Stolas was soon a little eleven-year-old owl child, bursting with curiosity and life. Stolas' palace stood elegantly as ever in the dawn in the Pride Ring. There was a white telescope off to the left and sparkly magenta pink curtains draped over the thin pillars that lined a marble balcony. Constellations glowed against the walls and King Paimon's four-looped sigil glowed in the front structure below the balcony. Inside in a bedroom, little Stolas snuggled happily with his stuffed red rabbit toy with sharp teeth (resembling a demonic Max from "Sam and Max") and four small imp horns sticking from its head. There was a pink unicorn teddy bear with white curly hair off to the side. Smiling plant plushies and stuffed flowers fashioned with buttons also surrounded him. Red curtains surrounded his large bed. Wearing navy blue stripped pajamas, the young Stolas yawned, smacked his lips, and slowly opened his eyes. Then he sat up in excitement, four eyes wide.
"My birthday! My birthday! It's my birthday!"
Stolas happily jumped out of bed, landing on all fours. He then raced into the adjacent dressing room. "Yay!" he cheered with his small black arms in the air. A butler imp with a white mustache, a bowtie, a dark gray vest, and white hair followed him. His arms were folded behind him, and his pointed tail was spiked.
The dressing room was dim, dark, and draped in various shades of purple curtains. The large vanity mirror was bordered by eighteen purple flower lights on a golden vine and up at the top was a structure with five slanted shapes like eyes for decoration. The purple dresser was decorated with small blue ringed planets on the drawers. The mirror reflected a white bathtub with white candles and glowing teal constellations hovering in the air.
"Yaaay! Birthday, birthday! Woohoo!" Stolas cheered as he pushed a red stool in place and stood on top. "Birthday tiiiime!" In front of Stolas was a small gold crown on a red crown cushion.
"Calm yourself, young prince," the butler reminded him as he applied hair gel to the top and sides of Stolas' feathery hair and face. "You know excitement is unbecoming of a Goetia." The butler walked off.
Stolas chuckled apologetically. "Oh! Right." He took a deep breath and his face lit up again. "But Father told me today is the day I am old enough to know my purpose and responsibility!"
Stolas' eyes sparkled as the butler put a red vest on Stolas and buttoned it. He then proceeded to put Stolas' red cape on him.
"Of course," said the butler, putting a small gold crown on Stolas' head. "I'm sure it will be wonderful."
With the vest, cape, and crown, Stolas looked more like a regal prince. The butler then led the way to the throne room, Stolas following in excitement.
Down the hall were giant royal portraits off to the side. The first one showed the egg Stolas hatched from, the egg sitting on a pink cushion and a crown on top of it. The next one showed Stolas as an ugly baby hatchling bundled up in a crib in a red blanket with a gold pin with the Goetia family insignia on it. His face was orange, his eyes purple and sunken. Stolas' stuffed red rabbit sat nearby. The next one showed a happy Stolas as a toddler holding his rabbit toy on a red pillow. In the next one, Stolas again, held his toy as a giant Venus Fly Trap plant dripped green slime on his head.
The double doors opened, and a shadowy figure sat on his throne under orange curtains with hanging purple and gold jewels. A long-clawed arm rose from the armrest. In a flash, shadowy monster heads roared then fused together into a fierce shadow hydra with many red eyes. The hydra briefly switched to a tall demon with ram horns, then into a monstrous elephant head, then into a flying bat-winged eye with dog heads below. Finally, the room brightened and there stood the towering owl Paimon in his ordinary form. He wore a starry red and gold cape with a high collar like a vampire. Red swirly designs curved on his white masked portion of his face, his pink eyes glowing with authority. A tall three-pointed gold crown with a red diamond and infinity symbol was perched on his brown feathery head. On either side of his crown, his hair arched upwards, giving the appearance of four brown horns.
The butler took his position beside the king.
"Ahhh!" said Paimon with a smile, arms out. "There is my little, uh…"
Stolas smiled gleefully at his father.
