Stolas stepped out of the car and exhaled. A couple of new servants opened the doors, and he entered his palace. Stella ran over with concern on her face and a robe over her shoulders.
"Stolas, are you alright?" she asked. "You rushed out at noon without a word and that was over twelve hours ago!"
"Remember that favor I owed Asmodeus for the crystal he let me have?" He handed off his hat to Stella's familiar. "He called to collect."
Stella scoffed. "Well, don't keep me in suspense, darling. What did he want?"
"Some imp in the Greed Ring stole his partner Fizzarolli, and they sent a lawyer to lay down the terms of the ransom."
Stella looked down and crossed her arms. "I'm starting to see Via's point about kidnappings happening too frequently."
"And while I may have had fun parsing the legal language down to digestible chunks, Ozzie was getting more perturbed. Rightfully so, but if we didn't act delicately, that could risk both his standing as an embodiment of Sin and the safety of his… business partner."
"His lover, right." Stella nodded.
Stolas blinked twice. "Oh, so you figured that out too?"
Stella rolled her eyes. "Everybody knows that. They just can't prove it. I hope you managed to talk the bargaining price down for Ozzie's sake."
Stolas smiled. "That's the neat part. A second to midnight, Fizzarolli stumbled into the meeting room, and we were able to write off the expense entirely."
"Pfft. Ha ha ha ha ha!" Stella rubbed her eye. "Did you get to kick the lawyer out for wasting your time?"
"I interpreted that as Asmodeus's personal matter." Stolas tapped his beak. "Although, it did sound like a bloodbath just as I was leaving."
Stella sighed. "I love happy endings."
"Speaking of which, I've kept you up too late as it is," said Stolas. "You should get to bed before you collapse from exhaustion."
Stella chuckled as she turned on her talons. "Telling me it's past my bedtime? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you absorbed my brother's essence."
Stolas waved dismissively as he followed. "There wasn't enough left of him to do anything of the sort."
…
(Weeks later…)
The weather was about as nice as Hell's skies could ever be. There wasn't any rain or hail falling from the light red clouds. Stella did some small stretches in the backyard.
"I'm happy to share what I know about the true form with my daughter," she said.
"I appreciate it, Mom," said Octavia. "I don't know why it isn't second nature for me."
"Admittedly, it's a bit incomprehensible." Stella twiddled her fingers. "A demon's true form was never meant to be a public affair. Mortals can barely see a few bits. Those bits hardly resemble anything that their world could conjure itself."
A sudden pressure pushed Octavia down to her hands and knees. She yelped before she could manage to force her eyes forward again. She witnessed her mother in all her demonic stature and tendrils of darkness.
"While this form can be activated through instinct, negative emotions can help feed into the energy needed to maintain it. These include stress, fear, and of course anger."
As quickly as Stella's true form had erupted, it subsided. Octavia slowly pulled herself to stand upright.
"But I've felt angry before and that didn't trigger any form change," she pointed out.
"True." Stella held out her hand. "If that were all it took, most of Hell would be covered with demons slithering around in their true forms."
"Then, what's the key?" asked Octavia.
"Hmm." Stella briefly looked down. "It's different in everyone's case, but it has to do with what's at your core. It can't be separated from you any more than your heart. Don't try to be something else. Rather, become you."
Octavia tilted her head. "Did you pull that out of one of Dad's songs?"
Stella cleared her throat. "I don't know what you're talking about, young lady."
Octavia shrugged. "Worth a shot, I guess." She took a step back and spread her arms out. Her hands pointed as if they were finger guns. "I am Octavia. I am a star fire."
Little flames spread from her index fingers up to her shoulders. Charcoal shadows covered her face. A third magenta eye opened, pushing her hat up. But as quickly as the changes started, they vanished. The owlet growled and covered her beak with her hands.
"Hey, that was a pretty good attempt." Stella walked over.
"But it wasn't perfect," grumbled Octavia.
Stella raised her brow. "Who said it had to be?"
"I don't know." Octavia shook her head. "Somebody."
"Hmm, how about we take a break?" asked Stella. "We could watch some idiots on television and criticize all the plot holes."
Octavia lowered her hands and smiled in resignation. "Sure, why not?"
…
"What is this?" Stella squinted at the program description before it vanished. "Mammon's Annual Clown Pageant?"
"Oh, gawd. Not that f**ing clown." Octavia tugged at her hat.
"Wait, something's… different about him," said Stella.
It looked like Fizzarolli on the stage with an office backdrop. However, his eyes and his voice were tired during his intro verse. There were some not-so-subtle pictures on the wall. They portrayed Mammon as a master whipping and conditioning a slave. Then, the tempo increased, and the lights gained warmer colors.
~Here's my two-minute notice, f**k you!
Time to stop and smell the roses
Say goodbye
As I look you in the eye
And say, "F**k you!"~
Stella dropped the remote control. Octavia opened her mouth wide.
Striker's mind somehow audibly blinked twice. 'Did being kidnapped cause that jester to grow a pair?'
Fizz moved onto a rapid paced rant against terrible bosses and putting up with their crud. A couple more verses and he went in for the clincher.
~This is it
Mammon, you sad sack of s**t
F**k you…~
Stella laughed loudly while holding her stomach.
"Holy s**t," said Octavia.
Roses were thrown at his feet. The crowd cheered. At least one fan in the front row foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
"And I'm so glad I got to give you all one last performance," said Fizz as he walked across the stage toward the center, "because now… I quit!"
He dropped the mic and walked away from a confused audience. Although, none were as upset as the Sin of Greed that teleported in a cloud of dollar bills in his path. Mammon was shaking so violently that his true form exploded out with extra-long spider legs.
As if to match the increased tension, Asmodeus appeared in his true form. His mane was burning with a crimson passion. Stella and Octavia moved to the edge of their couch cushions in unison.
"Because if he quits," threatened Mammon, "I could tell everyone here-"
"What?" Asmodeus spread his claws in front of himself. "That I love him? Well, I do!"
Shouts from the crowd were invigorated with enthusiastic affirmation. So many fingers were tapping phones in unison that the cameras could pick up the noise. Something in the room chirped and Octavia yanked her phone out. She made a few taps of her own, re-posting the topic to a friend with a hellhound avatar.
A second later, a reply next to that avatar read, "W8, wut?! Those fn hypocrites!"
Mammon scratched his head before laughing maniacally. His next magical exit exploded in sparks that spread throughout the mosh pit. The broadcast broke down into a test pattern.
With unblinking eyes, Octavia said, "I think I've had enough excitement for one day."
"Oh, right. Of course."
Stella conjured Shadow Gunter. He picked up the remote and pressed the power off button.
