Chapter 4: The Four-Eyed Demon Owl

The night seemed to span for mere minutes, as the day soon returned. In the surface world, the sun would be rising, waking people for the coming day. In hell, however, that was nothing but a pipe dream. Demon's had grown so accustomed to the way it was down there, that the sun became unnecessary, and if they needed a way to get up on time, their phones or alarm clocks would do the trick. Loona was one of those demons.

Her phone buzzed and rang, a punk/metal song playing from it. She huffed in annoyance, as she grabbed it and turned off the alarm. The alarm, a sign that she would have to get up and get over to her job, to which she found to be a nuisance. She couldn't just quit though, Blitzo wouldn't have it, and she wasn't gonna give Moxxie the satisfaction. Someone had to annoy him and take jabs at him. If she didn't, who would? Well, Blitzo would most likely, but she wanted to have a bit of fun with it too.

With a grunt, she lugged herself out of bed and pulled off her comforter. She scratched her bear chest, as she went to grab her clothes. It had been a warm night, what with it being hell, so she got rid of the tank-top she was wearing. After sluggishly putting on her usual attire, she walked out to her bedroom door. She stopped in her tracks, as she sniffed the air curiously. Was that, bacon?

"The fuck...Don't tell me he's..."

She opened the door slowly and stepped into the living room. The faint sound of clanking plates and sizzling oil hit her ears, as she walked towards the kitchen. She entered it, and to her surprise, Zack was in the kitchen, not only cooking bacon, but also cooking eggs, hash browns, and even cut up a few fruits to make two full bowls. He was humming softly, as he made two plates and carried them out of the kitchen. His eyes slowly landed on Loona's, a surprised, but happy smile on his face.

"Oh, good morning Loona. I was wondering when you were gonna wake up. Um, I made you breakfast." he exclaimed, as he handed her the bowl of diced fruit, and a full plate of the cooked breakfast items. She raised an eyebrow in suspicion, as if not knowing what to do with them. She placed them on the table, as she rolled her eyes.

"I didn't ask you to cook. Your job isn't to be my butler; well, more like maid in regards to you, but still."

Zack placed a hand on his chest in fake-offense, as he made an overdramatic gasp.

"How rude Lady Loona! I was merely making you breakfast for your work day! Why, I never...harumph!" Zack crossed his arms and looked away, his chin held high. She couldn't help but snicker at his reaction, as she sniffed the food again. To her, it was slightly odd. It had been a while since she had a home-cooked meal. Most of her dining experiences consisted of fast-food and things of that nature, but to have a meal cooked and prepped at home, it was almost foreign to her. With slow movements, she sat down and began to eat her breakfast, which only made Zack smile. He sat across from her at the table and ate his portion, as his eyes watched for her reaction. He was pleased to see that she didn't gag.

Zack's eyes continued to stare at her, as his mind filled with thoughts, all of which saying one thing; how was he gonna find clues? He had to find someway to get information, and sitting around wasn't gonna do anything. Though he new Loona wasn't gonna give him a tour, he could at least see if she could give him information. With a clear of his throat, he placed his fork on his plate and began to ask her questions.

"So, Loona, you've been in hell for a very long time, right?"

Loona glanced up at him, as she nodded her head.

"I was born here, obviously. Never was a human or anything like that." she answered, as Zack nodded his head, making a mental note of that. He had to get more information, so he continued his interrogation.

"So that means there are deceased people from the surface in this town or city?" he asked her. She shook her head, as she bit into her piece of bacon.

"No, those people are usually sent to a place called Pentagram City, though some of them are in this city. By the way, this city is known as IMP City. Imps usually live here." Zack nodded again, as she continued, "Pentagram City is where the used-to-be-humans live, due to it being much more crime based. Don't get me wrong, crime happens here too, but in P.C, you'd have a easier time trying to get away from air than not seeing some crime happening there."

Zack rubbed his chin, as he stared at his half-eaten eggs in thought. If what she was saying was true, then that means that his best bet would be to search Pentagram City. Loona burped, as she finished her breakfast and got up from her chair.