Paimon whispered to his butler. "Which son is this one? There's so fucking many."
"Stolas, your highness," replied the imp.
"Stolas!" exclaimed Paimon. He chuckled. "Yes! Ha! Right, right! That's the one!" He walked toward Stolas. "The owl boy."
Paimon leaned down toward his son's face, Stolas bearing a surprised look. "Well, my little one…"
Paimon stood up and walked in front of him. "It is finally your day of becoming a true part of the Goetia family."
Paimon briefly looked down at his son and mentioned, "How good for you," before continuing his regal walk. "Are you ready to know what you'll be meant to do to serve Hell?"
"Yes father!" Stolas stated confidently.
Paimon opened portal above his head, revealing a starry sky.
"You will be entrusted with the study of the Earth's skies, the stars, the prophecies they hold, all that stuff." Stolas looked in awe as a teal green comet and a purple comet flashed across the room.
A bunch of green vines and vivid colored flowers burst from one of Paimon's clawed hands. A Venus fly trap popped out and snapped its jaws. "You will study the various properties of plants, herbs, poisons from here and Earth, how they can hurt and heal."
A pink flower flew in the breeze and gently touched Stolas' cheek. The young owl giggled as he held the flower in his hand.
The plants vanished and in Paimon's other hand appeared blue and red crystals. "You will also be invested in the study of precious stones, crystals, and gems in both places, how they are used in spell work, healing, prophecies, strength, etc."
Stolas admired his glowing eyes reflected in the crystal's surfaces.
The crystals vanished as well.
"Isn't that fun?" Paimon asked, as a blue grimoire with a gold moon appeared hovering in a magic aura over his hand. On the back of the book was Stolas' sigil. "You will begin your studies of your grimoire, which will grant you access to the Mortal Realm to study and observe…"
Paimon levitated the book toward Stolas, who eagerly grabbed it.
Paimon continued in a passionate tone. "And you will grow to be a mighty Prince of Hell with your own legions to lead and pass on your knowledge to!"
"I will do my best, Father!" the confident Stolas proclaimed proudly. Stolas couldn't wait to get started! Everything would be just fine…
"Wonderful!" Paimon exclaimed. Then he spoke faster. "Also, son, you are destined to sire a precautionary addition to the Goetia family, so you are now engaged."
Stolas paused and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what? What's a precautionary…"
Paimon chuckled. "Oh, Stolas, it means that you are engaged to be married to your future wife for the purpose of raising a child who will help continue the family line! Congratulations!"
"M-married? To whom?" Stolas asked.
Paimon held out a picture to Stolas. "Her name is Stella. Isn't she charming?" he chuckled.
In the picture was a white swan princess that gave off a bratty Azula/Angelica Pickles/Veruca Salt vibe. She wore a feathery dress of dark gray at the bottom and white at the top. Her white feathery hair was in pigtails with two pink bows and two gold crowns on her head. Her parents had given her two black fly-like dogs as a present. A disgusted Stella had stomped on the head of one and angrily choked another in her hands. The creatures cried from their yellow/red eyes as Stella's pink eyes glowed with menace.
A scared Stolas burst into tears and turned away from the picture in fear.
"Ohh!" Paimon exclaimed. "That's an ugly noise, son. Here…" he pat Stolas on the head. "How about you cease this bitch crying?"
Stolas cried louder.
"Hm, that usually works," Paimon said. "Oh, would you like it if I took you to the circus in town? Children enjoy the circus, right?" He pat Stolas on the head again. "Would that distract you enough from your non-negotiable future marriage?"
A tear rolled down Stolas' cheek as he stood in somber silence.
"Butler!" Paimon called. "Bring my magic gold mirror so I can see what goes on in that dump. And bring along two Doberman dog guards."
"Guards, sir?" asked the imp.
"Yes, guards! I don't care much for the boy, but I don't want him to get hurt from any rowdy commoner imps at the circus. Fetch them!"
"Yes, your highness."
