"Via what the fuck are you doing!" Dante shouted looking down at the red and black ring currently on the young demon Princess's finger.
"I saw this ring and I put it on," she said gesturing to the ring currently stuck on her hand.
"WHY!" he shouted Octavia was taken aback by this reaction.
"I'm sorry I just saw it and well I put it on, and on the topic of the ring why the fuck won't it come off?" she asked, attempting to remove the ring but it wouldn't budge.
"That's because it's from Lucifer," Dante replied rushing over to her and taking her hand to inspect the ring.
"Why the fuck do you have a ring from Lucifer?" Octavia asked, completely stunned that her friend and former crush somehow had a ring from the king of Hell himself.
"Cause he offered me a position as one of his knights," he stated casually as if it wasn't a big deal. Octavia's eyes went wide, utterly stupefied that Dante was offered such a prestigious position.
"Wait really, so did you accept?" she asked curiously, Dante looked at her as if she was nuts.
"Fuck no I would rather be erased than serve under that clown-looking bastard," Dante stated.
"Then why the fuck do you have the ring?" she asked not understanding why he had the ring if he didn't want to serve as one of Lucifer's Knights.
"Oh, I've been using the ring to get stuff," he explained, Via's eyes went wide at that statement.
"What?"
"Yeah, I just flash the ring around and people give me everything, from money to cars," he explained, but as he finished Octavia's eyes shifted from the normal pink color to a bright red, reaching forward she grabbed Dante by his shirt and pulled him forward.
"How dare you abuse or deny the gift of our most Gracious master the great and powerful Lucifer Morningstar!" she said her voice getting a few octaves deeper.
"And once more you abuse the gift, he gave you for your gain as one of his knights I will-" Suddenly Octavia's eyes returned to their natural pink color. Letting go of Dante she shook her head and looked at him confused not sure what had happened, Dante remembered what Stolas told him about how the ring takes control of the wearer and binds them to Lucifer.
"We need to get to your Dad now!" Dante shouted, grabbing Octavia by the hand, and dragging her out of his apartment, down the stairs, and out onto the street. Running up to a fancy red sports car Dante unlocked it and opened the passenger door.
"Hey, this kinda looks like my mom's car that got-," she said before Dante pushed her inside got in the driver's side and took off towards Stolas' manor.
Goetia Manor, back garden
Stolas knelt on the ground in front of a plot of soil with a small shovel in his hand as he dug a small hole. Reaching to his left he saw a tray of small flowers each with a variety of colors and patterns. Carefully removing one of the plants from the container, he placed it into the hole and then re-applied the soil. Stolas sighed happily beside his monthly rendezvous with Blitz working his lovely garden was one of the ways he stayed sane, he wished Via was here to help him as she did as a little girl but no, she was all grown up, and out with her friends, he just wished she had better company, and didn't hang out with that Imp Dante. Stolas growled thinking about that arrogant bastard, he didn't understand his daughter's infatuation with that heartless shit, he was arrogant, rude, insensitive, and he was certain he was unfaithful too. He remembered how his daughter cried when he told her that he had no interest in her, he probably insulted her cruelly shattering her heart like a monster. Sighing again, Stolas went back to his plants taking joy in helping his small flowery friends, suddenly Stolas heard what sounded like a car engine. Sitting up Stolas listened and noticed that the sound was getting louder and louder.
"What in Hell is," Stolas couldn't finish his sentence before a fancy red sports car suddenly smashed through the wall surrounding his manor, the car drove towards him at top speed only stopping like an inch from him.
Suddenly the driver's side door opened and out stepped a tall Imp with a head of thick black hair.
"Dante what the Fuck!?" Stolas yelled seething with rage.
"Sorry to bug you feathers but I need your help," Dante explained not seemingly bothered by the fact he almost ran him over.
"What the fuck do you need?" Stolas asked, not sure what was serious enough to cause him to break through his wall.
"This," Dante said reaching around to the passenger side and opening the door he reached in and pulled out his daughter Octavia grabbed her hand and held it up. Stolas saw the ring on her finger and his face went even paler than it already was.
