Ever since Stella came into Stolas' life, it was nothing short of torture. It was literally hell in Hell. Back when Stolas had still been a child, his father had nudged him forward to meet Stella face to face out by the fountain. There she was in her frilly feathery pink and black dress, pink bowties in her hair and two crowns on her head. She stood with her ice peacock brother Andrealphus and her two cold-hearted parents, Queen Eis and King Boreas. Eis was a tall swan who had ice powers like Andrealphus. Boreas was a vain peacock who was closely connected with Malphas.
The young Stella and Andrealphus elbowed each other until a firm glare from their mother made them stop.
"Your majesties, I present to you, one of my many sons, Stolas," said Paimon.
"Here is my daughter Stella and this is my son Andrealphus," replied Eis. "Stella is quite picky about food. She'll only eat the finest raw rodents, fried eggs of dragons and the occasional mortal intestine."
A black fly dog raced over and growled at Stella. Immediately, the girl screamed in anger, grabbed the creature by the neck and smashed its head several times against the cobblestone. Stolas watched in horror as the fly-puppy whined and buzzed, tears spilling from it's yellow-sclera and red pupil eyes. After stomping on its head, the creature lay unmoving among blood splatters.
Stolas whimpered.
"Mother!" barked Stella. "I asked for two hell-ponies, not those disgusting vermin!"
"But you swore that you'd freeze all of Hell if I didn't get you pets," Eis reminded her. "The fly-dogs were the only creatures they had at the store."
"Do better! I've already had to exterminate three!"
Then Stella glared at the flinching Stolas. "Ew. Who's the pathetic little bitch?"
"Your future husband," said Boreas. "Go along and play, now."
"Right this way," said Paimon to Stella's family. "My imps prepared your dinner just as you like it, raw and cold!"
Stella smirked evilly at Stolas, who gulped. She stared at Stolas like a bully who spotted a kid with a target on their back.
Paimon clapped his hands in delight. "Oh Stolas, what a sweet charming little girl! You two will be perfect together!"
A few moments later in a hallway, Stolas was sobbing loudly after Stella dangled his red rabbit toy in the air. She used her other hand to push Stolas back.
"Give it back!" he cried. "That's my special bunny!"
"What are you gonna do about it?" Stella mocked as she strut toward a balcony. "I always get what I want, and I want what you want the most!"
"I don't want that!" Stolas pouted.
"You don't want this? Good!" She cackled and tossed the toy out the window where it landed in mud. "No!" he cried.
Stella shouted "Freak!" from behind Stolas and pinched him on the arm.
"Leave me alone!" he cawed.
In anger, Stolas swiped at her dress and feathers flew everywhere.
"That was hand-made by my imp servants!" she spat. She gripped Stolas hard by the neck as he cried out for help. Just as Stella was about to hit Stolas in the face, they heard footsteps. Stella let go of his neck, Stolas wheezing in response. Stella did an innocent curtsey and smile as the parents approached.
"Aww," smiled Eis. "Look at those two happily playing together."
"I knew they were a match made in Hell," Boreas smiled.
Eis gave Stella some candy and a new necklace for her "good behavior." But unfortunately for Stolas, all he got was a forced family picture with Stella and her family later that night. (Stolas had to hold the golden mirror that showed Paimon's face for the portrait.) The parents posed elegantly; Stella glared at the camera while Stolas looked off sadly. Stella blew raspberries at Stolas behind her parent's backs as they left. Andrealphus gave Stolas a look of superiority and didn't hesitate to bump into him on the way out.
"See you next time!" Paimon smiled from within the gold mirror.
Stolas later curled up in a ball and cried in his dark room, a picture of Nebula next to him and his dirty tattered bunny toy.
0 0 0
Stolas and Stella got married when Stolas was only eighteen. Stella walked down the aisle wearing a white feathery dress and veil. Stolas wore a dark black suit and red bowtie with the Goetia family sigil pin on the top. Both of them wore their gold crowns…and dull expressions on their faces. They stood together holding hands from inside a Satanic church. Red and black roses decorated the aisles and black marble pillars. Stained glass windows depicted hunched over demons building Pandemonium, the capital palace building in Hell. Others showed Lucifer and Satan seated on thrones flanked by upside down red crosses. Candles glowed blue and black all around the vast chamber.
"We are gathered here today," said a red bull demon with a flaming bull skull for a head, "to celebrate the wedding of his majesty Prince Stolas and her majesty Princess Stella. If you have any objections to this bond, please say them out loud and we'll throw you into a lake of fire."