The imp bowed and wandered off. A tear rolled down Stolas' cheek and dripped off.
0 0 0
A few hours later, a sad Stolas stood with the imp butler at the top of the stairs, flanked by the bi-pedal guard dogs in black suits. They were under a striped circus tent with hanging lights up above. Circus music played in the background. Imps of various shapes and sizes sat in the rows, their yellow eyes glowing. One fat imp was snoring in his seat while several child imps sat with their parents. Another was eating popcorn. Stolas held his grimoire in his hands. It wasn't as comforting as his rabbit toy, but it was better than nothing.
In the mirror, Paimon looked around then whispered to the butler. "Is there a spot that's close to the front, but also far enough that I don't have to…"
He sniffed and gagged…
"…smell the poor?"
A few minutes later, the butler, the dogs, and Stolas stood in an empty section with a crude brown cloth sign that read "GOETIA" in dripping black paint.
The scene went black as two spotlights showed two imps in green clown suits and white painted faces juggling four balls in their hands. Two imps in purple suits did a series of flips and landed gracefully to the front. A young female imp wearing a yellow and green gymnastics top balanced on one hand atop a black horse with a skull face, plus a mane and tail of neon green flames. The horse had green and yellow feathers atop its head with matching colored saddle and bells. The black heart-shaped symbol seen on the foreheads of the performers was displayed at the top of the stadium inside a red heart bordered by lights. The horse galloped past Stolas and crew, but only Paimon clapped his hands and hooted with delight. "Hohohohoho!" It was a parallel to when an excited Stolas took his bored daughter to the circus in the future.
Stilt-walker imps wearing purple and yellow costumes were juggling balls in the air. Blitzo's sister Barbie Wire was twirling on a tightrope wearing a purple dress and holding a yellow umbrella in her hand. She had black curled ram-like horns with small white stripes on them. She spun in the air and landed back on the tightrope. She smiled and posed.
"Hohohohohoho!" Paimon clapped again. Stolas half-heartedly flicked a peanut off the top of his grimoire.
Another performer breathed fire as a group of imps dressed in clown suits and bells over their horns balanced on top of each other in an inverted imp pyramid, holding gold rings. Two imps leaped through the hoops. Four imps balanced on a board and a small imp blew fire from a torch on top of the others. The crowd cheered. A knife thrower imp guy with white hair threw a knife near where a smiling black-haired imp woman was bond to a plank of wood with a target painted on it. Stolas bumped his head three times against his book, clearly upset.
Stolas then looked up as the ringmaster imp spoke up. He had long curved horns, a purple top hat, and a stitched up old circus costume of green and dark green vertical stripes. He was Cash Buckzo, Blitzo's greedy father.
"Nowwww, everyone's favorite thing about circus shit: the motherfucking clowns!"
The crowd screamed and gasped as ten imps in clown outfits leaped forward.
A small foot stepped onto a board high in the air.
"You ready Blitzo?" asked a young Fizzarolli.
A young Blitzo grinned, tugging the rope. "Born ready, Fizzarolli!" Blitzo didn't mind the "o" in his name.
At the same time, the two young imps swung off the boards, holding onto ropes. Fizzarolli was a child imp, wearing a teal green suit with red markings and red bells attached to his intact stripped imp horns. He also wore a red clown nose. The young Blitzo's face was red and scar-free, and he wore purple overalls and a pink shirt underneath.
This happy moment was back when Blitzo's mother Tilla was still alive, before Barbie Wire went to rehab and before Fizzarolli lost his limbs and horns. It was clear that the two were best friends, who both loved money, Mammon, and the thrill of the show. Blitzo took Fizzarolli's hand and together they swung around the stadium in a big arc. Both of them laughed together as they swung past Stolas.
Stolas' eyes suddenly lit up as he caught sight of the happy Blitzo. The imp's face reminded him of the comfort of his rabbit toy.
"A new friend!" Stolas thought, happily.
