The New Year's Eve in Hell was always an interesting sight. Many of the sinners and imps left the safety of their homes just to celebrate and watch the dozens of parades and millions of fireworks that would be illegal anywhere else.
Octavia found herself walking past one such parade, yet her spirits were not improved one bit by the celebration. She left the palace in search of some peace after her parents started arguing again, yet it was hard to find something like that, when there were literally millions of creatures running around the streets and after the eighth time someone offered to sell her some drugs she's had enough.
She spent the next fifteen minutes wandering around aimlessly looking for some open joint, where she could find some serenity and sort her thoughts and then he saw it.
Most establishments had a sign saying at which time they would open their doors after the celebration, but one still had the lights turned and a "welcome" sign on its window.
She recalled someone talking about this pub in the news, it was something about the oldest still running establishments of Pentagram City.
The building was small compared to both the cafe to its right and the jewellery shop to its left, its navy-blue walls sparkled invitingly from all the pyrotechnics in the street and as she entered the atmosphere immediately changed.
The shouting and laughing from the street disappeared and was replaced by the gentle murmuring coming from the few tables in the back that were still occupied and some music softly playing in the background, which she didn't quite recognize, but it still made her feel some nostalgia.
Octavia took a seat at an empty table and pulled her headphones out, when she saw the bartender approach.
"Howdy there, lass. It's been some time since I last saw you." The tall blue-skinned demon said gently as he pulled out a small black notepad. "Octavia, right?"
"You know me?" She asked a bit confused. The owl had no memory of ever coming to this place, yet she found something familiar about the demon.
"Sure, I do. Your pops brought you here a lot when you were still a chick, always all too happy to show you to everyone, so what will you have?" Benny asked and tapped a little pencil on his notepad, not failing to notice, just how her face fell when he mentioned her father.
"Something dark and bitter like my soul…" The goth girl answered slowly and slightly hung her head in frustration.
"Um, okay, I can do that, but could you be a dear and come to the bar? My leg's been bothering me today and I don't wanna spill your drink."
Octavia sighed and got back on her feet before following the slightly taller man back to the bar. She took a seat at a barstool across from Benny, who grabbed an empty tall glass.
She watched with interest as a brand-new pair of shadowy hands appeared next to his regular ones, before flying away like two large ravens into the kitchen just behind the corner. They returned just a second later, but it happened way too fast for her to tell what they were carrying.
"So how is the old Stolas doing, lass?" Benny asked casually as his actual hands disappeared behind the bar moving at blinding speed just out of sight.
"Good…" She said dismissively, not really wanting to discuss her current messed up family dynamic with a complete stranger. The demon in question just raised his eyebrow a bit before returning back to his work.
"That's why you're here? Alone, instead of watching the fireworks with your folks?"
"That's none of your…" She wanted to argue with him, but a loud and sudden racket of a blender interrupted her mid-sentence.
Just what the hell Is he doing? She thought. But before Octavia could ask the noise stopped and after hearing him pour something, Benny pulled out the same tall glass, which was now filled with some light pink mixture and had a straw sticking out of it. Next, he grabbed a can of whipped cream to give the drink a fancy white hat, which he then decorated with a red cherry, a pinch of homemade chocolate sprinkles and a tiny sparkler.
The young owl regained her ability to speak only after he lit the small firework.
"What the hell is that?!" She asked in shock, while pointing a feathered finger at the sparkling drink accusingly.
"This, lass, is the perfect strawberry milkshake, made from actual strawberries and vanilla ice cream, just like you ordered." He said as he tossed the now empty tub of ice cream into the trash bin.
"If this is a joke, it's not funny at all." Octavia said angrily as she gave the demon her best stink eye.
The demon scratched his beard lazily and met her eyes but smirked just a moment later. "Haha… you are still the same."
"If you just want to make a fun of someone… Umpf!?" She tried to speak but the straw found its way in her mouth, with one the black hands holding it. The dark-haired demon had timed it perfectly and the straw entered her mouth just as she was about to take a breath, which made the sweet liquid splash right on her tongue.
Her first instinct was to spit the thing out but before she could Octavia froze when her taste-buds felt the familiar flavour. It made her remember something, which she had forgotten long ago.
-13 years earlier-
"Okay Via, say cheese for daddy." Stolas said as he held up his camera and pointed it directly at his daughter.
"CHEESE!" She bellowed as he finally took the photo. The incredibly tall royal-looking owl had to hold back tears of happiness, when he looked at the instantly printed photo of his child in a booster seat holding her small cute feathery hands in the air with a crazy smile of excitement on her face.
"Your order's here." The bartender said as he walked over to their table holding a tray with two big strawberry milkshakes.
"Oh, look at that, my owlet. Your drink is here! What do we say?" Stolas asked softly.
