Chapter Text
The full moon was close, its light already bright in the night sky. Usually, it was something the owl demon awaited with joyful impatience, but this time was different. Because everything was bound to change after that fateful night, and it could change either for the better… Or the worst. With hardly any in-between.
Still two nights left before everything was settled, and Stolas could hardly think about anything else. During the day, he could focus on tasks here and there, but once the hellsun was gone, it was hard not to ponder what he could say to put all the chances on his side…
But if Blitz didn’t return his feelings, there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t want to force the imp into a relationship, even something as simple as dates in the hope that it would convince his heart. He thought about it a lot, changing his mind at least once a day, but right now he felt like it was a bad idea. Though, if he had to be honest, it was true he didn’t have many opportunities to show Blitz what he really wanted. He did try, but as their evening at Ozzie showed, the assassin didn’t get the message, and they didn’t see each other much since. If the imp ever felt anything for the Goetia, was it still there after all this time?
Thoughts kept circling in his mind as night crept in. After tonight, there would be only one night left before the full moon.
At least, Octavia was coming back soon! He felt a bit guilty to see her that way, but his daughter would be a great distraction til it was time. She knew what happened on full moons and wasn’t too keen about it, so the least he could do was to make up for it beforehand, because after dinner he knew she’d stay in her room the whole night.
With that idea in mind, he left his study to prepare for his owlette’s return, when he heard the front door open. A quick time check told him she was back early, not that he wanted to complain, as her presence stopped his thinking more effectively.
Beaming, he made his way to the entrance, surprised not to have heard her announcing her presence yet. She probably thought he was too far away to hear. But as he got close, he heard footsteps, too many for a simple person, and he frowned.
Suddenly the front door came into view, and with it the small group gathered in front of it, three hellhounds led by none other than his despicable ex wife, who wasted no more time before she screamed “STOLAS!” in a commanding tone.
“What in hell are you doing here?!” He asked as he approached, his tone cold and angry. “You know you’re not welcome here anymore…”
“Ah, here you are!” She cut him, smiling like if she was glad to see him, but he knew the light in her eyes, and he didn’t like it.
“Get out, now”, he ordered with a low threatening tone, not even acknowledging the hellhounds. If she thought he’d be intimidated by them, she was so wrong. It was his first time seeing her in person since Striker almost killed him by her orders, and with Octavia out of sight, he was certainly not going to pretend he didn’t know.
“Oh no, I don’t think so!” She grinned. “See, I can’t have you killed yet, but it doesn’t mean I’ll just let you live! I’ve seen the pictures of your arrival at the hospital, and I thought, what a shame I couldn’t be here to witness this! It’s a bit late to ask for pictures and videos of you being tortured, but it would be ever better to see it myself, don’t you think?”
Stolas raised a brow, still serious but a bit taken aback by her confidence.
“Is that why they are here?” He asked, pointing at the hellhounds. “You don’t think I’m going to let them torture me for your pleasure, don’t you? Even you aren’t that stupid.”
She snorted.
“Indeed, you’re behaving more and more silly since you cheated, but I think I have the perfect way to make you do as you’re told for once!”
Before Stolas could sent her back the way she came with a few wisely chosen insults, she shoved her phone to his face, and he froze.
There were several cameras on the screen, showing different views of the same thing, or rather the same person: Blitz, in the meeting room at IMP’s headquarters, talking to his employees.
“What does it mean?” Stolas asked, his tone between threatening and worried.
“Come on Stolas, even you know what it means! Don’t you see the rifles’ tips? If you don’t listen to me, that little bastard you cheated me on with will die in a very quick and sudden way! Don’t think the ones I have hired don’t know how to aim, because if needed, they will shoot right through his head and torso. If you behave nicely and only makes one small mistake, I may be generous and grant you a warning shot that will only put him in the hospital, but right know, any misplay on your part will mean death for him, am I clear enough?”
The owl was still too stunned to answer, let even move, fear keeping in him place more surely than if he was being tied up, before his brain suddenly woke up from the shock and frantically tried to think of a solution.
“Oh, you already want him dead, do you?” Stella asked with a vicious smirk.
“No! Please, don’t! I heard you!”
She snorted again, disdain clear in her look as she watched her ex husband’s reaction.
“You could at least have the decency to not look so worried about such garbage!” She added, eyeing him with a judgmental stare.
But Stolas didn’t care if he was being ridiculous to his wife, because he knew the moment he did or said anything wrong, she wouldn’t hesitate to apply her threat. It was too late to pretend not to care, and if he did, she would have probably killed him anyway to punish Stolas for trying to lie to her.
“Great, now you understand the position you are in! Let your phone here, and let’s head to the bedroom.”
Stolas blinked. “My phone…?”
She sighed, looking annoyed.
“I’m not sure I’ll even get to the funny part if you keep being that dense.”
She waved the phone before his face, a threatening smile on her lips.
“You do understand what’s going to happen if you keep being this slow to obey, right?”