In Stolas' living room
"Dante how the fuck did this happen!?" Stolas asked standing before both Dante and Octavia who were sitting on his living room couch.
"I left the ring out and Octavia saw it and put it on," Dante explained sounding kinda embarrassed.
"Why did you still have it I thought you turned Lucifer down!?" Stolas yelled glaring down at Dante.
"I was going to but first I thought I'd used the ring to get some stuff," the Imp stated putting g on a nervous smile, Stolas looked at him flabbergasted.
"By the Seven Princes why! Why would you do something so stupid!?" Stolas screamed, unable to comprehend why Dante would do something so reckless and stupid.
"Because with this ring, your wife showed me her tits you bet your non-existent ass I was gonna milk that thing for all it's worth,"
"Wait what did my mom do?" Octavia looked at Dante disgusted by the idea of her mom showing him her goods. Speak if the devil and he shall appear, and at that moment Stella walked into the room.
"Stolas what is all this screaming, it's bad enough having to be in this house with you do I have to hear you too?" the dove demon asked, annoyed, then she spotted Dante and Octavia sitting on the couch. Moving closer she saw the ring on Octavia's hand.
"YES!" Stella shouted pumping her fists into the air.
"Huh?" all three replied to Stella's reaction.
"Our daughter is now a Knight of Lucifer do you know what this means for our family, this is a big step up and we can use this to our advantage, wipe away the shame you brought with your disgusting affair and help raise me, I mean our family to an even higher level maybe bring me to the status of a Duchess, or maybe even a queen," Stella explained her eyes filling with stars as she pictured herself as a queen of Hell.
"Don't get your hopes up Stella this was all just a mistake and we're getting that ring off of her ASAP," Stolas explained rolling his eyes at Stella's delusions of grandeur. Stella's look of joy immediately warped into a look of rage as she turned to face her husband.
The two immediately devolved into a pointless argument about Octavia and the ring, but Dante realized they didn't have time for this bullshit. Getting up Dante casually walked over to a large, upholstered chair, picked it up by one of its legs, and proceeded to smash it over Stella's head. The white bird proceeded to fall to the ground unconscious, Stolas and Octavia looked down at her in shock and horror before looking up at Dante.
"What?" he asked, tossing away the chair leg still in his hand, and then proceeded to go through Stella's pockets and swipe her wallet.
"Ok, back on track how are we gonna get the ring off my daughter?" Stolas asked Dante trying to get over the fact that an Imp just RKO'd a member of the Ars Goetia.
"I was hoping you'd know," Dante replied.
"I can't do it, the only one capable of removing the ring is Lucifer and we are NOT taking her to Lucifer he'd kill us if he found out," Stolas explained pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Then what do we do, cut off her finger?" Dante asked, Octavia immediately panicked and hid her hand under herself.
"No, we're not doing that well just have to find another way to get that stupid thing off," Stolas said as he did, Octavia's eyes went red, and she shot up from her seat.
"Don't you dare speak ill of the ring of Lucifer, this ring was crafted by our great master, the lord of absolute darkness, and how dare you try to remove this ring for your selfish desires as one of his loyal knights I'll," Octavia's rant was cut off when Dante stuck a syringe into her neck. Swaying back and forth, Octavia fell back onto the couch completely unconscious, Stolas looked at his daughter in horror.
"What the fuck did you do!?" Stolas yelled glaring at Dante beginning to shift into his true demonic form.
"Hey, calm down feathers, it's just a mild sedative she'll be back on her feet in a couple of hours," Dante explained gesturing for the prince to relax, luckily for him Stolas did.
"Why the hell did you do that?" he asked not as angry but still pretty mad.
"Because that ring is fucking with her head, this way she'll stay calm and quiet until we can get it off her," he said tossing the empty syringe aside.
"And how are we gonna do that?" Stolas asked sarcastically, putting his hands on his hips.
Dante thought about it for a minute before an idea came to mind, he wasn't happy about it though.