After Fizzarolli and Blitzo landed down safely, Blitzo balanced on a red and yellow ball with an eye design on it. He posed with a "Haaa! Ta-da!"
Then he said, "Heya folks! Wanna see me make a horse?"
Blitzo pulled out a green balloon and blew into it. He rapidly wrapped it and it appeared as a bundle of knots before it popped.
"Crap," Blitzo muttered. He blew another balloon and tried again, but it popped again.
He tried again. And tried again. But the balloons kept popping.
"De-de-de-de-do-do-do-do," Blitzo hummed nervously as a bored and unimpressed audience stared down at him.
Blitzo chuckled nervously. "Ah, he, he! Horse!" He showed a green balloon horse, except it had no legs. "Well, heh, it was a horse, but then it ate too much sugar and its legs stopped working, so they had to amputate, now it's a gross worm horse."
The young Stolas laughed.
Blitzo smiled and pointed at him. "See, he gets it because horses, they make no sense."
Fizzarolli chuckled and stood beside Blitzo. "Okay, Blitzo, that's enough 'horsing' around!"
In one try, Fizzarolli made a perfect red balloon horse, presenting it to the crowd. "Hey everybody, look at this! It's Banana Pudding the clown horsey! Neigh!"
The crowd laughed as Blitzo looked down sadly and sighed.
"I liked his broken horse joke, it was funny," said Stolas. "Their legs do stop working when they eat too much sugar, it's called Laminitis." He watched Blitzo balance on the ball with his legless balloon horse in his hand and Fizzarolli performing by his side.
Paimon raised a confused eyebrow at his son, staring at him judgmentally. "Perhaps the crazy owl prince would be easily entertained by that common imp," thought Paimon. "It'd be nice to get my random son out of my hair so I can focus on more important duties. Like terrorizing desert dwellers on my camel! Or lounging with the ladies in Sloth! Or better yet, be around a dignified mature son who's more like me."
Paimon watched the ringmaster imp retreat backstage with a bottle of Greed Mead and had a clever idea.
0 0 0
Backstage inside the Big Top, Cash Buckzo gulped his Greed Mead on an old mattress, wearing patched up gray pants, a worn pink and magenta stripped top, and an old gray patched up top hat. A pair of underwear and an old shirt hung on a clothesline above him. Mirrors, jester caps and props were stored messily in a cabinet and some boxes. A "Fortune Teller" box stood in the background. A rug showed the black heart-like circus family symbol with red and white circus stripes. It symbolized the unity of many imp families living the life of "circus freaks" as other imps called them. It was a way to get by and the bonds were enough.
Cash Buckzo paused in mid-drink as the imp butler and the dogs walked inside.
"What a show," Paimon remarked from the mirror. "That was real great so…"
He cleared his throat. "That little clown you have. My son really enjoyed that one. I was wondering if I could buy him." His hands were clenched together in excitement.
Cash Buckzo looked taken aback. "Buy him?"
Paimon put his hands together and his pointer finger moved outward. "Purchase him, yes, accurate."
Paimon clapped his hands, and the butler pressed a button that made the mirror move right into Cash Buckzo's face. Sweat dripped down his face as he felt the king lean over him.
"My son doesn't have any friends you see, and he liked the little clown boy. It's his birthday, he's so sad and I don't want to deal with him. Can I write a check?"
Cash Buckzo began, "Well, Fizzarolli is a big draw. He has a few more shows to be in today, so it would be pretty expensive." He rubbed his fingers in a "give me money" gesture and smirked.
Paimon chucked. "No, no, the other one."
"Blitzo?!" Cash Buckzo looked shocked.
"Correct. How much?"
Cash Buckzo stroked his small white goatee. "Wha-Well he's my son so ah, hm, ah, how much ya got in your pocket?"
The butler pulled out a waded $5 bill and a pink wrapped "cumdom." "A wadded up five and a slim-fit condom," said Paimon.
An annoyed Cash Buckzo was about to demand more but saw Blitzo swipe a small horse toy from a shelf in the background…and got an idea.