Stolas flinched and put out his phone as quickly as possible on the nearest surface, trying to calm the part of him that was angry and wanted to fight, ever since it awoke when he finally had the guts to ask for a divorce, and the one who simply wanted to understand. The later was easy to deal with, the former not so much, but he had to. There was no positive outcome if he ever let that part act, at least he couldn’t see any right now. He couldn’t attack Stella because of Via and she knew it well, and he couldn’t do anything fast enough to protect Blitz without putting him in danger, especially now that he didn’t have his phone on him, and there were more than enough eyes on him to notice if he ever tried any magic.
“Better, now let’s go, you first. But be careful with sudden movements, it could be badly interpreted.”
He turned back from when he came on autopilot, his body remembering where she wanted to go before his brain could find it in his memory, but he was glad for it. If he could keep that up, everything should be fine… At least, as fine as they could be in his current predicament.
But as he was making his way to his bedroom, thoughts and emotions kept spiraling in his mind. Worry, guilt, even fear. He didn’t know if she truly didn’t want him dead anymore, she just said she couldn’t right now. He could guess why, it was probably Andrealphus’ doing. So, she was probably not going to try to off him, and oddly enough, he kind of trusted her on her word. It didn’t mean he wasn’t in trouble tho, and the memories of the torture he endured in the hands of Striker were still fresh and not exactly happy and painless ones.
But… There was nothing he could do about this. He was already putting his beloved in danger because of Stella. It didn’t matter if the imp loved him back or not, he couldn’t let anything happen to him because of his own mistakes. So… He had to do this.
He could already feel a kind of dissociation as he walked, his body remembering the abuse and how to deal with it, but he knew that this would be different, oh so much different from what she usually did.
He had questions too, sure, but didn’t dare ask any of them. So he could only guess. Why go in the bedroom? Probably because it was where he met with Blitz, where they would spent most of their time together. Where he was the most intimate and vulnerable.
But when they entered the bedroom, they noticed that someone was already in the room. There stood a middle-aged man in a suit. That man was none other than the infamous G-Man from Half-Life.
"Well look what we have here... Two Goetians and some hellhounds. I must say, I am really impressed by the design of the bird demons, and I also like how diverse the hellhounds are in their looks. Mr. Freeman was not wrong with how interesting the demons are in Hell," G-Man said in his labored speaking.
"Well, thanks? But can you please leave? We got some sh*t to do here," the chihuahua said.
"I'm afraid I cannot leave at this time, for you see, I need to show you all something."
What happened next would shock everyone. The scene morphed out of the master bedroom and instead formed into some black space with nothing in it. There stood what look to be various aliens of the Half-Life games.
"These are the aliens of my world. They have been taking over much of my world and show no sign of stopping. That is why I ask of you demons to assist in halting their invasion and utilizing some of your demonic powers to include some hell-like auras within the world. What do you say?"
Stolas was surprised of how the aliens look and how they supposedly took over G-Man's world that easily. However, Stella wasn't impressed, and instead looked annoyed.
"You have got to be f*ckING KIDDING ME! How dare you teleport us out of the room and into this sh*thole! You better take us back right now, or else you will wish you weren't born!"
The G-Man didn't say anything, but instead played a flashback where Stella cry and cradle a dead Andrealphus.
"W- WHAT IS THAT?!" Stella shrieked.
"We are in the future. This is the moment where you watch your brother die..." G-Man said, shocking Stella.
"OH f*ck NO!!! HOW THE f*ck DOES HE DIE?!?!" Stella demanded.
"Well, Stella, that is where you decide to save him," G-Man said as the scene reversed and it showed Blitzo holding Andrealphus at gun point. Stella didn't hesitate to use some green power she got to kill Blitzo.
"WHAT THE f*ck, STELLA?!?! WHY WOULD YOU KILL BLITZY?!?!" Stolas cried out.
"Because he deserves to die for trying to kill my brother! NOW LET US OUT, BECAUSE WE ARE NOT STOPPING THOSE DISGUSTING ALIENS FROM TAKING OVER YOUR WORLD!!!" Stella screamed at G-Man's face, the latter not showing any reaction.
"Well, Stella, it's not that simple, for you see, you have all proven to be exceptional in your powers. And because of this, we have struggled to find a replacement until now..."
G-Man held Stolas's hands as they both walked into a white light.
"NO FAIR!!! LET US OUT AS WELL!!!" the watchdog screamed.
"I'm afraid you misunderstand the situation..." G-Man said before they left the void. Stolas took some time to adjust to the light before he realized he was back in the room.
"But I don't understand. What's going to happen to them?" Stolas asked.
"As it turns out, Stella had been responsible for the unleashing of the aliens in our world. Because of this, I have decided to trick them into being in a void where nothing can help them, and they will most likely perish at the hands of the very aliens they unleashed. Don't bother trying to help them out either, as no demonic power you have can get you to return to the void. I hope that this action will lead to the decline of aliens in our world."
Before Stolas can say anything else, the G-Man would portal out of hell. Stolas felt... confused. The G-Man was known for being mysterious, as well as not making sense half the time, and now his actions got Stella and her goons trapped in a void where they will never be seen again.
"I'm not sure how to explain all of this to Via..." Stolas sighed as he left the room.
