< > - Telepathy
( ) - Thoughts
[ ] - Actions/Sounds
" "- Person Talkin
= = - Author's Note
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_0Author's POV0_
Here we now see Octavia in her room sitting there on the sofa watching TV, a bored frown was completely smeared across her face as the logo 666 News flashed onto the screen. A few seconds later, the news anchors appeared and began their report.
"Good afternoon," the first one announced, a slim women with short blonde hair, pearly white skin, and was wearing a red dress with shoulder pads. "I'm Katie Killjoy,"
"And I'm Tom Trench!" her co-host added, a demon with a head that appeared to be nothing but a gas mask that had a sweep of ashy blonde hair on the top. "Chaos out at the Pentagram City today as a turf war is raging on the west side, between notable kingpin, Sir Pentious, and self-proclaimed spunky powerhouse, Cherri Bomb!"
However, despite the vigorous detail the news anchors got into, Octavia wasn't really paying attention let alone listening, letting out a small groan as she laid her head back on the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a week now since she had returned home and despite everything she tried to do to settle back into some form of normality, she couldn't help but feel... restless. No matter what she did, she just couldn't get over what happened during the Extermination, Hell, it took at least 4 showers and a 2-hour soak in a tub filled with scented oils and lavender petals before she felt even remotely clean after what she went through in the river of blood. Every night since then, her sleep was plagued with nightmares, nothing too traumatizing considering she literally lives in Hell, but every time she sees that Exorcists grinning back at her, she would wake up in an instant.
However, what confuses her is her recovery cause everyday her nightmares seem to be getting less and less as they started to disappear in the first two days. She began thinking at night for clues about how or why, but then she saw a glowing rune on Gray's coat, the one where he put his hands the last time to heat up the entire coat. She sighs as he has given her another debt even when he's not around he was still helping her out.
But of course not only that, but ever since she came back, her father has been acting even more overprotectively than ever before. For the last week, she had been practically forbidden from leaving the grounds, not that she had any intention of doing so anyway, but that was beside the point. In any case, for the first three days after she got back, Stolas being the doting father he is, was so glad to have his little girl back, that he wouldn't even let her out of his sight. In fact, he became so annoyingly clingy that Octavia had to snap at him just to get him to give her some form of privacy. Thankfully he managed to calm down a bit after the third day.... which sadly meant that he and Stella were back at each other's throats, which was evident by the screaming Octavia had woken up to this morning.
"Top news of today is a viral video showing a large beam in the middle of Extermination destroying at least half of the entire Highway 44." As Octavia snapped her eyes opened at the news she then saw that the video they showed contained a white-blue beam that killed and devastated many angels that were unfortunate enough. "Though we have no information about the perpetrator as many theories began spreading around the Pirde Ring, like wildfire, but there's only one major question, who or what fired such a devastating blow?" they asked, taking a pause before continuing again. "Coming up next," Katie Killjoy continued. "We have an exclusive interview with the daughter of Hell's own head honcho, who's here to discuss her brand new passion-"
It was at that point, Octavia snatched up the remote and turned off the TV before getting to her feet. Having grown tired of listening to some old bat drivel on, the young Goetia Demon needed a walk to clear her head. Exiting the small media room and strolling through the extravagant halls of her home, Octavia couldn't help but let out a small sigh. While living in such a large home had its advantages: plenty of bathrooms, dozens of good hiding spots for when you got into trouble at the age of 4, and of course the finest pieces of decor for one of Hellish Nobility to appreciate, the sheer size of her homemade travelling from room to room somewhat of a small quest, especially when the room they were looking for was on the other side of the estate.
Crossing through the numerous corridors, down the stairs and into the foyer, Octavia passed by many of her family's treasured ornaments and heirlooms that decorated the walls. From the multiple species of her father's collection of plants that either hung from baskets on the walls or were displayed in decorative pots, to the decorative weapons and suits of armor that lined the walls of each corridor, each one representing some form of her family's status and symbolism. Even the great hall, which resided to the far side of the entrance hall, was a marriage of elegance and majesty. With a grand piano in the far corner and a ceiling decorated with what appeared to be actual constellations of stars that floated gracefully in the mists of a constant night sky.
However, there was one room in particular that Octavia had been intending to visit since she stood up. As much as she enjoyed a good walk, with the house being so quiet, she could only guess that one of her parents had decided to take their leave in order to cool their heads and it was usually her mother as her father rarely does. As such, Octavia couldn't help but feel a little bored. Usually, she would prefer to sit down with a good book, but even that didn't seem to calm her nerves as of late. Eventually, she found the door she had been looking for, behind which was her father's study. Normally Stolas didn't spend that much time there, usually preferring to live his life with a little more freedom than his station allowed, as evident by his choice of lovers. However around this time of year, as a member of Hellish Nobility, Prince Stolas was at his busiest, so Octavia knew that this was where he would be when she gave the door a quick knock, before stepping inside.
"Via!"
Stolas greeted, rising from his desk and giving his daughter a tight hug.