"Alright, I gotta get outta here. I'm already late enough, and I'm sure Moxxie is gonna piss and moan about it." she groaned, as she headed for the door. Before she could reach the door, Zack quickly grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"Wait, I have one more question..." he said, making Loona huff. She waved her hand, signaling for him to speak. Zack smiled awkwardly, as he looked up at her.

"Do you, uh, have a change of clothes I can wear...like at all?"

Loona's face twisted in confusion. Her eyes raked up and down his body. His clothes didn't look ripped or anything, except for the bullet hole in his hoodie and shirt. Out of nowhere, she gripped his hoodie and pulled her towards him. She brought her nose to his clothes and sniffed them.

"Oh yeah, you never took a shower, didn't you? Alright, fine, give me a second." she said, as she walked into his room. After a few seconds, she came back with a pair of black jeans, and a black shirt with a skull on the front. She threw them at him and he caught them with ease. He looked them over, a smile on his face.

"Thanks! Um, by the way, these look kinda small for you. Are these from your childhood?"

Loona shrugged, as she responded, "Nope, those were given to Blitzo by someone. He told me to take them and burn them for some reason. I must have forgot or something."

Zack blinked in curiosity, as Loona walked out of her apartment, her phone in her hand.

"If you're smart, you'll stay here. If you leave, there's no way that you'll survive, trust me!" she called back, as she slammed the door behind her. Zack stared at the door for a second, before looking at the clothes. He shrugged, as he headed for the bathroom to take a nice, well-deserved shower.

A few minutes later, Zack was standing in the bathroom, fully cleaned and dried off, the spare clothes in his hands. His eyes looked them over, inspecting each hem and thread.

"They look normal. Hell, they look human-made. Huh, might as well." he mumbled, as he slipped on the clothes. They were slightly snug, but they would do just fine. He looked at the bathroom mirror, his reflection looking back at him. He scratched his stomach, an itchy feeling gnawing at his skin.

"Huh, I look pretty good. The pants are kinda snug around the crotch and ass regions though... and damn it, why is my stomach so itchy?!"

He pulled up the shirt and looked at the fabric against his skin. It wasn't a rash, but instead, it was a strange patch. Zack's brows furrowed in confusion, as he stared at the patch. It was a circular shape, a pentagram design at the center, with a few strange words on it.

"The hell? Why's this here? Shouldn't this be on the outside?" he wondered, as his fingertips brushed against the patch. He tugged at it, until he felt it slowly pull off and plop into his hand. He brought it up to his face, taking a closer look at it.

"It says 'Instant Penta-Portal... Wait, Penta-wha-" before he could even get his voiced thoughts out, the entire bathroom began to glow a bight light, to which he quickly covered his eyes, "What the hell! What's going on!?"

Zack panted heavily and rubbed his eyes, as his body grew heavy and his consciousness slowly left him. He fell to the floor, as his body went limp and his eyes closed.

"What...the..."

*

Loona yawned loudly, as she flipped through her magazine, her feet propped up on the receptionist desk. As the receptionist, it was her duty to answer the phone and take calls; too bad she barely did any of that and instead decided to do her nails or read magazine articles. Most of the calls she got were from random sellers, scammers, and callers of the "personal" kind. Due to this, she rarely took phone calls seriously, but still did at least the bear minimum to keep her co-workers and boss/dad from getting on her case.

She tapped her finger on the side of her leg, as her eyes grew slightly concerned. There was something not quite right. She had remembered to eat Moxxie's lunch, made sure to lock the apartment door, got the right nail polish, black or course, so what was it? As she thought to herself, Blitzo walked towards her, his usual snarky smile plastered on to his face.

"Hey there Loooooonie! How's it going?" he asked, as he leaned on to the desk, which made Loona slightly lean back from him. Personal space was obviously not Blitzo's forte.

