Hey!

I didn't expect to update so soon, but well, the chapter's ready so... Enjoy! ^^

Chapter 2 – Conceal

"Hey dad, I'm home!"

The young owl made her way to her bedroom to put down her stuff before searching for her father, surprised he didn't come to greet him yet. She had warned him of her return, usually he'd be waiting for her. Maybe he was busy somewhere?

She tried his study with little luck. She was on her way to the greenhouse when she met him in the corridor.

"Oh, my starfire!" He greeted her with a smile. "I'm sorry, I was in my bath, I missed your arrival! How are you?"

"Oh, it's fine, you don't have to wait for me at the door each time, you know?"

"Well, sure, but he haven't seen each other for a week, excuse me for being impatient!" He laughed.

Oddly enough for this hour, he was still dressed. It was casual clothing, sure, but not his usual robe. Something else felt off too as she approached him.

"Nothing new, the usual. We keep in touch with texts and calls, it's not like you don't know that!" She added, a bit annoyed but affectionately so.

Stolas rubbed his head self-consciously.

"I guess you're right, sorry… Are you still up for a movie tonight?"

"Maybe tomorrow evening? I'm… Busy online."

"Oh… Sure, of course! We'll see that later, then! See you for dinner? Or do you want to do something together?"

"How are the plants?" She asked.

Stolas beamed and they ended up in the greenhouse where she was headed anyway.

He was showing her the plants that blossomed or greatly grew while she was gone. Sure, he had sent here a few videos and pictures, but it wasn't the same to actually see them, especially when it came to sudden grow.

The prince was enthusiastic as usual about his plants, but the more time they spent together, the more Octavia knew something was definitely off. His facial expressions seemed… Forced, somewhat. He was behaving like usual, but it didn't feel completely… Sincere. Also, his moves were strange. He didn't pull her into a hug yet, and he was walking oddly slowly. Everything about him was slow, almost stiff, and it reminded her of when she visited him in the hospital, which she didn't like at all. But of course, when she asked him how he was, he brushed it off, saying he was fine.

Still, they stayed together for a bit. It felt great to be around her dad again. There was no denying she was much closer to him than her mother, but she couldn't exactly escape the shared custody yet, so she just went with it. But it was important for her to spend time with her dad when she was coming back, and she knew it was important for him too, so they stayed together until it was time to eat.

Dinner with her father was nice now that Stella wasn't there. He avoided talking about her now, but tonight it was particularly obvious how he didn't even mention her existence, even in the most indirect way, let alone pronounce her name. But Octavia wasn't about to call him on that, because at least now it was peaceful, and they could actually talk while they ate, rather than ignoring each other or yelling.

Though, as they finished eating and she was about to go to her bedroom for the night, she realized how much his clothes were covering his body. That was partly what made her pause when she spotted him, because it was usual for his upper body to be almost completely covered by his royal attire, but his lower body was usually way less covered, whatever his outfit was, and it wasn't the case tonight.

"Dad, are you cold?" She asked suddenly as they were about to go their own way.

He turned back to her, puzzled.

"Cold? No, why?"

"I don't know, you usually don't wear that kind of clothes at this hour, or at all! It covers up a lot. Are you cold or something?"

"Oh, uh, no, I just wanted to change my usual style for a bit!" He smiled, but she could feel he was a bit uncomfortable.

"Really? Well, I can help you in that if you want!" She offered.

"That would be adorable my little starfire!" He beamed. "Tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure. Good night, dad!"

"Have a good evening, Via! I'll come by later to wish you good night!"

She rolled her eyes.

"Really? I'm not a child anymore!"

"You're still young, and you'll always be my daughter", he reminded her as he put a light kiss to her forehead.

"Yeah, sure", she answered.

She turned to the path to her room and took a few steps before she stopped silently to turn back and watch her dad.

