AN: Hey guys. Not much else to say.
Disclaimer: I do not own Helluva Boss or Hazbin Hotel. Spiroz belongs to artist DaniDraws
Spiroz didn't often like to brag about himself, but the young hybrid demon often thought of himself as a mix of both intelligent and calm under most circumstances. However, his brain was fried entirely by what he had just experienced no less than ten minutes ago and hadn't once moved from the very spot where it happened. An angel, his mortal enemy, had just finished being friendly with him while poking him around as if he was some exhibit at the zoo with all the happy, bubbly personality of one of those anime girls that Milton liked to watch in secret.
Not only had she not tried to kill him or do some weird angelic heavenly thing on him, but she called him 'cool' and acted friendly towards him as if he was just a stranger. Plus, if he was being honest, Spiroz was definitely impressed by how good her deduction skills were. Not only was she able to tell that he was a Goteia demon, but she also was able to deduce that he was half imp. She even got the raven heritage of the Morganian family we married into twenty-four hundred years ago.
That was impressive on all accounts since few knew of that connection. Spiroz only remembered it because his father told him about it one time as a bedtime story when he was four. Rubbing his head, Spiroz tried to think of what to do next. Well, I'm alive. That's a good thing. Alive but confused. I guess I better just get out of here and get the twins back home before meeting any more angels. Hedwig did say she was with family here.
He paused upon realizing that he actually remembered her name before shaking his head and making a beeline for the campsite.
Thankfully, finding his way back to where the twins were wasn't difficult. It also helped that he teleported there halfway with a spell just in case he was being followed. Arriving at the site in a flash of light and stars, he saw the twins already there looking disappointed. "I take it by your expressions you didn't find any meteor parts."
"All of them were duds!" Mitzy cried out as she kicked a nearby rock in frustration. "This sucks! I wanted to use it to make my bike levitate in the air like E.T. and shoot at people from above as if I was a death incarnate!"
"I thought your parents told you not to kill people unless you had a good reason?" Spiroz asked, tilting his head.
"I was going to be aiming at those eco-freaks downtown who claim we are ruining 'Mother Hell' of all places with our pollution," Mitzy answered with a roll of her eyes. "Like, seriously. I know some people can't get over their past lives and all, but you don't need to worry about saving Hell when Hell is designed to be a polluted mess?"
"Anyway, did you find any?" Milton asked, eyebrow raised.
"Uh, no," Spiroz said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I uhh...found nothing...and found nobody there...nobody..." The twins looked confused by this statement, so a blushing Spiroz quickly coughed into his hand and cleared his throat. "A-Anyway! Let's just head back home before our parents realize what we did."
Spiroz opened the portal, and the three of them started packing up before tossing their stuff into the gateway, where it landed on Spiroz's bed. The three soon began to leave, but Spiroz paused and looked back where he gazed in the direction he had met the strange angel before sighing and going home. After all, what were the odds he would meet her again?
Four days had passed since that night, and Spiroz still couldn't get the meeting out of his head. No matter what he did, the thing that kept coming back was that strange meeting with the owl angel, Hedwig. It wasn't that Spiroz hadn't met angels before; there was that time Mitzy had them sneak into the angel embassy that one time, but they were all so cold and serious. Like gazing into them was like looking at the burning center of a cosmic flare with a storm surrounding it. But with Hedwig, it felt like...different.
His older sister, Octavia, had often dealt with angels due to being part of Queen Charlie's new cabinet in her new ministry. When asked what they were like, she said that some were okay and some were just assholes, but you had to treat them all seriously. There was a reason why angels were still the topmost feared creatures in the universe, even if there was peace now between the two realms. Spiroz had learned about the Exterminations, the wars against Heaven, and the amount of demon blood spilled from their actions. Of course, many of the so-called "educations" and "experts" blamed something or another for the losses they suffered. Though, if you were to do some independent study as Spiroz did, you'd find something that nobody says either out of loyalty or forced propaganda. Mainly it was how utterly screwed Hell had become was in each of its attempts to beat Heaven.