"I think I know someone who could help," he said with a sigh.
"Really who?" Stolas asked, confused.
"Just some guy I know," Dante said dodging the question.
"Ok, which ring does this guy live in?" Stolas questioned, annoyed.
"He doesn't live in Hell he's on Earth," Dante explained, Stolas looked at him surprised, Stolas opened his beak to ask a question, but Dante raised a hand cutting him off.
"Just grab Via and open up a portal to Buenos Aires," Dante said.
Buenos Aires
A bright blue light showed brightly from a dirty alleyway before quickly disappearing, three figures stepped out of the alleyway one was a swarthy Italian with long black hair, a black trench coat, and a pair of sunglasses. He was followed by a very tall, very pale man with dark gray hair, and in his arms was a young woman in a pink dress and black jacket who was sleeping peacefully. Upon getting out of the alley Stolas looked around at the city's high skyline, he rarely comes to Earth, and when he does the sights and sounds always amazed him. While Stolas was amazed by the sights Dante honestly couldn't have cared less walking up to the streets, he quickly hailed a cab.
"Hey, feathers get your scrawny ass in here!" Dante shouted toward Stolas pointing at the cab, Stolas glared at Dante but complied crawling into the tight cab being careful not to hurt his daughter, but he bumped his head in the process.
"Where too?" the cab driver asked in Spanish, Stolas looked at him confused but Dante swiftly cut him off.
"The nearest soup kitchen boss," Dante responded in fluent Spanish, the cab driver nodded his head and took off.
Soup kitchen
A middle-aged nun stood in the kitchen watching as the cooks prepared the evening meal, suddenly she heard the front door open, and stepping out of the kitchen she headed towards the front. The nun's eyes went wide as she saw an exceptionally tall man walk into the kitchen with a young woman sleeping in his arms, she continued to stare in amazement until she heard someone clear their throat looking down, she saw a man with black hair and sunglasses standing before him.
"Uh how can I help you sir?" she asked, the tall man began talking, but unfortunately, the man was speaking English which she did not understand, the shorter man turned to the tall man and gestured for him to stop talking which he did, he then turned back to face her.
"Excuse me sister but have you seen this man?" the smaller man asked in clear fluent Spanish, although his accent made it clear he wasn't a native of Argentina. Reaching into his jacket the man pulled out a piece of paper unfolded it, and showed it to her, on it was a well-done portrait of a very familiar man.
"Ah, yes Father Francesco, such a kind man he is," she gushed, the man looked pleased to know she knew of him.
"Do you know where he is?" he asked sounding somewhat frantic.
"Yes, he is at the church of the Sacred Virgin Mary," she replied, smiling the man quickly thanked her and ran out the door dragging the taller man with him.
At the church of the Sacred Virgin Mary
The inside of the church was quiet, the day's mass had been concluded hours ago and most of the youth groups and bible studies had all gone home. The main hall was empty except for a lone priest in black and red garb who was currently lying down on one of the pews snoring loudly. Suddenly the priest was awoken by a hand shaking him by the shoulder, sitting up The priest yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes seeing a young nun with pale blue eyes staring at him a concerned expression on her face.
"What is it, Augusta?" he asked, his friend's worried expression upsetting him.
"H-He's back," she spat out, fiddling with the Rosary she usually had wrapped around her right wrist, a gesture Francesco had come to identify with her being worried.
Where is he?" Francesco asked, his voice taking on a stern tone he rarely used.
He's waiting outside the front door," she said pointing a shaking hand at the church's main entrance. Getting up Francesco pulled a crucifix out of a back he kept at his side and headed for the door.
Opening the front door slowly Francesco saw Dante himself in his human disguise standing before him, behind him was a very tall man in a gray and red suit the man had an unconscious young woman in his arms, Francesco was curious about the situation behind that, but he figured it wasn't good.
"Why are you here Anto- I mean Dante?" he asked sternly expecting Dante to say he was here to kill him or some nonsense.
"I need your help, Frankie," Dante said in a desperate tone, a tone Francesco knew he only used when things were dire.