She hadn't felt the look on her, but caught a glimpse of it as Stolas suddenly stopped looking at her to head to his bedroom. He was probably looking at her with his fatherly affection, but she felt there was something else she didn't catch before he turned away to hide his gaze, and his emotions probably.

Was it worry? She couldn't be sure, he would never admit it. At least she didn't feel like he was walking oddly, even if his movements still seemed a bit different. Maybe she was just imagining things? She didn't see him for a week after all. It wasn't that long, sure, but… Oh well, she'd think about this later, if her father kept being weird. It happened often anyway, it was only worrying if the same weirdness kept being there for too long. Maybe he just spent the day taking care of his plants, is all.

Stolas pointedly waited until the door to his bedroom was closed before he finally allowed any sign of pain on his face, which manifested itself by a wide wince deforming his face, and a low hoot of pain. He knew that, in all likelihood, he should be completely healed by tomorrow morning if not before, since the injuries weren't that bad and not from a blessed weapon, but they were deep enough to be painful to move with, especially when he needed to put up a normal act for his daughter. At least she didn't seem too suspicious. Sure, she probably had picked up a few strange things, like his outfit, chosen to cover the wounds and bruises from earlier, but it would be fine.

He shouldn't be, but he was glad she was busy tonight, at least he wouldn't have to act for hours straight. Now, everything here was clean, and he was going to need to check on his injuries before going to bed, but until then, he had many things on his mind.

It was the first time since Stella left that he really could take a break to just think about what happened in the late afternoon, and there were quite a few things he could think of.

First, he needed to have better medical equipment if he was to treat his injuries himself, because he trusted Stella to come up with more twisted ideas, so he really should expect anything, including pain medication to be able to put up a normal face quickly if needed, like tonight. He was lucky he had many plants with healing properties in his greenhouse, but that wasn't going to be enough, and he needed to check properly what he had and how to use their healing power, hopefully without harming said plants in the way. If this was just a start, he should expect more serious injuries in the future, probably with blessed weapons this time. Though he wouldn't be surprised if the blade that was used on him was poisoned with something, the wounds were oddly painful and slow to heal for a regular weapon, even if they were inflicted while he was being vulnerable and he didn't exactly rest since then. The hits on the wounds probably didn't help either.

Then, he would have to find some way to protect Blitz, because there was no way he wasn't going to put him in danger at some point if Stella was to come back regularly. He had no idea when she would, she knew he wouldn't take too long to heal, but she should, in theory, not come back when Octavia was with him. He wouldn't really trust that just in case, but he should have at least a few days to think of something until he could properly find a way to completely put Stella off his imp's back.

Finally, he had to decide what the hell to do with the next full moon. Oddly enough, it was the most complicated part. He still wished for things to go as planned, but it felt so wrong and selfish to just offer Blitz the possibility of a relationship when he was putting him in danger without being able to warn him at the same time. He was also worried of Stella's reaction if she was to find out they were getting even more close. But… She hadn't said he couldn't, and it would be oddly satisfying to make progresses with his favorite imp, a kind of payback for the torture, as long as he could find a spell to protect him long enough for Stolas to be able to portal up to where Blitz was to protect him in case things went south… But that would also put his imp's loved ones in danger.

Looking up the spell was a good idea, he could even cast it when Blitz came in for the full moon, but he would need to cast it on the others too, and he wasn't even sure how to do it, since no existing spell came to his mind for such use. But he could probably make something from the ones in his grimoire…

Which led to another crucial point: the crystal. Even if he choose not to speak about his feelings to Blitz, he still needed to give him the crystal. First, to be able to take back his book to look for a protective spell strong enough against bullets, and second, to prevent Stella or Andrealphus to find out about their deal and use it against him. If was a selfish reason, but his childhood friend should also be happy with this new situation, right? He couldn't give out too many flaws to his ex wife and his brother in law, or they would try to kill him again, and may succeed this time. He still remembered Octavia's tears from when she first came to see him in the hospital, and his heart compressed itself with pain and guilt at the memory. He couldn't do that to her, he couldn't worry her so much. A child shouldn't have to worry about their parents, it should be the other way around. It was even better if he also didn't have to worry about her at all!