In every major conflict that the two realms had ever competed in, both in the astral plane and mortal plan, Hell always lost. Sometimes it got victories, big and small, only to have them mean nothing in the end. It was clear to anyone who was the top realm in the universe, but either out of stubborn pride or outright hatred, no demon ever admitted it until recently. Queen Charlie had been changing things in Hell, for better or worse depending, and one of those was establishing a peace treaty between the two realms for the first time. Some welcomed it because it meant Hell could focus less on the war and more on internal affairs. Not to mention no more Exterminations so long as Hell continued to redeem sinners.
On the other hand, some felt it was treason and that she was "bowing down" to their oppressors. It led to many rebellions early on in Charlie's reign, but she was her father's daughter and wiped them all out. Many shut up after that. Spiroz didn't know what to think since it was all before he was born, but he did like the fact he didn't worry about the possibility of being killed once every year.
"Yo, Spiro! Get ready! It's time for the next race!" Spiroz's dad alerted him before he snapped out of his thoughts. The two of them were in the high-class seating of the local district's horse racing facility, Burmount Park. Like his father, Spiroz had been a big fan of horses ever since he was a kid, but while usually seeing such animals race was a fun time, especially with his dad, he still found himself distracted with his thoughts.
He looked down the race track where the various demonic horses got placed into their respective gates. All of them were different demonic breeds, from the standard hell horse to the mythical kelpie. "Which one did you bet on again?"
"Daddy's Little Whore," Blitzo said as he pointed to the big stadium screen where it showed the fourteenth horse on the track: a nuckelavee. "That skinless baby is going to win daddy some sugar tonight!"
"Dad, we're rich already," Spiroz pointed out with a sigh. "You realize that any money you bet is easily replaceable."
"It's the thrill of winning, son," Blitzo said with a pat on the back. "The thrill of winning! Plus, I'm not allowed to bet more than six hundred thousand to spend ever since my second honeymoon with your father in Vegas. I nearly lost the house that time to Elon Musk."
"The President of the United States?" Spiroz asked in disbelief.
"He wasn't president at the time," Blitzo said before a gun went off (Hitting someone in the face as always), and the horses were off. "Oh, there they go! Come on, you little whore! Run like you are being chased by that freaky horse lover from that play Moxxie took me to one time! The one that stars that Harry Potter kid!"
Spiroz just watched as his dad continued to cheer for his little whore as they started picking up the pace and making it to the top of the pack. Smiling, Spiroz saw how happy his dad was and started to root as well. And then...
"Ugh, I swear they let anyone in these days," an arrogant voice whispered just behind Spiroz and Blitzo. "Bad enough that we have that imp Prince Stolas married in our presence, but do we really need their freak of a child here as well?"
Spiroz's eyes widened as he quickly lost any sense of happiness before wincing while another voice continued. "I know, seriously. I don't know what Queen Charlie was thinking of letting him live. If it was me? I would have drowned the little bitch into the Lake of Envy and let him die like a maggot."
Don't react. Don't react. Don't react. That was all Spiroz could think, but it wasn't just for him. It was for his Dad as well, but fate wasn't on his side.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU SAY, ASSHOLE?!" Blitzo shouted as he turned around with a raging growl. He was loud enough that it got a lot of attention on him as Spiroz cursed and turned around to see who it was that said it. It turned out to be two male black-winged Fallen Angels, dressed in red and purple noble clothing and holding hands, showing they were a couple. "YOU WANT TO SAY SOMETHING TO ME! SAY IT TO MY FACE!"
The one on the left, blond-haired and regal-looking, snorted and shook his head. "Oh, you heard me, you little sack of shit. Do you think anyone here likes having wasted garbage like you standing around as we try to enjoy ourselves? Honestly, you should have joined your peers down in the lower quarters. Or better yet? The bathrooms. Where the rest of the shit is."
"Bitch, I'm fucking one of you whether you like it or not," Blitzo growled as he lifted his wedding ring. "Legalized and legitimized Goetia's noble husband right here. So you can take your self-righteous attitude and shove it up to your ass."
"Like Prince Stolas is even noble material anymore," the other fallen angel, black-haired and pale as death, snorted. "Everyone knows he's only managed to keep his power because of his connections with the Royal Family. And even if his daughter has some worth, she's not enough to fix the mistake he made marrying you..." He then glared down at an embarrassed and squirming Stolas. "Nor the mistake of that thing over there."