"What's wrong, what's happened?" he asked sounding concerned, but before Dante could answer the tall man from before pushed him aside before he could reply.
"Is this the man you said could help my daughter?" he asked Dante his voice bearing a British accent, Dante nodded in response and then he turned back to Francesco.
"Look normally I would want nothing to do with you priests and your pointless devotion to your vile, arrogant god, but my daughter is in serious need of help and if you can save her then with the Dark Lord as my witness I will," he was cut off by Dante stomping on his foot.
"Quiet Feathers," he growled in English before quickly returning to Italian.
"What the hell is going on?" Francesco asked, not sure what the tall guy was talking about or why either he or Dante was here.
"It's a long story, Frankie," Dante replied, sighing Francesco stood aside and allowed Dante to come in.
"Well get in here and explain it to me then," Francesco said exacerbated, Dante stepped into the church, and Stolas tried to follow suit but found that every time he tried to enter, he began to burn. Wincing in pain Stolas saw Francesco and Dante both staring at him in confusion.
"I'll just uh wait out here I guess," he said, Dante shrugged his shoulders and continued inside, while Stolas just sat down on the steps his daughter still cradled in his arms.
Church back office
Dante sat across from Francesco each had a glass of red wine in front of them, Dante had just finished explaining what had happened and after he was done Francesco proceeded to pick up his glass of wine and downed it in one big gulp, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes lighting one he took a deep drag then looked directly at Dante.
"So, you're telling me that Lucifer himself offered you a ring that would make you one of his knights but instead of turning him down you decided to keep the ring and use it for your own gain then this demon princess showed up at your home put the ring on and now you need my help getting it off?" Francesco asked.
"Yep, that's correct," Dante replied nodding his head, Francesco took another drag from his cigarette.
"By Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the Apostles, by the Fourteen Holy helpers, by all the Martyrs, and Doctors of the Church, why would you do something so fucking stupid!?" he shouted at Dante looked at the floor nervously, resembling a child being disciplined by his teacher.
"Well, you know me any chance I can get to fuck over the rich," he said nervously rubbing the back of his head, Francesco sighed and reached for the bottle to refill his glass but found it empty, he glared at Dante.
"Still have a drinking problem I see," Francesco said, Dante nervously smiled.
"So will you help?" Dante asked, Francesco tossed the bottle aside.
"No," Francesco said bluntly.
"WHAT WHY NOT!?" Dante shouted utterly flummoxed.
"Because this Octavia is a vile demon why on earth should this help such a vile evil beast?" he said coldly.
Dante was shocked, he had known Francesco for a long time and all the time they'd known each other he had always been a kind and compassionate individual, someone who had always been tolerant and accepting of others willing to help out those in need. Whether they be Catholics like himself, Protestants, Jews, or Muslims, it didn't matter he would help whoever he could. Dante clenched his fists in anger at his old friends' cruelty, but then he realized that Octavia was a demon and Francesco a devout Catholic had spent his whole life being told that demons were the source of ultimate evil and that her kind had rebelled against God, and when they failed decided to corrupt mankind with sin as petty vengeance. What Francesco didn't know was that Octavia had nothing to do with any of that she was born long after the Rebellion, and that was the fault of her ancestors, not her.
"Look I know what you're thinking, but Octavia had nothing to do with the revolt against God or tricking Adam and Eve into eating the apple, she was born long after all of that, she's just a kid after all," Dante explained but Francesco seemed unconvinced.
"It doesn't matter if she was born after the rebellion, she is still a demon a creature of Hell meant to destroy all of mankind, she carries the dark evil of her forefathers," Francesco spat out vehemently.
"The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him," Dante replied, Francesco tensed up, that was one of his preferred quotes and a quote he used often when people tried to blame one for the sins of another. Francesco stood up and turned to look out a window behind the desk, he looked out onto the church garden and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Now that's not fair Tony," he said, Dante smirked and crossed his arms, he was getting to him he just needed another push.