"Good to see you, my Owlette! Is everything okay?"
To say Stolas was a tall Demon would have been an understatement. Considering the fact that the top of his daughter's head only reached his torso, he had to bend his long, black legs to even wrap his arms around her. What's more, he and Octavia shared many physical traits, from their owl-like features to the color of their respective feathers. In fact, one of the only distinctive differences between them was the fact that while Stolas had a second pair of eyes above his frontal one, Octavia only had a single pair. In any case, there was no denying the amount of affection Stolas had for his daughter just from the way he embraced her so caringly.
"Y-Yeah, dad. I'm fine," Octavia replied, pulling away from her father's hug. "Did Mum went off to clear her head again?"
It was only when those words left his daughter's mouth did Stolas' smile quickly fade.
"Sadly yes," he sighed, walking back over to his carved mahogany desk. "She didn't mention where she was going, though."
Octavia couldn't help but roll her eyes at that as she took a seat on the small couch in front of her father's desk, sinking into the soft leather before looking back at her father with a look of indifference. She tried to change the subject as she placed a coat in front of Stolas.
"Dad, do you think you can interpret what kind of rune this is?." she asked, pointing to the center of the coat clearly glowing dimly Stolas grabbed the coat and took it for a closer look.
"Interesting. This rune seems to be an intermediate type, specifically an abyssal one." He commented on his research as he then kept looking at it as if it reminded him of someone's magic, specifically his family's magic. However, his thoughts were suddenly snapped out by a loud smash that was suddenly heard from above their heads.
"I see, so the reason why mum left was that she was still mad about our newest addition."
she said as Stolas groaned.
"I swear I didn't know that trunk had a possessed item in it!"
Stolas snapped defensively.
"Now your mother won't get off my case until I hire a professional to clear it out..."
As if to emphasize the subject once more, another loud smash was suddenly heard from above their heads, this time it was followed by the muffled sound of insane laughter, thus shattering the silence that the house had fallen into for a brief period. However, Octavia didn't need to hear the noise to know what her father was talking about. It's mostly like every other year, much like how certain happenings take place before the Extermination, there are also fair few common occurrences that happen shortly afterwards, ones that most often last at least a few weeks.
One such event was the selling of items that used to belong to the Demons who were unfortunate enough to be slain by the Exorcists on the actual day either that or salvaged from a territory war. As such, many auctions were held by the greediest of opportunists to gain the biggest profit, blind auctions to be exact, meaning that most of the time, those attending had no real idea of what they were buying. About five days after the Extermination, Stolas attended one of these auctions and came home with 5 trunks in tow, along with a new vase for one of his many carnivorous plants. Unfortunately, having no idea what was inside, Stolas unknowingly brought a huge disaster into his house, one which had now taken residence inside one of the guest bedrooms. Thankfully, the staff managed to trap it inside by nailing the door shut and barring the windows from the outside, and more importantly, it didn't seem to have any intention of leaving anyway, like a rat who had found itself a nice cozy hole to lurk in. It had been two days since then, and so far none of the staff had any clue on how to get rid of it.
"I did called your uncle Bunes he already sent many undead servants to handle the cursed item but to no avail."
Stolas said pinching his nose.
"Well, why don't you call the items back to the blind auction then?"
Octavia asked as if that were the obvious option to go for.
"Via, most of those people are con artists who only put the thing back after you pay them an insane amount of cash," Stolas argued.
"I know we're rich, but that doesn't mean I like getting ripped off."
"And we can't get rid of it ourselves because?"
Octavia retorted.
"Your mother believes such a task is 'beneath us',"
Octavia couldn't help but groan at that. Of course, her mother would say something along those lines! After all, despite Stolas being the actual head of the family, it was his wife that strived to uphold the family's current status. Menial tasks such as this should be distributed to the "Lesser Demons", as she so put it on multiple occasions. Wanting to avoid any possible migraines that came with arguing with her, Stolas didn't really wish to push the subject any further than it needed to whenever it was brought up. He then turned his attention towards the coat.
"Via? Who gave you this coat?"
he asked, sincerely curious.
"Gray did... he gave it to me when we got out of the blood river because I was freezing."
"Whoever this Gray is, he seems to be excellent at using magic."
He said examining the rune with a magic monocle.
"Well, he's not that great I mean this rune only has one property which is to help me sleep peacefully at night."
She said remembering every sleep she took made her have fewer nightmares overtime until it finally stopped. Her father quickly smiled and shrugged off the topic.
"Yes, you're right dear... though I wish there was a magic that could make my job easier."
Stolas said chuckling to his own joke. Octavia rolling her eyes as she returned her attention to her father's desk, or rather the vast amount of paperwork splayed all over it.
"What's all this, anyway?"
she asked curiously.
"Oh, it's just some request forms for new employees," Stolas sighed, sitting back down and looking through the papers.
"We lost a lot of staff this year... for certain reasons."
"Right..." Octavia muttered, rubbing her arm, knowing instantly what the reasons were but for some reason she seems to be lightening up on the topic even though she was traumatized before. Probably thanks to a certain someone speeding up the process.