"Ah, that's plenty, done," Cash Buckzo scoffed.
"Splendid," said Paimon. "Fetch him for me and we will be on our way."
Paimon clapped his hands and he and the butler vanished up through a red portal. The explosion caused half of the tent and a pole to collapse into debris and dust.
Cash Buckzo shrugged. He remembered when he first got attracted to Tilla way back when. He remembered how she always wanted to help those in need, so it wasn't hard to pull off the "homeless victim" look. Tilla was an exceptionally good animal tamer and before long, they both became part of the circus. They had some drinks, fucked, and out came the twins. He worked his way up to ringmaster, always searching for that pretty penny. He often got frustrated whenever his family didn't perform hard enough…especially his son.
"If we want to be in good standing for Lord Mammon," Cash Buckzo would say, "We gotta look the part! Act the part! Be the part! Perform like you'll win a million souls, or you'd alternatively face double death otherwise." He'd also add in lines such as "Mammon sees the wealth of potential in you! Don't you kids wanna be his stars?!"
"Yes Papa!" Barbie Wire and Blitzo would chime in, along with Fizzarolli.
Cash Buckzo wasn't sure what to make of this unexpected situation.
But then again, he could always suggest to his children to do things in his favor.
"This'll be a piece of hell-cake," he thought, eyeing a bottle of Greed Mead nearby.
0 0 0
Meanwhile, Blitzo and Fizzarolli played with their balloon horses together on a purple rug with a teal spiral decoration.
Fizzarolli moved his red balloon horse. "I'm Banana Pudding, and I like to dance!"
"I am Worm Horse!" said Blitzo, holding his legless green balloon horse. "And I… I am sad!"
"Why are you sad, Worm Horse?"
"Because, I have no legs!"
"Oh, well that's okay."
"I lost all my legs in…The War," Blitzo dramatized.
Fizzarolli gasped. "The War?!"
"Yes!" said Blitzo. "The Great Pirate War!"
Fizzarolli giggled. "No, no pirates."
"It's a great pirate warrrr!" Blitzo teased.
Fizzarolli exasperated, "If you keep talking about pirates, I will punch you."
Blitzo dramatized as he played, "I fought bravely but I could not run fast enough. They took my legs, there was blood everywhere!"
Fizzarolli laughed at Blitzo. "Oh no, eww! No blood. Blood is disgusting!"
Blitzo stood up with a grin. "No, blood is cool!" He laughed.
Fizzarolli moved his horse in a dance and giggled. "Well, Banana Pudding is here to save the day with his magical feet he dances around with. He will dance all over Worm Horse and make him feel better!"
"And then…" Blitzo paused dramatically. "There will be more blood!" He did a fake evil laugh as he squirted ketchup all over his green horse.
"Blitzo!" Fizzarolli laughed. "That's so gross! Stop!"
Blitzo held up his ketchup bottle, arms in the air. "Never!"
(The balloon toys were a foreshadowing of Fizzarolli, the green horse, losing his legs in the distant future…)
Just then, Cash Buckzo grabbed Blitzo and pulled him up.
"Boy, I've got a job for you."
They walked off to the side, his father holding Blitzo's wrist tightly. "You are gonna spend the day with one of the Goetia princes."
Blitzo made a face. "Eww. Why?"
"Because money!" exclaimed his father, turning around. "Now listen carefully, you are being bought out to be his playmate, but I want you to steal as much from those rich fuckers as you possibly can."
"Steal?" Blitzo asked, yanking his arm away from his father's tight grip. He flinched. "But what if I get caught?"
Cash Buckzo went into manipulation mode. "Oh Blitzo. Don't you want your family to be able to buy a bigger tent? Better food? Don't you want to be able to help me and your mama out?" His lip trembled.
"Of course I wanna help Mama!" Blitzo declared. Tilla was very sick, and the imp siblings grew more worried each day. "I'd do anything!"