"Look I know you don't feel right about this but she's not evil I promise you, help her please?" Dante asked Francesco to take another drag from his cigarette.
"Rose would want you to do it," Dante stated, Francesco flinched, then sighed turning around and extinguishing the cigarette in an ashtray on the righthand side of the desk.
"Fine, cazzo dannazione, fine, I'll help you come on," Francesco said heading for the door, Dante followed quickly behind.
Outside the church
Stolas sat on the steps of the church his daughter still asleep in his arms, he tapped his foot nervously waiting for Dante to finish talking with the priest outside. As he waited, he wondered how the hell Dante knew a Catholic Priest to begin with, he knew Dante came up to earth regularly for work but that's just to kill people not to mingle with humans. Stolas then began wondering what Dante had been getting up to, maybe he had been sneaking off to earth and interacting with humans during his off hours. This made Stolas nervous, he was already doing something super illegal by letting Blitzy use the book for his company but if some of his employees were using the grimoire to mess around on Earth and the guys above him found out, he gulped shuddering in fear.
Hearing the doors to the church open Stolas shot up and saw Dante and the priest walk out, the priest walked down the steps stopping in front of Stolas, glancing at him quickly the priest then looked down at Octavia who was resting in his arms. Lifting her right arm, he took a quick look at the ring then gently put her arm back down. Turning away, he headed down the steps and then began walking down the street, Stolas stared at him perplexed before he felt someone tug on his arm looking down, he saw Dante gesturing him to follow.
Small house twenty minutes away
Francesco led the three demons to a small house walking up to the front door. Francesco pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Stepping inside Francesco held the door open for the demons, entering his home both Stolas and Dante took note of how bare it was. The house was small just a living room and a kitchen attached to it, the living room was barren the only thing in it was a small table with two chairs and a folding chair next to a lamp and that was all there was that was the only furniture in the house.
"Uh, Mr. Priest were you recently robbed?" Stolas asked looking at how bare the house was.
"No not all, why do you ask?" Francesco replied, sending Stolas a confused look.
"Well because there's barely anything here, where's all your furniture?" he asked gesturing to everything around him, or the nothing around him, Francesco smirked.
"This is all I need, I don't need any luxuries or fancy comforts all I need is a place to sleep, a place to eat, and a place to sit and I am fine," Francesco stated calmly, Stolas just looked at him like he was crazy.
"How on Earth can you be content with this meager existence why do you not seek more comfort and luxury; how can anyone live in such poverty?" Stolas asked flabbergasted, unable to comprehend how anyone could not want more and how someone could be content with less. Francesco was about to reply but Dante beat him to it.
"It's called humility Feathers something a degenerate like you wouldn't even begin to understand," Dante looked around and smirked.
"Honestly this isn't surprising," he said looking around, but then he saw something that made his eyes go wide.
"And neither is that," he said sarcastically, Stolas followed his eyes and was shocked by what he saw.
On the left wall of the living room hung a large ornate crucifix, and on both sides were the depictions of various saints.
"Who are all these people, are they relatives?" Stolas asked, looking closer at the display, Francesco laughed.
"No these are all saints of the Christian faith," he explained, gesturing to the photos.
"I see you got Mary, Peter, Paul, the Apostles, Ambrose, Margaret, Agatha, Michael, Gabriel, Francis, and Joan," Dante cringed upon noticing the depiction of Joan of Arc, seeing her always made him uncomfortable.
At that moment two cats, one an orange tabby, and the other a tuxedo cat came out and began rubbing against Francesco's legs but the moment they saw Stolas they began hissing their fur standing on end.
"Marco, Polo shush, you're ok," Francesco said gently petting the two cats, the tabby cat looked at him as if he was insane and let out a frantic meow.
"Yes, yes, I know what they are, but they are not here to cause any harm I promise you," he said in a calming voice, the two cats began to visibly relax.
"Now I am going to be performing an exorcism, so I need you both to leave for your safety," he said walking over to a window he opened it and gestured for them to leave through it, the cats complied, and both jumped out the window.