Blitzo had his signature flintlock pistol pointing at the fallen angel's face, who raised his eyebrow in amusement a second later. No doubt such a thing was waste on him since he was among the highest level of demons in Hell. A single shot wasn't going to kill him no matter how good of an assassin Blitzo was. "That's my son you're talking about, fuckhead. And I will NOT let anyone talk to him that way."
"Dad?" Spiroz put his arm on his father's shoulder. The two looked at each other as Spiroz did his best to avoid every gazing and judgmental eye on them. Suddenly, coming here didn't seem like fun anymore. "Let's just go home? Please?"
Blitzo looked into his pleading son's eyes and softened before putting his gun back. Patting him on the shoulder, he nodded but not before flipping the two the bird. "Next time, fuckers? You're dead."
"As if you can even touch us," the first fallen angel said as the two made their way out of the stands.
They didn't even bother checking to see if Blitzo's bet had won.
The journey back home was ridden in silence save for the music playing on the radio. Despite having access to over a dozen limos, Blitzo still preferred to drive around in the I.M.P. van like an average person. Even if it smelled like piss half the time. Neither Blitzo nor Spiroz said anything to each other as they drove back to the palace. The former focused on the road while the latter curled up while looking outside, holding himself with his arms.
While looking out his window, he saw his reflection and all his hybrid features. Closing his eyes, he bitterly thought, Why couldn't I have been born normal? Or at least looked normal?
It was always the same each time. He tried to go out and have fun, just like he did when he was a kid, but even the happiest of places was always a reminder of what he was to the rest of the pentagram.
A freak that everyone wished wasn't born.
It wasn't just the rich who looked down upon him. The poor also hated him. He once tried to go into Imp City on his own only to have trash thrown at him because they thought he was acting like he was "better" than the rest of them. A few outright tried to kidnap him for ransom, but his father's bodyguards made quick work of him. What does one do when everyone but your closest family hates you?
It often made him wonder what his future was going to be. When he was a child, he wanted to be like his father and study magic and perform experiments, but would those even matter if nobody recognized them? His father was exiled from most noble and academic societies because he chose to marry his dad. He even was forced to give up his positions of power and let Octavia take them so that they could continue to be provided with their wealth and get married in the first place. Not that it didn't stop everyone from making fun of him or his family.
Why do they put up with me when all I do is make them miserable? Spiroz thought as he let a tear drip down his eye. His father was an outcast, and everyone disrespected his Dad. Why did I have to be born?
"You should have let me deal with them," Blitzo said as they stopped at a red light and sighed heavily. "I've killed Fallen Angels before, Spiro. I'm not a weakling despite being an imp. Fuck, I had to kill a lot of people to marry your father."
"It's not worth it," Spiroz whispered while shaking his head. "Besides, you and I both know it would only lead to more trouble. We already have enough problems because of...well...me."
His father quickly sped through the red light and then parked the car in a handicap zone outside of a store. He then turned the car off and forced Spiroz to look at him. "Son, look at me. Seriously, look at me."
Spiroz slowly did so, trying to hide his tears, but his father quickly cleaned them up. "You are not a problem. You are not a mistake. You are my son, and I love you. I don't care who has a problem with you because they can just fuck off!" Taking a deep breath, Blitzo leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. "Look...I know that it's hard dealing with a world that hates you to the point that you start to hate yourself so much that you push everyone around you. Believe me, I did that for years and went through one of the lowest points in my life before I finally accepted I had a problem. I wasn't a good person, Spiry. I hurt people. I hurt many people who were close to me, and some of them have never forgiven me. In...including my sister."
Spiroz's eyes widened. His dad never talked about his family life before he started I.M.P. The others knew of it, but they all told him they were sworn not to say anything until Blitzo felt comfortable telling him.
"I won't give you the whole story, but needless to say, I thought that all I did was hurt the people closest to me because of my existence alone," Blitzo whispered as he rubbed his forehead and sighed. "It got so bad...that I thought that maybe it was best if I disappeared for good and never bothered anyone again. Not Moxxie or Millie. Loona or Octavia. Or even Stolas..."