"It's fine Blitzo. Had a great sleep, messed with the human, hazay blazay, yada yada yada." she huffed to him, as she continued to read her magazine. Though her response was anything but polite, his face still had the same grin it usually had.

"Well that's great dear. Oh, by the way, did you take care of that thing I wanted you to do?" he asked, to which Loona shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you said, I already did it."

"Oh good, that was a close one, ya know? Those stupid clothes from that beak-faced fuck; pretty sure that would have been a disaster." he chuckled, his hands on his hips. Loona's eyes slightly widened from what she heard. Did he just say clothes? He couldn't be talking about those clothes, right? He continued, "I mean, if I would have worn those things, I'm pretty sure I would have ended up in his stupid room. Well, either way, no need to bitch about something dealt with. Nice work Loo-"

In a flash, Loona ran towards the door and busted through it, knocking it off it's hinges. She bolted down the stairs, leaving a confused and shocked Blitzo standing alone at the receptionist desk. Her thoughts ran rampant, as she sprinted down the road, panting with each lunge.

"Fucking damn it! That's what I forgot! If he puts those things on, it's curtains for him! There's no telling what that bird-brained prick will do! Gotta hurry!"

In a matter of minutes, she finally made it back to her apartment. The door was still locked, yet that didn't mean anything in this case. She fumbled with the lock and opened the door, as she called out for Zack loudly.

"Zack! Hey, pussy, you there?! Did you put those clothes on?!" she shouted. No answer, nothing but a deafening silence. She stepped into the apartment and looked throughout the living room. No Zack. Her footsteps rung throughout the hallway, as she looked into the bathroom. Her eyes looked down towards the ground, the only thing there being his clothes and the spare clothes, laying on the ground. Her eyes widened, as she growled deeply. It was too late. The spell took into affect! She jumped out of her apartment, not even bothering to close the door back. If her hunch was correct, then there was only one place Zack was, one place only...

*

Zack's consciousness slowly began to return, his body tingling from the new sensation he felt. His eyes fluttered open, and with a soft sigh and groan, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. He shook his head and rubbed his neck, as he took a deep breath.

"Where the hell am I now...?" he muttered, as his body shivered and his skin pebbled over. It was cold, much colder than usual. Was the AC on? He touched his bear knee, as he looked throughout the pitch black room to get a good indication of where he was. Wait, bear knee? Zack's eye's widened, as he looked down at his body. It wasn't just cold, he was literally ass-naked! He yelped in embarrassment, as he quickly hid his junk with his hands, his face a deep red.

"What's going on? Why am I here on what I have deemed as a king-sized bed? And why the hell am I naked?!"

All these questions needed to be answered, before something bad happened! He soon started to feel his way around the bed, trying to find a way out. That was when, he heard it. A soft chuckle, emanating from the other side of the room. His head slowly turned to it, his heart pounding against his ribcage more than ever before. In the darkness, shrouded in thick shadow, four blood-red eyes peered down at him, each one intense with an emotion Zack just couldn't seem to read. The four eyes squinted, as a voice called from the darkness.

"It would appear, that my little plan took into affect~ Hmhmhm, how magnificent~" the male voice said in a hushed and sexually charged tone. The tall figure closed the distance between him and Zack, causing him to slowly back up until his body was pressed against the bed's headboard. Zack gulped nervously, as he tried to speak.

"Wh-Who are y-you? What do y-you want?" he stammered, bringing out a soft, bone-chilling giggle from the figure.

"Now now, my little imp~ Changing your voice won't fool me~ You know exactly what I want, and there's nowhere for you to hide~" the shadowed figure said, as he clapped his hands twice, causing a low purple light to glow from above the bed, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to pleasure you nice and-"

Time seemed to have stopped, as Zack stared up at the illuminated figure. His eyes widened with pure denial, as he stared at the creature. He had to be at least 8 feet tall, his entire body covered in grey and black feathers, his face a pure white with soulless, glowing red eyes, and...a beak...he had a beak! This thing, it wasn't a man nor an imp, it was a giant, talking owl!

