Hello All!

I know, a smaller chapter than I would have hoped for. I haven't written in a while, having spent more of my time working on other things. But enough about my life stuff, let us get on with the story!

Now that some new lore has been introduced into Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel universe, I have used it as a major aspect for this story. It worked out perfectly, so I hope it doesn't break canon too heavily (though all fanfiction is a departure from canon anyhow).

With that, onto the chapter!

Chapter 4: Vote of No Confidence

Octavia worked diligently on the paper before her, highlighting major points before moving onto the next page and continuing forward. She skimmed through the lengthy packet for a moment, taking into account the amount she still had to read and annotate.

Flipping down the remaining pages, she looked over at the edge of her desk, keeping in mind how much work she had left after this. To her satisfaction, she had already breezed through her Science and Economics homework, and her Mathematics homework was all but completed. That just left her with her one of her least favorite subjects.

With the second half of the semester coming in full swing, her teachers were piling more onto her plate. That included her language arts teacher, who decided that each student needed to select a piece of literature as a part of a report. Then take said book and select a chapter from it, which will then be used as the main part of your report because it is required that each student break down what happens in that chapter and how it relates to the main theme of the semester: Ethos.

Luckily enough for the young Goetia, she had a book that fit with what she wanted to read and how it pertained to Ethos: Purgatorio, By Dante Alighieri. The main part she was covering was on the Sin of Wrath and how humanity had a choice between being good and bad, and that their violence was not something brought up by their upbringing or lifestyle, but of personal choice. An ethical choice for each to conquer.

While her teacher had preferred she cover a book written in Hell, she apparently had a soft spot for literature written by humans about Hell. Apparently they were all a form of 'comedy' in her eyes, as humans could only interpret the unknown through guesses and old scripture references going back to when Lucifer was kicked out of Heaven.

Despite being a weird human from over 700 years ago, Dante managed to encompass a few good points through some of his characters, like Marco Lombardo. The old man was the first human to actually popularize the aspects of the Seven Sins on Earth too, which was ironic. Too bad he got them mixed up and had the seven sins within his Purgatory Book and not in his Interno.

'Now that I think about it though, if he had been too accurate, Lucifer might have done something about it... maybe he actually did. Keep the humans somewhat ignorant about the know-how of Hell.' Octavia shrugged her shoulders. 'Not like it matters until they end up here.'

*Bing*

Octavia looked over to the flicker of light on her phone screen, picking it up.

Message (Just Now)

Dad: Could you come to the dining room for a moment? I wanted to speak with you about something.

Octavia raised an eyebrow at the text, but nonetheless got up from her chair. She pushed it in behind her, capping off her highlighter before heading to the door.

As soon as the doorknob clicked, the absolute silence vanished away. She exited her room to the noise of vacuum from across the hall and the muttering of words from a pair of imp servants dusting some artifacts in a display cabinet. She ignored the noises of cleaning, the volume change making her give pause before she walked on.

The spell on her room was a great benefit, though Octavia still had not gotten used to soft silence for long periods of time, only for it to be completely smashed should her door be opened even the slightest. Even when she was heading out to school, sometimes the shattering of pots and vases would jolt her out of her beanie.

Octavia took the familiar route towards the dining room. Upon arriving, she saw her father sitting at one of the chairs near the closer end of the long-stretch table, looking down at a set of papers in front of him. "Hey dad. You wanted to talk?"

Stolas turned his head, placing the papers on the table. "Via, my sweet owlette." He smiled, standing up from his chair and gesturing her forward. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything important."

Octavia waved her hand. "No, just some homework and notes on a book report. Nothing major."

Stolas nodded. "I take it that your classes are going well then?"

Octavia shrugged her shoulders. "It's fine, I guess. Nothing too hard." Octavia paused. "Um, what did you call me down for? I know you said we would be eating family as a dinner tonight, but that's at Six, right?"

Stolas chuckled awkwardly. "Yes, that's still the plan. Unless your mother decides to spend the evening gossiping at her brother's house." His eyes looked over at the papers, then back to her.

Octavia noticed. "What's this about? Is there some kind of paperwork that..." Octavia stopped, staring down at the papers on the table. She looked at her father once more, who had the decency to scratch at his neck awkwardly. Octavia's eyes filled with horror.

'Is... is this what I think this is?'

Octavia stared at the papers.

Then to her dad.

Then back to the papers.

"Dad, are those divorce papers? Is that why we're eating dinner tonight with mum?" Octavia stared intently at the Goetia Prince. "So you can hand those to her?!" She stared down at the papers with dread, gripping at her beanie.

Stolas gaped. "Octavia, no." Stolas walked to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "No, nothing like that." 'For now at least.' He thought to himself before placing his attention on his daughter. "Those papers do not involve anything like that. Your mother and I are still... well, at the moment we are still married. There is no need to be upset, okay?"

Octavia bit her beak, placing one of her hands on top of her fathers which was on her shoulder. She nodded her head. Stolas smiled.