"And not hunting, that means you Polo!" he shouted out at the cats, the tuxedo cat rolled its eyes and then ran off after its housemate.
It was at this time that the sedatives wore off and Octavia began to awaken, stirring in her father's arms, Octavia opened her eyes and saw her father in his human disguise giving her a worried look.
"Dad what's going-" she stops as her eyes turn blood red, squirming out of Stolas' grip Octavia lands on her feet and sends her father a look filled with anger.
"How dare you travel to the Living Realm unauthorized, who do you think you are violating the rules of the great Lucifer," she said in that deep voice that was not her own. Looking around more her eyes fell upon Francesco, the sight of a priest just made her even angrier.
"And you interact with a disciple of the vile, arrogant God, how dare you!? I am going to contact the great lord Lucifer and," Octavia, or more precisely the ring which was controlling her could finish its little tirade Dante wrapped his arms around Octavia lifted her into the air, and carried her over to one of the chairs in the dining room. Forcing her into a chair Dante reached towards Francesco and pulled off his sash and used it to tie her to the chair except for her right arm which bore the ring, grabbing her arm Dante pinned it to the table and then turned to Stolas.
"Hey, Feathers help me out here!" Dante shouted, struggling to hold Octavia's arm down, nodding Stolas moved in and assisted Dante in restraining his possessed daughter. With Octavia secured Dante then looked over to Francesco who nodded, he then proceeded to grab a bible from the coffee table and pulled a crucifix out of his coat pocket.
Rushing over to Octavia Francesco opened up his bible and began reading out loud the gospel of Mark more specifically, the story of Jesus and the demon Legion, while holding his crucifix up to the ring. Octavia groaned and began struggling against her binds, it was at this moment that Francesco stopped reading and turned to Dante.
"Dante help, recite the Ave Maria or the Lord's Prayer," he commanded, Dante nodded and began.
"Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your Holy Spirit come upon us and cleanse us. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial, Or us into temptation but rescue us from evil. For the kingdom and the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen," Dante recited the prayer perfectly as if he had done it a thousand times. It was at that time Dante pulled a small cross necklace out from under his shirt and held it between his thumb and index finger. This caused Stolas to pause and give him a puzzled look. Unfortunately, this momentary lapse allowed Octavia to break free from his grip for a moment and smack Dante in the face.
"Dammit Feathers focus!" he shouted, Stolas shook his head and quickly reaffirmed his grip on his daughter's arm. Octavia continued to thrash around against the restraints, as a demon Octavia was already stronger than a typical human, but the ring on her finger also acted as an amplifier for that strength making her even stronger this made it very difficult for Dante and Stolas to hold her in place. Francesco noticed this but was not scared he continued to read from the book of Mark.
"'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.' For he had said to him, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!' Then Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' He replied, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.'He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.Now there on the hillside, a great herd of swine was feeding,and the unclean spirits begged him, 'Send us into the swine; let us enter them.'" Francesco read continuing to hold his crucifix up to the ring, at hearing those words Octavia let out a deep horrid scream and thrashed even harder against the restraints, suddenly the sash holding her to the chair broke. Free from her bindings Octavia tried to get up and get away from Francesco and the others. Thinking quickly Dante grabbed Octavia by the shoulders and with all of his strength forced her back into the chair, he then moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist keeping her in place. It was then that Francesco noticed a crack in the ring, and taking advantage of this sign of weakness he pressed his advantage.
"Vile beast, great deceiver I command you, leave this poor soul you have no right to her, exit her body you evil creature leave her be!" Francesco shouted; it was at that moment Dante then began reciting a Hail Mary. This assault caused Octavia to let out a scream of pain, Stolas cringed in horror at the sound and sight of his daughter in such agony, a tear running down his cheek.
Francesco noticed this and couldn't help but feel surprised, he always believed that demons were nothing but vile evil creatures who felt no love, compassion, or kindness, but here this demon, this Prince of Hell cared for his daughter and loves her if he was willing to go against his dark master and work with a man of God. this act of love and compassion filled Francesco with greater determination to help this young woman.