"Wait...you're not Blitzy..." it muttered, as Zack shook his head quickly.

"Blitzy..? Are y-you talking about Blitzo?! I know that guy, he's Loona's dad!" he exclaimed, causing the oversized owl to place a hand over his beak in shock.

"Wait, you know Loona? And Blitzy as well? Oh, well this makes things much easier. I was worried I picked up some random demon off the street." he said with a sigh of relief. He flicked his hands and in an instant, the curtains opened, letting the light flood into the room. Zack groaned, as he shielded his eyes from it. He blinked a few times, as he stood to his feet, a throw pillow covering his exposed junk.

"Um, not to be rude or anything, but it's kinda cold in here. Can I, um, get some clothes?" Zack asked, as he lightly shivered. The owl giggled softly, as he slipped on a robe and walked towards the door opening it.

"Come with me, human. I'll get you some clothes, and perhaps we can sit for some tea. I haven't had a conversation with your kind in a while." he said, as he walked out the door, a grin on his face. Zack gulped down a lump of nervousness, as he followed behind him. To Zack, this was a very dicey situation. Would it be a good idea to do this? He was sure that Blitzo didn't explain the situation to the owl demon, and not only that, he was left defenseless against him. If he ran, he wouldn't get far without getting captured either. Right now, this was the only thing he could do...

*

"This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy Zack!" he internally screamed, as he sat at the table with the owl creature, a cup of tea in his trembling hands. His eyes began to truly study him, though he made sure not to make eye contact. The creature was now wearing a pair of brown pants, a red shirt with gold buttons, long black gloves, a red cape with white edges, and a black top hat.

Now Zack's clothes were a bit more casual than his. Zack was wearing a pair of black jeans, red sneakers, and a dark blue, short-sleeved shirt. It was a slight bit snug, but it was much better than just walking around in nothing but his birthday suit.

"So, are you going to tell me your name, human?" the creature asked, causing Zack to silently yelp in surprise.

"O-Oh, um, ahem, my name is Zack, Zack Trevle. What is your name, sir?"

He giggled, as he took a sip from his cup and answered, "Stolas. It's a pleasure to meet you, Zack."

Zack nodded, as he looked him over longer. His mind instantly placed clue by clue together, his desire to ask questions and prod him for information growing more apparent.

"His clothes are very royal like, and the way he sits and carries himself, as if he has an leg up on any situation. Add all that with him seemingly living in this house, and it's obvious he's either very wealthy, or is royalty." he thought, as he finished his tea.

"So, um, if I may ask, how did I get here? Was that your doing?"

"Yes, technically it was. You see, those clothes were actually a gift for my Blitzy. Unfortunately, as it seems, he didn't fall for my trick. Oh well, maybe next time." he answered, as he chuckled to himself, his hand over his beak. Zack couldn't help but slightly feel uncomfortable, not knowing just how close he and Blitzo was at a specific point. He had, however, deduced that they may have had some type of sexual relationship, due to how Zack had ended up and the fact that he had no clothes on when he woke up in Stolas's room.

"Er, well, couldn't you just invite him over? Seems like a bit of a hassle to try and trick him like that."

"Countless times I've tried. However, my Blitzy loves to play hard to get. Though, in a way, it does make the reward so much sweeter."

Zack couldn't help but slightly pity him. Even he could see that there was most likely no way that Blitzo saw him the same way, or even wanted to have anything to do with him for that matter. Though, so keep himself from being eradicated on the spot, he refrained from speaking his mind. With a clear of his throat, he stood up from his seat and brushed his pants off. Talking was well and good, but a part of him didn't want to be alone with this towering owl demon any longer than what he had to.

"Um, this has been fun and all, Mr. Stolas, but I really gotta get back home. Er, well, to Loona's house. If she saw I wasn't where she left me, I'm sure she'd, um, kick my ass." Zac said with an awkward smile. Stolas couldn't help but chuckle, as he nodded his ead, motioning to the door with a swift hand.