There was a long silence as Spiroz tried to process what his dad was saying until it finally clicked. At that moment, Spiroz looked at his father with horror and fear as a deep, dark, cold feeling entered his stomach, and he nearly threw up. Taking a few deep breaths, Spiroz gulped before asking, "You tried to kill yourself? Didn't you?"
"I didn't try anything," Blitzo whispered as he lifted his sleeve and showed his paling son a large gashing scar across his wrist. "I was dead for five minutes just before Loona found me in the tub. Dead as a doornail and there in the void. She barely called Stolas in time to get to my apartment to bring me back before I lost my soul for good."
There were no words to describe what one felt upon learning that your dad almost killed himself years ago. A feeling so indescribable that it was beyond reason. Blitzo sighed and put his sleeve down before looking at his hands in shame. "It's not my proudest moment. Honestly, I still haven't forgiven myself for that action. I thought...nobody cared, but...that was the first time Loona ever cried for me...and when I came back to life...do you know what the first thing I heard her say was?" He smiled and softly looked at him. "She called me 'dad.' For the first time in the four years since I adopted her, she finally called me her father."
That was a surprise for Spiroz. While his older half-sister had sometimes called their father by his first name, she had no problem calling him "dad" as often as he did. She did tell him they weren't close at first, but things changed over time. Was this the incident that caused it to happen?
"Not that she wasn't furious at me. They all were," Blitzo continued. "I never saw suicide as a selfish thing. Mostly just a means to escape whatever crappy life Hell gave you. But at the hospital bed? I saw all of them crying and yelling at me, but with love in their eyes. And I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if I didn't survive? How would they all feel? And then I realized I screwed up again...but this time I was finally able to learn."
Blitzo looked at his son and smiled at him. "It wasn't easy, but I became a better father, a better boss, a better friend, and a better lover. Sometimes you need to fall to rise again as they say, and I'm not going to say it was easy, but I did it. I got married to the love of my life, my company is doing good, and I have a family. Including a son I love with all my heart."
"Dad..." Spiroz whimpered as he began to sob and finally dived into his father's embrace. "Dad..."
"Shh," Blitzo whispered as he patted his son. "Look, I'm not the best when it comes to this father stuff. Loona will tell you that. But that doesn't mean I don't love you. I know it's not easy because of how you came to be, but I promise you that you'll find someone who will love you for who you are. It took me a long time, but I found them. And I want you to promise me something when you do find them."
Sniffing, Spiroz looked up and asked, "W-W-What?"
"Never let them go," Blitzo whispered before kissing his son on the forehead. "Now, let's go home, play some video games, and figure out a few ways I can prank Moxxie tomorrow at work."
A small smile decorated Spiroz's lips before he nodded and sat back on his seat. While he still felt a sense of pain inside his heart, it felt lessened thanks to his dad. He looked back at his reflection, where he saw his features and didn't bother thinking about it while just letting the music play.
After arriving back home, Spiroz told his family he needed some time alone, and they respected his wishes. Besides, it sounded like his sister and dad were planning a way to assassinate the two pricks from earlier. Entering his room, Spiroz fell to his bed and sighed. While his dad's words had comforted him a bit, he still couldn't help but feel like shit. Thinking he may need to do some reading, Spiroz went to look at his notebook on the star shower from a few days ago to help cheer him up, but when he saw it was missing on his desk, he paused.
"Wait, where did I put it?" He asked himself as he started looking around his entire room. He spent half an hour looking before he realized it wasn't there. "Where could it be? The only other place would be...shit...did I leave it behind in the human world?"
He checked the clock and saw that it was just about three in the afternoon, which meant he had plenty of time before dinner to find it. Taking a deep breath, Spiroz took the copy of the spell Mitzy had given him, and he got it to work on his wall. Walking through, he shut the portal behind him and looked around the same grassy field he was on from last night.
"Where could it be?" Spiroz asked himself as he walked around, using his keen sight to help him search. Soon, he found it near a large rock and sighed in relief before levitating it towards him.
"Wow, you can do magic too! Awesome!"