It's not surprising to anyone that the problem came from an unexpected Extermination was that many Demons, both Sinners and Hellborns alike, were unable to find refuge in time. This, of course, led to more deaths than usual as were many of Hell's denizens, including many Imps that were under the Goetia family's employ, which meant that now there were many open spots for new employees that managed to survive. Clearing his throat, Stolas decided to shy away from the subject in hopes of avoiding upsetting his daughter, due to what she had been through on that day. But surprisingly Octavia didn't mind and asked
"Maybe we can ask Gray if he can be a servant who knows he might even have friends who's willing to take the job."
Octavia said, gaining a look from her father.
"I mean I just want to help you and Gray out I'd say that's a win-win situation."
Stolas had his jaw wide open in shock, her daughter trying to help her dad and understand the situation rather than avoid it? She hasn't done that in a while. He shook his head and smiled at Octavia.
"I suppose that is a good suggestion... is that why you visited me here? Not that I'm complaining, but it's not usual for you to visit me in the study like this."
he said, admitting curiosity for his daughter's talkativeness.
"It's just that I needed someone to talk to... my nightmares are already gone, but this time it's replaced with boredom."
Octavia admitted with a heavy sigh.
She could handle her father being protective and doting over her like a baby, but she wanted to handle her own personal issues on her own. As much as her father didn't want his little girl to be in distress, Octavia still wanted to show that she was an independent individual who didn't snap at anything that went against what she wanted... like her mother. But still, the stress of this whole situation was starting to eat at her from the inside out, as she actually did need something to take the edge off a little like she still thinks about how she wasn't able to pay her debt by helping out Gray even though they only have known each other for a day. It may have been out of nowhere and perhaps a little bit risky to say, but the next thing that came out of Octavia's beak was most definitely something she had to let her father hear.
"And I also want to go outside.... cause I thought maybe that would clear my head a little."
Unfortunately, the answer her father gave her little gamble was not the one she was hoping for.
"Absolutely not! You have yet to recover from your Trauma!"
Within just a matter of seconds, Stolas instantly switched from being a normal dad back to his 'overprotective mode', something which, while expected, Octavia wasn't in the mood for.
"Dad! I just want to see the guy who saved me! And I've already recovered!"
"V-Via? Was that? The promise bond?"
Stolas finally snap out of it and asked.
"Yeah, I made a promise that I'll need to recover from my trauma and from the looks of it that promise is finally fulfilled and that after I've recovered from my trauma I promise to pay back my debt.... if possible."
she replied, still looking at the glowing dust around the room as the markings left it, soon however it seems to be disappearing slowly at least one by one. At those words, Stolas leaned back in his chair and scratched his chin in thought. Octavia had mentioned quite a fair bit about the Masked Demon who saved her after coming home, and while Stella simply wanted to leave well enough alone, believing that there was no good reason to seek the Sinner out to thank him since he had all but refused any kind of rewards anyway, Stolas was of a completely different opinion and it added even more as Stolas looked back at the coat she asked to be examined.
"Now that you mention it, I must admit I was hoping to give him my own thanks for that."
he said, though somewhat hesitant in his words.
"Have you tried calling him?"
Octavia couldn't help but roll her eyes at that.
"Kinda impossible to share contact info when both our Hellphones were destroyed,"
she pointed out.
"I do know where he works though."
However, even with that information in mind, Stolas was still hesitant
"I don't know Via,"
he muttered, the uncertainty in his voice as clear as crystal.
"I promise that I'll go straight to his place and back here,"
Octavia insisted, almost begging at this point.
"And I swear not to make any unnecessary stops."
Seeing that his daughter clearly wasn't going to back down, Stolas rubbed his chin in thought. Granted he didn't know much about the Masked Demon, apart from what Octavia had told him, however, given the fact that most Sinners only grew worse as time went on, lettering their vices out of control during their eternal stay in Hell, this particular one was clearly different if what she said was true. The fact that this one Sinner helped his daughter and didn't do anything inappropriate to her or even attempted to demand compensation spoke great volumes, and even going so far as to give Octavia a coat that helped her get past her trauma, thus making his interest in meeting him grow with each passing moment. Eventually, the Goetia Demon sighed in defeat.
"Alright fine,"
he finally relented, only for a small glare to appear on his face.
"but on one condition."
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"You didn't have to come with me, you know,"
Octavia said , the frown on her face making it perfectly clear that she was not happy in the scenario she now found herself in.
As it turns out, Stolas' condition for allowing Octavia to leave the house to see Gray was that he had to go along too. Needless to say, Octavia was not happy with that compromise. After all, what girl would ever want to meet someone she knows with her overprotective father in a tow? Alas, it was the only way Stolas would allow her to go, so she clearly had no choice. So now here she was, sitting in the back seat of one of her father's limos, with Stolas himself sitting next to her with a look of determination spread across his face.
"Until I'm sure you'll be safe, you are not leaving my sight,"
the Goetia Demon insisted, his look of determination slowly morphing into one
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