"Then... why are you acting so weird about those papers?" She looked over at the small stack of documents on the table.

Stolas looked to the side, not taking away his contact with Octavia. "Well, the reason I called you down here was because these papers pertain to you." Stolas ushered her towards the table slowly.

Octavia looked down at the first page on the table, her sight taking in the first words on the page in bold lettering.

Join Club Programs Today!

First Steps Towards Extracurriculars!

Lilith's Upper Rings Academy Sponsored Programs, Events, and Group Associations

Octavia read over the listings of information on the top page, her eyes soaking it in. She slumped her shoulders, craning her head to look at her sheepish father.

Gone was the dread and trepidation of before. In its place was a moderate amount of exasperation. Octavia gave a deadpanned look to Stolas.

"You can't be serious."

"Via, I'm only doing what I feel would be best for you." Stolas explained, a smile affixed to his beak.

"But a school club program? Why?" Octavia argued. "I'm doing fine enough in classes. You even said last year that I didn't have to do any of those lame groups if I didn't want to."

"I'm aware that I told you that you didn't have to join any programs last year." Stolas admitted. "At the same time however, I'm concerned about your... well, um." Stolas struggled to find the correct words.

"What? My grades?" Octavia sighed. "Dad, I've been doing better now. I even managed to pull my Science Grade back up to an A, and my other classes are almost there too!" She expressed.

"Am I'm proud of you for all of your hard work, believe me!" Stolas placed a hand on his chest, looking down. "However, it was brought to my attention that, well, you don't often associate with your peers at Upper Rings. That... you don't much spend time with any friends." Stolas frowned. "Your mother and I partially to blame for that. We had you come home immediately after each class during your earlier education. This was done despite knowing that most children spent time together right after classes ended, and that extra-curricular programs were often after school as well."

"So what? You want me to sign up for some lame school program so I can make friends?" Octavia said, anger slipping into her words. "Since when have you cared that I have friends?"

"Octavia, my owlette. I've always cared about your well being." Stolas pleaded. Octavia looked down at the ground, but Stolas continued, placing a hand on her cheek. "It just took me until now to realize that making sure you are okay at home isn't the only responsibility I have to you. The last thing I ever wanted for you was to feel lonely." Stolas looked at his daughter, both sets of eyes full of emotion. "Your happiness is the most important thing to me, no matter what."

Octavia's glare softened at the expression on her dad's face. She took in a breath, letting a sigh fall past her beak. "Do I really have to do this?" She groaned out begrudgingly.

"No. If you don't find anything you enjoy, we can look elsewhere. If you do see a group that catches your eye, I can look into getting you signed up." Octavia grimaced a little, but finally relented. She gave her dad a slight nod, to which Stolas smiled.

"I'll look at the options after I finish some of my homework."

"I hope you find something worth your time, my owlette."

Classes were over, and had been for about twenty minutes. The halls of the school were sparse, most students having gotten on their buses to leave or were in rooms for club activities. The sounds of young demons were ambient, but no longer populated the air with the density of the common day.

Luther sat behind his desk, taking a sip from his mug as he glossed over the quizzes from his fourth period class. Some of his students had been showing improvement, but a couple would need remedial coursework in order to keep on track with the projected goals for the semester.

'Which means I'll need to stay on campus on Saturday for one of the coming weekends. Fantastic.' Luther surmised to himself, slipping another corrected paper into the 'completed' pile. His signature red and green pens sat beside his hand. Upon reading the next quiz, he immediately took up his red, crossing through multiple questions with negative marks.

Luther shook his head at the atrocious writing and poorly expressed functions on the paper. 'Just because you are related to Mammon through lineage doesn't mean you get to slide by in my class, Mr. Horus.' Luther huffed, placing a solid D+ on the paper before placing it in the stack and continuing. The furred serpent took a sip from his slowly cooling mug.

"Hey Luther!" The sinner jolted in his seat, coffee splashing upwards and down onto the pile of quizzes.

"Oh, sorry."

Luther gave a light glare to the pile of emulsifying papers. Groaning, he placed his hands on the desk and concentrated. A soft hum wrapped around his frame, coasting down onto the assortment on the top of his desk.

In a flash, the coffee stains were gone from the pile of papers. The mug found itself back in Luther's hand, still half full from before he took his sip. He was back where he was just a moment ago, still seated in his chair.

Luther sighed, placing the mug down onto his desk, far away from the classwork. "Must you do that, Vanessa? Honestly." He looked over to the doorway of his classroom.

In the doorway was a lavender skinned woman. Shaggy, black hair scruffed down from the top of her head, covering two of her four acid green eyes and draping her face. Sharp, white teeth poked out in a conniving smirk. She was dressed in a white and black cleaner's uniform, leaning up against the doorway with her arm pressed against the side and an a hand at her waist.

"I told you to call my Nessy." She pouted. "And I do that because I like seeing you do you weird 'backwards' thing."

Luther rolled his eyes, taking a sip from his coffee. "What are you doing here? Last I checked, you were still on the clock for another two hours."