"GAH!" Spiroz shouted as he turned around and clutched the notebook close to his chest. He nearly had a heart attack upon seeing a familiar snow owl angel looking at him with beaming eyes. "Y-You?! Will you...Gah, you gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry!" Hedwig said with a nervous giggle. "I was going to say hi normally when I saw you levitate that book to you. That was pretty cool! I guess I was too amazed by the fact that you can use magic. Especially since you are half-imp, and they aren't known for their magical abilities." She then rubbed her chin and began to think. "Although, there are theories that imps can combine their magical energies to form spells in a group conscious sort of method. Theoretically, since imps can use magical items, they have to have magic inside them. You can't unless otherwise, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Spiroz said as he paused and thought about that concept. "That kinda does make some sense. Imps do have magic in them, small as it is, but if they can pool the magic into some kind of conduit or single caster feeding off the energy, they could cast a spell as a group. Of course, how many it would take and the size of each magical pool of the imps are..." He paused before realizing what he was doing and snapped out of it.
"Wait a minute! Hold the phone! Why are you here?!" Spiroz asked, pointing to the surprised snow owl. "Aren't you underaged angels not allowed to be here on the mortal plane unless you have special permission?"
"Aren't underaged demons also not allowed to be here unless you have special permission?" Hedwig pointed out, eyebrow raised.
"Touche," Spiroz replied bitterly before sighing. "Look, I just came to get my notebook from the star shower that one night. What's your excuse?"
"None," Hedwig chipped, much to his surprise. "I just like coming down here. So my brothers and I slip down here to see the human world and enjoy it from time to time. It's just me right now because I was feeling bored."
"...and here I thought all angels were followers of the law," Spiroz said, blinking in surprise.
Hedwig pouted, which made her cheeks puff out adorably in the demon hybrid's mind. "Oh, come on! That's a stereotype! We angels can be a bit mischievous here and there! Heck, my brothers could give goblins a run for their money in the number of times they got in trouble."
"Sorry," Spiroz said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I've...never really talked to an angel before."
"Well, I've never talked to a demon before, so this is a first for us both! See?" Hedwig said with a smile as she grabbed his arms and brought him in closer, much to his shock. "Say, are you busy? 'Cause I have soooo many questions I want to ask you!"
"W-What about?" Spiroz asked, blushing as she got closer to his face. Her beaming smile and bright eyes were nearly impossible to ignore.
"About Hell! Demons! Culture! Maybe even a bit about you since you're so amazing to look at! I mean, I triple-checked, and there was no recorded Goetia-Imp demon hybrid in the history of existence! You're literally the first one ever! This is amazing!" She gleefully squealed.
Spiroz slowly backed up and looked down on the ground, blushing up a storm. "C-Come on, it's not that big of a deal..."
"Yes, it is! I want to be a demonologist, and this is the perfect chance for me to learn!" Hedwig said as she collapsed her talons together in a prayer motion and started giving the Bambi eyes, much to the demon's surprise. "Please! I'll tell you whatever you want to know about Heaven and angels! Question to question and answer to answer!"
Spiroz paused and thought about it. "Well, there are some things I want to know..."
"Great! Let's start!" Hedwig shouted as she grabbed Spiroz by the hand and dragged him off to a nearby tall tree before he could say anything. She practically flew them to the ground as they sat down, and she smiled brightly at him. "I'll go first! Does Hell really have a red sky all day and night?!"
After taking a moment to make sure his arm didn't come out of its socket, Spiroz sighed and shook his head. "No. It's only red most of the time during the day. The night is pretty much like any standard night. I guess the question I have to ask is if it's always blue and sunny up there?"
"No, we got our nights too. And it's not always sunny. We do get clouds and rain a few times, but nothing like a full-on hurricane," Hedwig said with a giggle. "Okay, next question. Is it true that Arc Demons have skin made out of metal, or is that just hardened scales?"
"Scales," Spiroz answered as he leaned on the tree and started to relax. "What they do is eat metal that gives the scales a metallic-like look. Funny enough, when they eat less of it, they start to look flabby." Spiroz then pondered what to ask next until a huge one came to him. "Okay, how do miracles work? I know magic is thanks to the connection we demons have with the powers of Hell itself but is that the same thing with angels and their miracle powers?"