"Thank you!" She exclaimed as the drink was set on the table in front of her.
"That's my little star-fire!" He said as he reached over the table to give her head a few quick but gentle caresses, before he bent the straw on her drink, so she could reach it better. After seeing his daughter take a few quick sips of her drink he sat down and brought his own glass to his beak.
The flavour was so sweet and creamy yet still a bit sour from all those real strawberries. Stolas didn't regret lending his grimoire to the bartender one bit, this cocktail was simply magnificent. Yet he was interrupted from enjoying his beverage, when he heard giggling from the other side of the table.
"Daddy, you have a beard!" His daughter pointed out before again giggling uncontrollably.
The owl looked down on himself and saw the long thick strip of sweet white foam stuck to his face feathers. It was always extremely hard to get something this sweet and sticky out of his feathers and he felt angry at himself for not using a straw, but then he got an idea.
"Oh dear, you are right Via! Whatever will I do?" Stolas said thoughtfully as he stood up, but this time with a silly smile also plastered on his face. He quickly closed the distance between himself and his daughter and then gently picked her up.
"Would you like a beard too? Give daddy a smooch!" He playfully commanded and the next few minutes were filled only with both laughing like mad and playfighting until they were both sporting a white goatee.
-Back in the present-
"So, what do you think?" The barman asked bringing the young lady from her land of nostalgia. Once her pleasant memory got disrupted, the reality fell on her like large boulder.
It's all wrong.
It will never be like this again.
It's ruined.
The depressing thoughts welled up in her mind and it somehow became too much for her to handle. Out of nowhere her eyes felt swollen and few quiet tears silently escaped from them and landed on the countertop.
"Oh my… I didn't expect I would lose my touch with alcohol-free substances this quickly, I'm sorry about that lass." Benny said as he heard the tears hit the hard wood, one of his dark hands then appeared to give the lady a neatly folded white tissue, which she accepted.
"Hey three more beers and a vodka, chief!" One of the demon customers yelled from the table in the back where they were all sitting and playing cards. Normally a waitress would take care of that, but they had the holidays off and so he sent the beverages softly floating through the air, using his helper hands. Benny was way too interested in this situation to do it himself, which was a rare thing.
"Thanks… but it's not your fault." Octavia admitted sadly as she delicately wiped away her tears. She took a few deep breaths to calm her mind before speaking again.
"It's my dad…he…he's got a lover." She finally forced out.
"Well, knowing your pops, I can't say I expected that." The pubkeeper admitted as he poured himself a stiff drink.
"Right? And at the top of that it's just some total dickhead." She said quietly.
"I see, that's got to be tough, huh?"
"You don't know the half of it... today mom caught him flirting with his boyfriend again and I bet they are still screaming at each other." She said as another small tear escaped her eye.
"And that's why you are here, right now, isn't it, lass?" Benny asked only to receive a small sad nod as confirmation.
"Do your parents even know, that you are here right now?" He asked with a bit more firmness in his tone.
"It's not like they care either way..." She said as few more tears left her eyes. The taller demon had to hold back a sigh of utter exasperation.
Children these days...
"I mean, my own dad probably doesn't even love me anymore…" She shakily forced out as first real sniffles finally erupted and shook her entire body. It hurt to say it and it was something she was afraid of more than anything.
Octavia long lost her illusions, that her parents' marriage was born out of love and compassion. It was probably instead something her grandparents arranged years before the two of them even knew each other.
Maybe that's why her mother always felt so distant to her, she always spoke so formally to everyone, even her own daughter. She would even go as far as to say that the only reason why, she is so freaking out, is because her dad's scandalous relationship was with a commoner and that it would reflect on her family's legacy.
Yet her dad was always the one that would find any excuse to spend time with her, play with her and it never mattered who was watching what kind of silly nonsense they were up to. Which is also why so many of her greatest memories were with his father.
Octavia never really had a chance to make any friends. Everyone she has ever met was either a rich pompous idiot trying to feel like royalty by spending time with her family, some arrogant prick from an actual noble family or some commoner servant who would never approach her, fearing her mother's wrath.
But once again, her dad was always there for her, whenever she felt sad, angry or scared and he could always make her feel just a little better, but now it was almost like he was a completely different person. One who was always on the phone calling up some stupid imp asshole and saying real nasty stuff when he thought that there was no one close enough to hear him.
Benny twirled his facial hair as he watched Octavia go through her inner turmoil. But then an idea struck him.
"Wanna make sure, lass?" He asked only to receive a depressed look in return.
"How? It's not like you can just do a spell and find out…"
"Don't underestimate me, lass. Although I will need to borrow your phone." The bartender said as two of those weird hands once again appeared, this time in front of her. Both of them were open and beckoning her.
"Why would you need my phone?" She asked searching for any sort of deception on the demon's face, however she was met with nothing but an expression showing absolute and complete honesty.