But the shock his daughter went through when she realized she had almost lost him… He knew she wasn't over it yet. She learned about it in the worst way possible: from the media. Because he wasn't quick enough to tell her, because he was tired, because she was with her mother and he almost hoped he could get out before she was back and noticed anything… But she didn't. He couldn't exactly portal to said hospital, the information would probably leak again, and if he was to go there too often… Well, it was better not to risk it if he could help it!

Here he was now, mentally ranting about Octavia. But her sharpness today was a confirmation he needed to do this: she would grew suspicious quickly if she saw him hurt too often, and he didn't even know what he could say to cover up injuries, especially when he didn't know what to expect next!

Stolas approached slowly the bookshelf, not minding his unsteady steps as he forced himself to focus on the things he had to do. Tomorrow, he would spend time with Octavia, as planned, so he needed to start on everything else now.

Maybe that has been a mistake. He didn't sleep much that night, he had too much to think about, to worry about, to research and plan, and he still hasn't made up his mind on several matters. Still, he was mostly immobile when doing so, and was glad to discover that his injuries had healed. Only a slight uneasy feeling stayed where the most serious wounds were, nothing he couldn't brush off.

Getting off his bed after a few hours of rest, he went to shower again to remove the bandages and clean the last traces of blood and ointment. One last glance on the vanity reminded him of his pills, and he sighed as he took them once again. He was better since Stella left the house, but not that better yet, with everything going on with Blitz, and now this… But well, he had no one to talk to who could help him in this, so maybe it wasn't so bad to at least have the help of a bit of medication? It wasn't anything new anyway.

Now, the rest of the day belonged to Via, not any of his worries! He pushed everything related to Stella and Blitz away in the back of his mind to ponder over later, and tried another unusual outfit, this one more casual than his previous one since he was supposed to go shopping with Via today, so he didn't need to be all regal, and it was a continuation of his half lie from yesterday. After all, he wasn't against changing his style when he could, so it wasn't completely a lie.

The day went well. He kept his unwanted thoughts at bay, probably embarrassed his daughter a couple of times, but she seemed happy to be able to dress him in her style, though she quickly turned down his idea of finding matching outfits for the both of them. It wasn't enough to darken the day, and they still went for their movie evening after dinner.

When he got to his bedroom that night, Stolas felt so much better than the previous night. He had greatly enjoyed his time with Octavia, and shouldn't be too wrong in saying she had felt the same. He didn't give out anything, and didn't even need to refocus during the day. Not having to hide any injuries was certainly helpful in that regard!

But now he was alone again, and everything came crashing back at once, and he couldn't resist the urge to just drop himself on his bed.

This day was a much needed break, but he was greatly tired, and knew he couldn't afford to spend as much time with her tomorrow. Especially since the next night would be the full moon…

Oh, he was so much not ready for it!

Rubbing his eyes, the owl demon sighed and forced himself to get up. As appealing as the bed might be, he needed some time to think things over.

It was difficult to say if it had been a mistake or not. He didn't sleep for the whole night, but he honestly doubted he would have anyway, even if he went straight to bed. There was too much stress, even with how tired he felt from the lack of sleep of the previous night, he didn't even try to lay down because there was too much to worry about.

So instead he went to his study and greenhouse to continue his medicine supplies, either focusing on that or thinking about what to do, what to tell during his conversation with Blitz. Sadly, it was like before the whole Stella thing, but even worst: he couldn't bring himself to decide on an option, so he decided to just stop thinking about it for now and focus on other things.