"Hmm, not exactly. It depends on the miracle you are working with," Hedwig replied as she closed her eyes and opened her talons which allowed two glowing orbs of light to appear. Spiroz could practically feel the holy energy coming from them, and it made him shiver. "Miracles come from God and his loving power. And God is in everyone and everything. It depends on whether you are summoning the blessing and powers of God inside of you or around you. Heaven is a construction of God's that is held up by his almighty and infinite power, so it in of itself is a miracle."
"I see," Spiroz said to himself as his eyes widened. "If that's true...taking the consideration of energy and how it can be divided so easily despite numerous users...the power he has to be...beyond cosmic!"
"Yup! Okay, let's ask a question about you!" Hedwig said as she pondered really hard. Spiroz gulped and worried about what it was going to be until she snapped her finger. "Alliance or Horde?"
"...Huh?" Spiroz asked, eyebrow raised. "Uh, what?"
"Alliance or Horde! You know, Warcraft!" Hedwig asked with a big smile before frowning. "Oh, don't play it?"
"My friends Mitzy and Milton do. Both are in Horde," Spiroz said before letting out a snort before smirking. Am I seriously talking about video games with an angel?
"Oh, same as me! I'm Horde as well!" Hedwig answered much to Sprioz's surprise.
"Really? I thought you would be the Alliance?" The demon owl asked as he began to relax more.
"You'd think I would be since the whole Light Powers thing. Don't get me wrong, I love Anduin, but the vulpera are too cute!"
"Yeah, that's what Mitzy always says too," Spiroz said with a chuckle before thinking about what to ask. "Favorite movie?"
"Not Harry Potter, despite what most believe," Hedwig answered with a knowing smirk. "It's Seven Samurai."
"Seriously? Not something like Ten Commandments or Passion of the Christ?" Spiroz asked in interest.
"Oh, I like those movies too, but I love it when seven noble samurai are going to save a random poor village for nothing but small rewards and doing the right thing! It's a great movie!" Hedwig continued as their conversation went on for some time.
Sure enough, it became less about a demon and angel talking...and more like two friends starting to meet each other for the first time.
"...and that's why God can't always interfere in everything wrong with the human world," Hedwig finished as Spiroz nodded in understanding. "Seriously, I know humans ask that question a lot, but the answer is right in front of them."
"Well, they are kind of a slow species," Spiroz pointed out before looking up and noticing that the sun was setting. Seeing this, he nearly lept up and squawked in surprise. "Holy shit! How long have I been here?!"
Checking his phone, he nearly fell down again. He had been sitting here and talking with Hedwig for over three hours now. "Crud, I gotta get home before my parents realize I'm not there!"
"I guess I should get home too," Hedwig said as she was about to get up, but Spiroz held his hand out, and she took it before he helped her up. "Thanks! It was really great talking to you! I learned so much about demons from someone with first-hand experience!"
"And I learned a lot too," Spiroz said with a big smile. "I never imagined that the gargoyles on churches were a means for Heaven to look after their followers. Although, I kinda get too much Patriot Act feelings with that."
"Eh, we don't spy on the bathrooms if that's what your asking," Hedwig said before she smiled warmly at him. "It was nice to talk to you again, Spiro. Do you...umm..." She blushed and nervously rubbed her hands behind her back. "Do you want to maybe... talk again? Hang out?"
"S-Sure," Spiro said with a blush of his own. "B-But are you sure? I'm a demon and-"
"Trust me," Hedwig said with a chuckle. "That's not going to be a problem. Especially for me."
"...Do you have a phone number?" Spiroz asked as the two quickly exchanged numbers. "Um, I'm free this Saturday morning if you want to hang out here again."
"Great! See you then! Bye!" Hedwig said as she flew off with her wings.
Spiroz waved goodbye and soon opened the portal back to his room in Hell. Once he was inside, he looked at the new contact number on his phone and realized something.
He made a friend.
He made an actual friend.
And she liked him for who and what he was.
For the first time in a long time, a full-on smile spread across Spiroz lips, and he felt something he rarely ever did these days.
Happiness.