"Evil spirit I demand that you leave this young woman alone, leave I cast you out!" he shouted with all of his might, his crucifix glowing as bright as the sun, he forced the crucifix onto the ring.
Octavia screamed and threw her head back, it was at that moment a cloud of black smoke poured out of her mouth, this cloud of smoke quickly took the form of a serpent which proceeded to hiss at Francesco.
"Begone!" Francesco shouted holding up his crucifix which glowed with a brilliant white light.
The serpent let out a pained his before dissolving into smoke which proceeded to waft out of the open window.
Once the smoke had fully cleared the ring on Octavia's finger cracked and then swiftly crumbled to dust. Upon seeing the ring crumble the three men in the room let out a collective sigh of relief, Francesco collapsed into a chair wiping sweat from his head, Stolas quickly let go of Octavia's arm and collapsed onto the floor rubbing his temples, and Dante noticing Octavia was no longer struggling against him released his hold on her. This proved to be a mistake, however, as the unconscious Octavia quickly fell out of the chair, Stolas saw this and moved to quickly catch her, but Dante beat him to the punch. Cradling the girl in his arms Dante noticed her beginning to stir, he held his breath and let out a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes and he saw her usual pink instead of red. Octavia blinked her eyes adjusting to the light, as bleariness faded, she saw Dante looking down at her a look of concern etched onto his face.
"Dante… what's going on where am I?" she asked, her voice weak.
"oh grazie ai Santi, I'm glad your back to your old self," Dante said pulling Octavia into a tight embrace, her face buried into his chest, Octavia couldn't help but blush. Sadly, this tender moment didn't last long as Stolas quickly grabbed Dante and tossed him aside before scooping his daughter up into his arms and holding her tightly.
"Ohh my sweet little owlet I'm so glad you're ok, I was so worried when I saw what the ring did to you and what the ritual did to you ohh Lucifer I felt that I was going to die!" he shouted hugging her tightly. Dante sat on the floor rubbing his bruised head as he watched as Stolas continued to blubber on about how worried he was, Dante smiled at the sight.
Francesco walked up to Dante and took a seat beside him wine bottle in his hand. Taking a sip from the bottle he passed the bottle to Dante who took a long drink before wiping his mouth and setting the bottle down.
"Never thought I'd be exorcising a demon?" Francesco said in a Central Italian dialect, Dante smirked.
"Yeah, well I never thought I'd get offered a position as one of Lucifer's knights," Dante replied fluently in the same dialect, he smiled he rarely got the chance to speak Italian let alone the Central dialect it was nice to have the language on his tongue again.
The two continued to sit and watch as Stolas fawned over his child, Francesco was moved by the sight, and taking another drink her turned to face Dante.
"I always assumed that demons were loveless hateful creatures, but here is a demon showing true love and compassion for his daughter it's… surprising," Francesco explained, Dante nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah, it surprised me too, but don't be fooled he may be nice to his kid but he's still a vile worthless noble who uses everyone and tosses them aside when they no longer serve a purpose," Dante said angrily, Francesco noticed his anger and reached out to touch his shoulder it was at that moment that Dante stood.
"Hey Feathers, sorry to interrupt your little father-daughter bonding moment but let's head back before people start getting suspicious," Dante said, Stolas quickly regained his composure.
"Yes of course," he said in a serious tone putting Octavia down Stolas opened a portal and quickly walked through followed by Octavia, then by Dante but before he walked through, he turned back to Francesco.
"Mille grazie," he said before walking through, once he had passed through completely the portal closed. Once the portal closed Francesco picked up the bottle and took a drink only to find it was empty.
"Of course," he said rolling his eyes, putting the bottle down.
The next day, Dante's apartment
"So that's your final answer?" Lucifer asked, looking down at the black box containing the ring sitting in the palm of his left hand.
"Yes, it is thank you for the offer but my answer is no," Dante said standing before the King of Hell who was sitting on his couch.
"Well, son I can't say I'm not more than a little disappointed by your refusal," Lucifer said his tone carrying more anger than disappointment though.
