

Fin. for real this time :)