The lavender skinned woman shrugged their shoulders. "Eh, I got done early. I'm usually stuck powerwashing the floors, but because the sport kiddos are transferring equipment through the main halls later today, I'll just be stuck doing again in the morning."

Luther raised an eyebrow, hiding an exasperated look behind the ceramic mug. "And you got this approved with admin?"

Nessy grinned a jagged smile. "Not really. But what are they gonna do? Fire me? Last time I checked, I'm the only one that can do this job with how much they are willing to pay. That, and it would take them months to vet through four cleaners to replace what I do here."

Luther merely sighed once more. "Just make sure to get here in the morning before the principal. You know that he'll be in a rea-"

"Yeah, yeah, a real fit if he walks into a not-spotless hallway. That guy is such a fuckin' rag." She waved her hand dismissively. She pushed off the doorway, walking into the classroom with a lackadaisical stride. "Anyways, that's not the reason I came here."

Luther looked up at her, his face morphing into concern when he saw her face. "What happened?" She closed the door behind them, leaving the Math teacher and custodian alone.

Nessy gave him a blunt stare. "The Superintendent made a surprise visit earlier today." Luther's eyes widened, the slits of his eyes narrowing. He placed his coffee down, swiveling his chair to give her a strong look. He detected no lies in her words, her acidic green eyes giving him a stare of seriousness.

"Superintendent Vanitas? Usually we're told before he decides to make a visit. And in the middle of the day?"

"Like I said: Surprise visit. He turned up a little after lunch time. I managed to catch a sneak peak of him talking to the Principal." Nessy explained, a frown forming on her features. "Well, one of me managed to catch a sneak peak." Luther nodded his head.

Much like himself, Vanessa found herself with an inane talent bestowed upon her after her plunge to Hell. A remarkable ability to split into four versions of herself. The only difference between Vanessa and her split forms were her slight change in personality and the given eye of said doppleganger. Each split held a single eye, until Vanessa herself possessed only one herself, though it was always her upper most right which stayed with her.

((AN: So it is easier to understand, all of the split forms of Vanessa (Nessy)

Vii (pronounced like letter V); first split of Vanessa, left lower eye.

Ane (pronounced like 'Anne'); second split of Vanessa, upper left eye

Essa (pronounced like you would think 'Ess-Ah'); third and last split of Vanessa, lower right eye.

Thank you, back to the story, AN ended))

Luther leaned forward, sliding papers to the side. "What did you manage to hear?"

Nessy huffed. "Just like always, the ugly bastard wants to 'clean up' Upper Rings academy. Says that vetting processes for staff have gotten lax. Didn't even bother being polite about it either, pointing right at Vii and said that 'vermin like that shouldn't be near this place, even as a cleaning wench'."

Luther's face adorned a look of confusion. "He said those words?" The Math teacher asked, to which Nessy nodded. "What a load of crap. I'm older than him and even I don't say words like 'Wench' anymore. I guarantee he says those words to sound more snooty and upper class, even though half the student body outranks him in status." Luther leaned into his chair, shaking his head.

Nessy grins. "Fuckin' right? Like I was saying before though, he's looking at tightening holds on who gets hired." Nessy's face morphed into a frown. "And he's close to getting it signed."

Luther's eyes widened. He stood up from his chair. "You can't be serious."

Nessy looked away. "Heard it from his own mouth. He's processing the request, and if he gets majority approval, it will go into effect immediately."

Luther stared at the lavender skinned sinner. His mouth agape, soaking in what he just heard. It shouldn't be possible. His mind ran through alternatives. Options as to how to fix it. His head rocked rigidly, his eyes darting around in search of answers.

"That proposal." He bit out. "Would put half of the faculty out of work. He... he can't just sign away those jobs!" Luther stepped away from his desk, pacing away from Vanessa and placing a hand to his mouth. "That proposal would remove any staff who aren't sworn in by Royals or from Lilith Herself during their renewal every five years!"

Nessy grimaced. "Yeah, and considering the lady who built this place hasn't been seen in over seven Exterminations, there's nobody who can veto save for Lucifer himself. Not like that bag of dicks cares about his wife's school that much."

Luther shook his head, lost in his own thoughts. 'Vanitas would ruin this school. For what? To encourage only royals to attend? The fact that so many on the board are agreeing with him shows that they want the same.' Luther snarled internally, his frustration mounting. 'Those rich bastards could care less about the school and what it was supposed to represent. Why demons of any ring would be allowed to attend, baphomet or hellhound, so long as they are academically inclined. Most of them weren't even around when this place was built. I was.'

Luther took a deep breath in, walking back over to his desk. He slid the pile of homework to the side, slipping them into a satchel sat at the side. He turned his attention to Vanessa, who was still perched against the wall. "Thank you, Nessy, for telling me about this. I appreciate it."

Nessy raised a set of eyebrows from her left eyes. "You're talking like you can fix this. Got a plan or something?"

Luther sighed. "A few ideas... but first, I need to make some calls."