"I'm sorry I just don't feel that this position is for me and besides I'm sure there are others far more suited to the position than me," Dante said rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Ha! There really aren't, but fine I will respect your wishes, but just know that if you change your mind the position will always be open for you," Lucifer said sending Dante a knowing smirk, Dante felt his skin crawl.
"Thank you, your majesty," Dante said trying to hide his discomfort, with the business done Lucifer got up and took his leave. Upon stepping out of Dante's apartment Lucifer looked down at the box in his hand and glared at it, the box immediately burst into dark blue flames incinerating into nothing.
Did he really think I would fall for a fake ring; did he really think I wouldn't know that he destroyed it, Lucifer thought to himself as he walked down the hall he saw some of Dante's neighbors step out into the hall and upon seeing him they immediately retreated back into their dingy hovels.
Exiting the building Lucifer climbed into the back of his limousine and ordered the driver to take him back to the palace. Lucifer wasn't lying when he said he was disappointed in Dante's refusal, he is one of the more powerful demons he had seen as of late and he would have made a great puppet but no matter, he knew Dante's type, he had a lust for power buried under that simple facade and he knew sooner or later the power Lucifer offered would be enough to get him sooner or later.
He'll be back, and will be under my thumb in no time, Lucifer thought to himself, a sadistic smile forming on his pale face.
Later that evening at La Rossa
Dante sat in a room on the upper floor of the brothel with Kate, Margo the Gonfaloniere, and Maria, sitting on the floor in the middle was Aurelia who was busy trying to catch her own tail.
"So, the ring's gone and we're gonna see a drop in funds correct," Margo asked, Dante nodded his head sadly.
"Unfortunately, yes, luckily some of the nobles I tricked will still send money but it's not gonna be a smooch as we had before," he said his hands tightening into fists, he relaxed when he felt Kate rest her hand on his arm.
"Unfortunate but we have plenty stored up and while we'll be getting less we should be able to make do with what we have," Margo explained Dante smiled, sighing in relief.
"Good thinking Margo," the Gonfaloniere perked at the praise.
"Thank you, master," she said bowing her head, Dante cringed.
"I thought I said don't call me that," he said anger in his voice, Margo gulped then quickly apologized.
"You said you have funds stored up, is there enough for the Orphanage?" Maria asked, sounding worried, Aurelia, having finally caught her own tail let out a triumphant laugh, and everyone looked down at her and smiled. Dante reached down and picked Aurelia up and placed her in his lap.
"The orphanage will get its funds I promise you that don't worry," Dante told Maria, his voice carrying a conviction that convinced her that there'd be no budget cuts, Maria sighed in relief.
"Alright if that's all then I think we can call this meeting adjourned, good night, everyone," Dante said handing Aurelia back to Maria and standing up the others followed suit. Dante left the room first followed by Maria; Kate was about to leave when she suddenly felt someone grab her hand, and turning around she saw Margo giving her a sensual smile.
"Hey Kate, how much for a night?" Margo asked wagging her eyebrows.
EPILOGUE
As Dante returned to his apartment, he entered the building and was about to head up the stairs to his apartment when he remembered he had to check his mail. Stopping by the mailbox, he opened it and pulled out a handful of letters, with the letters in hand Dante headed up to his apartment, after entering he began going through the letters.
"Junk, junk, junk, bill, bill, what's this?" he said to himself as he found a bright pink envelope with a heart on it. Opening it he found a dark purplish pink slip and a letter written in familiar handwriting.
He sexy, I'm doing a performance at Asmodeus's nightclub tomorrow night and I'd like you to come and watch maybe even join in if you'd like, you can even bring Loona if you want. Here's the invitation, the show starts at 8pm can't wait to see you there.
Love, Verosika
"Oh god not her again," Dante groaned.
END
Another chapter done sorry for the wait everyone I've been kinda busy lately, but don't worry the story is still going strong and the next few chapters will involve some of the recent episodes so stay tuned and thank you for reading.