"Because truth always needs a payment."
Right now, Octavia felt like an emotional mess and her mind was not in a state where she would be able to think logically about any proposal. The only thing she saw was an opportunity to finally know for sure, how her dad felt about her. And so, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone only to hand it over into the magical floating hand a second later.
She never expected the sound of crumbling plastic and breaking glass and watched in horror as her phone was crushed into dust.
"What the-YOU DICKHEAD, I HAD MY SONGS IN THERE!" Octavia yelled when she saw the state of her phone, once it was dropped on the counter.
The pubkeeper just lazily rolled up his sleeve and checked his watch. "I give him five minutes… Finish your drink in the meantime, before it turns into a melted mess." Benny said before leaving the bar for the kitchen and the owl just watched with disbelief.
-Meanwhile at the I.M.P. office building-
"Easy, easy…" Blitzo quietly said as he placed the doggy treat on his adopted daughter's snout. Loona was currently passed out drunk on the office couch which gave her him the rare opportunity to make a magnificent photo like this.
This effort took him more than half an hour already, but he was finally happy with the result. His daughter had two small flags sticking out of her ears a party horn in her mouth, a pair of star-shaped sunglasses on her eyes and now even a dog biscuit perfectly balancing on her snout.
He picked up his phone, set it in the right angle, checked the settings just to be absolutely sure, that there would be no flash this time, but just as he was about to finally take the photo the door flew open with a loud crash leaving a dent in the wall.
"Fucking debt collectors!" He swore, turned around and pulled out his fancy flintlock pistol. He was ready to start shooting, until he saw the most terrifying sight of his entire life.
Stolas entered the room already half-way into his demon form with his wings spread out behind him. Even compared to his original size, he was extremely massive, just barely able to fit through the door.
The large creature didn't waste any time, it just marched right over to the imp, who was now beginning to shake.
If he's pissed or horny, I'm so fucking dead…
A large feathery hand with razor sharp claws fell heavily on Blitzo's shoulder, which only amplified the size difference. The creature then began to speak in the most horrifying deep loud voice.
"Where is my Grimoire, Blitzo?"
The imp just shakily pointed towards his office and as if by a spell, the gigantic horrifying creature completely lost any and all interest in him and headed for the small room. Then there were some unnatural sounds, blinding flash of light and then once again silence.
Blitzo waited for a minute to make sure, that Stolas has really disappeared and surprisingly, when he checked his office everything was still in place, well except for the magic book.
"Well, at least my ass survives…"
Though his calm moment was soon disrupted, when he heard the party horn go off. Apparently Loona began sucking on the plastic instrument in her sleep, which nearly made the imp jump out his skin.
-Back in the bar-
There was a heavy knock on the door, that made even the bottles on the shelves shake.
"Ah, three minutes and twenty seconds flat." Benny commented as he once again checked his watch. After a short while the door opened and a very large owl stuck his head inside menacingly, his four gigantic eyes scanning the scene keenly, until their sight landed on his daughter sucking a strawberry milkshake with a straw.
The short tense moment passed once Stolas changed back into his regular form and rushed inside. It took him only a second to get through the door, close the distance and give Octavia, who was sitting on a barstool a crushing hug.
"Oh god, sweetie I was so worried! Your phone suddenly went completely off the grid. What happened?!" He exclaimed; relief heavy in his voice.
"Hi Stolas, sorry about that. It was my fault, your daughter was just lending me her phone, so I could call you, but I guess I still have no control of my powers." Benny chimed in as he pointed at the crumbled phone, which was still on the counter.
"D-dad, how did you even know?" Octavia spoke quietly, her breathing still a bit restricted by the hug's pressure.
The large owl looked a bit guiltily at his little princess.
"Um, well Via you see, when I bought you that phone, I may have had this chip installed…"
"A chip?!"
"Yes. The fellow who did it, told me that it would help me find you anywhere and just now the darn thing went off with this as your last known address a-and I panicked a bit…" Stolas said quickly and then took a break, to collect his thoughts.
"Look Via, I-I'm sorry, I know you are a big girl now, but I am still worried sick about you…" The larger bird admitted and brought her face into his neck fluff a bit more tightly, until he felt a few of her tears softly dampen his feathers.
"Don't worry about it dad…" She said softly and a small relieved smile spread over her face. She already felt much better.
They spent a few more moments in the Blue Rose, just talking about anything that came to mind and after that, they left the establishment and went to watch what was left of the fireworks.
Benny spent the rest of the night tending to his bar thinking about his own family, until one of his patrons invited him for a game of cards. It was an invitation he swiftly accepted.
I want to thank the archiveofourown user TrueKindaLove19 for this wonderful suggestion, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, mate. Any and all criticism is welcome.
Next up is Alastor, so… Stay Tuned…