"Then you gotta do this, everything those rich fucks have will be worth a fortune!" His claws curled upwards; his eyes full of greed.
The young Blitzo still looked unsure. "But if I'm caught…I'm scared dad."
Cash Buckzo put a hard hand on his son's shoulder. "There are scarier things, aren't there, son?"
Exorcists. Monsters. His father on a bad day.
"But…" Blitzo began but his father widened his yellow and black eyes into tearful puppy-dog eyes, with a trembling lip.
"Yes, Papa," Blitzo responded dejectedly.
0 0 0
Later that night, Blitzo and his father traveled from their Greed Ring homeland through a portal to the Pride Ring, where Stolas and his father stood waiting. They met by the elegant trickling water fountain outside the palace. Blitzo yanked his arm free from his father's grip and stepped forward. Both boys looked nervous.
"Here is your new friend, my son. Happy birthday," Paimon shrugged.
Stolas' face lit up. "A friend?"
Blitzo rubbed his neck in worry. "I guess. Hi, uh, I'm Blitzo."
Stolas bowed politely. "I'm Stolas. It's nice to…"
Paimon smacked his son on the head. "Don't bow to that one! He bows to us! Idiot."
"Oh, right. Sorry Father." Stolas rubbed his arm.
"I'm so good at daddying!" Paimon bragged as the boys ran inside the palace together.
"As am I," Cash Buckzo sneered as he snuck off toward the bushes in the shadows.
0 0 0
Blitzo and Stolas sat together in one of the libraries inside the palace. Stolas had showed Blitzo piles of books on the floor, at least twenty. The hours dragged by, leaving Blitzo in sheer absolute boredom.
"This is my book on the difference between frogs and toads," lectured Stolas. He held up a brown book with a frog on it, eggs and "Frogs and Toads" on it, reminiscent of "Frog and Toad are Friends" books. "There's a lot of differences."
He held up another book with white flowers on it in a pentagon-shaped glass dome with "Botany" as the title. "And this is my book on plants and herbs. Did you know that plants can hear you?"
"Plants are boring!" Blitzo spat, standing up. "This is all boring stuff!"
"Oh," said Stolas in surprise, briefly looking away. "I'm sorry. I never had a friend to share my books with."
Blitzo slumped and looked around at all the treasures in the palace.
All the treasures…just waiting to be hunted for…
Blitzo grinned and stepped closer to Stolas. He had a sudden idea.
"You know what would be fun? A game!" He lowered Stolas' book. "Let's play treasure hunt!"
"What's that?" asked Stolas.
"It's where we pretend we are pirates," said Blitzo, picking up a tan feather and wielding it like a sword. "…and we go around the house collecting all the nicest things…"
He picked up a book and then stepped onto two larger piles of books like stairs.
"…and then, we throw them out the window!" He threw the book off in the distance.
"We…throw them out the window?" Stolas asked in confusion.
"Yes!"
"Since when did pirates throw things out windows?"
Blitzo spread his arms out. "Since like the dawn of time!" He stepped down from the book piles. "Come on! Pirates are always throwing stuff out windows!"
"I don't think they had windows," mentioned Stolas.
"What? Did a book say that?" Blitzo asked.
"Yes, actually. Several," Stolas replied, pulling out two pirate books, an orange one labeled "Pirates," and the other blue one which was labeled "The Porthole Myth."
Blitzo grabbed the books from Stolas and tossed them to the side. "Well in this game, we are throwing them out the window because it's fun!" He spread out his arms.
"Well," began Stolas, "That's an odd game." Then he gasped. "Is this an imp game?" He tilted his head in curiosity.
"Sure," Blitzo shrugged. "Why not?"
"Well, if it's what you want to play…"
"Let's do it!" Blitzo cried, putting his arm around Stolas.
An ornate crystal chandelier hung above a resplendent hallway. Blitzo laughed as he swiped ornate vases off stands and tossed them into a brown sack in his other hand. Stolas panted as he tried to keep up.
"Come on, come on, come on!" Blitzo called.