"Just head out that door and head down the hall. You'll see a flight of stairs not far from here. After that, the front door will be just a few steps away."

Zack nodded in understanding, as he made his way to the door, a relieved smile on his face. As he walked out, he bid him a farewell and started on his trek to the entrance. Back inside, however, Stolas's face held a grim, serious expression. He silently spoke to himself, an almost venomous undertone dripping from his words, as he stood to his feet.

"That human; Zack, was it? Something is definitely wrong with him..."

*

As Zack walked down the hallway, he began to rub his chin in thought. He wanted to ask Stolas more questions, but with the situation, thought it'd be best to postpone that. Instead, he took the liberty to fully study Stolas. He had almost everything about his character and mannerisms down, but the only thing that was unmentioned or off to him was his work or livelihood. It was obvious that he was well off, more so than most people in even the living world at least, so it had to be well paying. Perhaps it was even an illegal job. He soon made his way to the main hall, a flight of stairs heading down to the giant front doors.

"This must be the entrance. Perfect, now I can get the hell outta here and somehow find my way back to Loona's." he thought, as he started down the stairs. Before hitting the third step, he stopped and turned back, a giant painting catching his eye. It was well crafted, with a golden frame bordering the artwork, giving it a royal feel to it. As Zack stared, his curiosity soon got the better of him, causing him to walk back up to take a better look at it.

It was a family portrait, having Stolas at the right, a white, red and blue eyed owl woman to the left, and a dark grey, pink and white eyed owl in the center. Within seconds, Zack had all of their features memorized and had already came up with an idea of their personalities and mannerisms, to which he mentally spoke to himself.

"The one on the left is Stolas, right? So then he has a family. Must mean that he's having an affair with Blitzo. The one on the right must be his wife, or Ex-Wife, perhaps? No, judging by her look, she doesn't seem like the type to want anything ruin her image. It's unlikely that they're divorced, at least not yet any way," his eyes scanned towards the middle of the portrait, "So then this must be their daughter. She doesn't seem to be the most royalty driven, judging by her getup. I wonder if she knows about the affair, and if so, does she even care...?"

His thoughts were cut short, as the faint sound of metal music flooded his ears. He looked towards the other hall to his left, his eyebrows raised. Giving into his curiosity, he slowly stepped forward, in an attempt to find the source. After a few minutes of silent walking, he stopped in front of one of the many doors down the hall. It was cracked, not even closed all the way.

"Whoever is in their must not get many visitors. Must be why they've got the door slightly ajar." he thought, as he slowly stepped closer and peaked through the opening. With an observant eye, he searched for the source of the noisy music, before coming across it. Someone was in their, a woman he assumed. She was sitting on her bed, with her phone in her hand and earbuds sending music into her ears. She, however, wasn't just a normal woman. She looked a lot like Stolas, with a white face and beak, the tip of it housing a black point, almost like a bit of lipstick. Her feathers were a dark grey, some acting as her hair, and most covering her body. As Zack studied her appearance more, he realized something. She was, in fact, not fully clothed! She had on a tight, formfitting t-shirt, and a pair of hot pink and white panties on, but other than that, nothing! Even though she was still an animal-like creature, she still had a very feminine form, one that would make human models envious.

Zack's eyes widened and his heart almost stopped, as she laid on her stomach, giving him a very, VERY good view of her tail-feathered ass. In an instant, he went from serious and curious, to flustered and embarrassed.

"So...it's not just Loona who has an, um, interestingly thicc body type... Gah, what am I doing?! I'm not a peeping tom, I just wanted to find the source of the noise. I better go before some sees-" as he got to his feet, a little to quickly I might add, his foot stepped incorrectly, making his ankle buckle under his weight. With widened eyes, a stopped heart, and a fearful squeak, his body fell backwards against the door. With a loud thud, he hit the ground, his upper body past the threshold to the owl girl's room. He groaned softly, as he looked up towards the bed, his eyes staring straight into the pink and white one's of the room's owner. Needless to say...

"I'm fucking dead..."

To be Continued...