At least, he was productive for the night! He had tried to be prepared for as many things as possible, and even took some time for more official duties while in his study. If he felt like it, he could totally spend the morning sleeping, and he was going to try because he knew he needed to rest, but first he needed to take a breakfast pretending to have woken up not long ago, in order not to worry Octavia.

"Hello my starfire! Did you sleep well?" He asked when he saw that his daughter was already in the kitchen when he realized it was time for him too to go there.

"Oh, hey dad! Yeah, cool, I dreamed about last night's movie, it was cool!"

"Really? Could you tell me?"

The owlette did so before her father could begin a rant about the importance and meaning of dreams, and he simply laughed at how silly it was without trying to give it some big hidden message.

"Oh, indeed, it was an entertaining dream!"

"What about you?"

"Me? Well, I don't remember my dreams from last night, but sometimes I do! It takes training to be able to remember them when you take up, and I haven't exactly done what was needed for that!"

The real reason was that his dreams from when he was still with Stella weren't exactly happy ones, and he didn't need to note them down to know what they meant, so it was better to forget them as soon as he could.

"Really? I thought you would!"

"Sometimes I do, when a dream is particularly creative, but usually not. There's a reason we don't naturally remember most of them, and they often look silly after waking up, like yours."

"True! So, I take it you're busy tonight?"

Her tone wasn't accusatory, but Stolas still felt bad.

"Hm, yes, sorry sweetie, did you want to do something?"

"Oh no, don't worry, I know what to expect! I was thinking of spending the night with Loona, if that's ok with you? After my lessons, of course!"

"Loona… Blitz's daughter? Of course Via! I'm happy to see you two seem to be quite close!"

"Well, we talk since she found me in the human world, and we thought it would be nice, you know, to hang out together while our dads are busy!"

"Hm, sure… But you're not going to hang out outside, right?"

"Relax dad, she said we could go to her friend's party, it's safe! If I don't feel like it, we'll just go back to her place. She'll come in the afternoon to pick me up, it's fine right?"

"I guess so…"

He was a bit hesitant, but the hellhound seemed capable. Out of worry, he decided he would put a tracking spell on Octavia, just in case, and ask Loona where they were going, of course. He also needed to text Blitz to confirm about tonight and ask him to come a bit early so he could get a look at the spells before beginning their conversation. Because if it was to go badly, it surely wouldn't take long before Blitz left, so it was safer to do this kind of things first.

The imp's answer was short but quick and positive, so it was still as good a start as any.

Once his breakfast was over, Stolas did try to get a few hours of sleep, but his brain just kept circling whenever he tried to rest, so he quickly gave up and choose to continue his preparations. He wouldn't really be able to drown his sorrow in alcohol in the up-coming days if he was rejected since Octavia was there, but well, in theory he could with all the work he was doing. It's almost as if he truly had many things do to, when in reality he just needed to keep his mind busy. Which was a bit unusual, he liked to take his time and think, but he already did too much of it and it was just going on repeat now.

He still managed to do what he could to keep an eye on Octavia while she was gone and talked to Loona to reassure himself, then they were both gone, after Stolas hugged his daughter, and he waved at her, wishing them a good evening, while the hellhound was driving away.

The van was bound to come back, since Blitz was using it too to visit the palace, but the girls were going to stay at Loona's place for a bit, and if they were still up for the party, Blitz would drop them off before joining Stolas.

The Goetia still had a few hours ahead of him, but he had absolutely no idea how to spent them. A bath would be nice, but even if he preened in the most extensive way, it wouldn't take that long.

Instead, he wandered in the gardens around the palace. The greenhouse was great, but he had already visited his plants today, and the outside would do him some good too.

And it worked… Until he was almost back to his starting point, and he noticed a group or four near the entrance and froze.

"Oh, Stolas, perfect, you're already here!" Stella smirked at him. "You sure do know when to show up at least!"

Oh Hell no!

21/02/2024

I don't think I'll be able to update next week, probably the week after, but who knows!

See you, and until then, take care! ;)