Blitzo grabbed a gold vase with red gems, a small mirror, a thin purple vase, a thick green and yellow vase, a crystal ball, and purple crystals. He grabbed more vases from a shelf and tossed them to Stolas who put them in the sack. Stolas moved around to catch the falling objects. Blitzo climbed a shelf and gave Stolas a thumbs up. An unsure Stolas gave a thumbs up back.
Blitzo opened a treasure chest full of gold coins, crystals, pearl necklaces, a necklace with an eye in a red gem, goblets, and a moon watch. Both boys laughed as they grabbed handfuls of treasure and stuffed them into the sack.
Stolas handed Blitzo a green bottle which he had struggled to reach and smiled. Blitzo shoved a barrel off a shelf, and it rolled on the floor. Before long, they had cleared the room of crystals, skulls, books, potions, and barrels, all somehow managing to stuff everything inside the sack. After jumping on the sack in excitement, they slid other crystals and valuables from shelves into the sack as they rode on a moving ladder. They raced down vast hallways until coming up to an ornate spiral crystal chandelier just above their heads.
"Wow!" They breathed as they stared at the chandelier in wonder. Blitzo proceeded to snatch a string of crystals from the chandelier as they both stood in the center. "Yay!" they cheered. The sparkling magical world spun round them, their heads in a spin. They lay on their backs on the marble floor, laughing with no care in the world. Constellations dotted the ceiling as they reached a balcony, the sky crimson red in the twilight.
Stolas and Blitzo danced along until a whistle from outside made Blitzo pause.
Blitzo walked onto the balcony and lifting himself on the railing. A rustle in the bushes sounded below and there was his father. With a grin, he mentioned for his son to toss down the sack. Blitzo glanced at the oblivious Stolas, who was trying to reach a book. With some effort, Blitzo tossed it down into his father's arms. His father grinned sinisterly and disappeared back under the bushes with the sack.
"Blitzo! Over here!" called Stolas. Blitzo raced to meet his friend. The sky filled with stars and the red clouds parted to paint a calmer magenta shade. A crescent moon was at the top of a large tree.
Blitzo climbed the tree while Stolas read his book.
Blitzo looked at Stolas after falling upside down, hanging by his tail. "So, what is that? Your diary?"
"No. This is my new grimoire," said Stolas. "It's a spell book. I have to learn it so that I can access the Living World."
"The Living World?" Blitzo asked, swinging. "Like the world with humans and stuff? Where the sinners come from?"
"Mmmhmm," Stolas nodded.
"That's cool!" Blitzo exclaimed, flipping and landing down onto a root.
"Yes! I'm supposed to learn to use it to study the sky!" said Stolas.
"Why?"
"My dad said I can find prophecies, but I don't really know. But I'm supposed to, that's what my job will be when I grow up. To join the rest of the Goetia family."
Blitzo stood up confidently with his hands on his hips. He put one hand to his heart. "Well, you know what I'm gonna do when I grow up?" He climbed the black and red tree trunk and hoisted himself onto a branch. "I'm gonna run my own circus and I'm gonna be the most famous imp ever and I'll be able to do what I want to do all day! I'm gonna make so much money and buy myself a big building with a big office!" He stood up in excitement.
"A big office? For a circus?"
"Yeah! A big office! Circus business with clowns and horses!" He cupped his cheeks and his eyes shone with giddiness. "And the horses will all have good names like Stapler and Biscuit Queen!" His eyes shone again.
Stolas giggled. "I'm sure you will. That sounds like a good business."
"Yeah! And if you apply, I'll hire you. Maybe."
Stolas laughed. "You'll hire me?"
"Yeah, if I feel like it." Blitzo shrugged and jumped back down.
"Well, I hope I qualify," Stolas replied with a giggle. "You'd be a good boss. One helluva boss!"
"You say that with sarcasm but I totes would!" Blitzo replied with a confident pose.
Both boys laughed together underneath the tree, savoring the wonderful moment.