Brimming in both Stolas and Stella's eyes was a sense of non-negotiable commitment, a loss of their teenage freedom. There was a heavy sense of awkwardness and in Stolas' case, dread. If they stared into each other's eyes for too long, Stella's pink eyes glowed with fire while Stolas' red eyes shrank back toward darkness.
"Do you, Stolas Goetia, son of King Paimon, take Stella to be your wedded wife?" asked the demon.
"I do," said Stolas with no emotion.
"And do you, Stella Goetia, sister of Marquis Andrealphus, take Prince Stolas to be your wedded husband?"
"I do," she glared.
They exchanged rings as Andrealphus looked smug in a fancy white suit made of peacock feathers in the front row.
The demon officiant cleared his throat. "By the power vested in me by Lord Lucifer, I know pronounce you husband and wife. You may now fuck and shit."
Stolas and Stella tentatively kissed as the two royal families clapped politely in their seats. Banners read in gold, "Congratulations Married Couple! May You Never Divorce!" More pictures were taken and Paimon made an appearance as well…from within his mirror of course.
"How mad would Father be if I 'accidentally' broke it?" Stolas thought.
Stella, of course, enjoyed the large fancy party, the drinks, and the dirty dancing. She basked in the attention and gossiped with her two white bird elite demons. Stolas, meanwhile, paid close attention to how Leviathan's Sin Gin tasted, and was anxious to head back to the palace. Demon musicians played orchestral instruments and violins as Stolas and Stella danced. Both of them were buzzed from drinking and it was only because of the alcohol that the two did have some fun together later on. It was a blurry drunken honeymoon.
The days, weeks, after the wedding were one of the worst times of Stolas' life. Stella, obsessed with parties, status, and dominance, didn't hesitate to take advantage of her puny husband. When she got especially angry, Stolas would have to duck to avoid his potted plants crashing into his face.
Stolas endured slap after slap from Stella. She seemed to take pride in tormenting him.
"This is all your fault!" she barked, slapping him in the face again. Stolas would flinch every time. "You and your father made me marry you and now I'm stuck here as a housewife."
Although they had enjoyable sex a few times, Stolas soon grew bored. One night in August 2003, Stella forcefully kissed him and shoved his dick into her hole. After some brief straining, a white egg fell out of her.
Stella sighed in relief, "Finally. Now people won't pester us about whether or not we have any kids."
Stolas' eyes lit up in the dark. The egg rolled toward the edge of their master bed and Stella didn't notice. With a soft gasp, Stolas managed to catch it in one swoop. The egg felt warm and damp in his hands.
"I can't believe it," he said quietly. "I'm a father at nineteen."
"Good for you," she scoffed. "I'm heading off to the 3AM soiree for drinks."
"Stella," Stolas breathed as his wife headed toward the shower to clean herself up. "Our first child is in this egg."
"Not my problem."
"You need to take care of it too," said Stolas.
"Shut up and suck it! You don't tell me what to do! Now if you'll excuse me…"
She stomped off.
Stolas carried the egg toward the window and stood on the balcony. As the egg wobbled and cracked in his hands, he looked up at the sky.
A solar eclipse had covered the red hell sun and red streaks of lightning lit up the sky. Darkness permeated all of Hell, so much that Stolas had to squint slightly to see in the dark. Stolas flipped through the hovering grimoire with his other hand and found a page. He gasped.
"The prophecy is true. A powerful princess will be born under an eclipse and bear witness to Hell's destruction…and help save so many…"
The egg burst open a few minutes later and there lay an ugly hatching, eyes half-closed. Only the light around the grimoire made things visible in front of Stolas.
"All my stories have been told," Stolas breathed, sweat coating his face. "I've studied the stars and plants. I've gone to Goetia meetings and ruled over legions of demons. All my stories…except for this one." The hatching stared at Stolas as the red light of the sun slowly reappeared, reflected in its newborn eyes.
"You will be okay," Stolas said to the hatchling.
"Octavia," Stolas breathed, coming up with her name on the spot, "I have a new purpose in life now…"
0 0 0
The years passed on and on. Day after day, Stolas sang lullabies to his baby owlet as Stella reluctantly played with Octavia and made her food. Stolas would sob to himself every week, enduring Stella's abuse, and menacing taunts.
"I have to get through this," he thought. "For Via. Until she can take care of herself."
Stolas remembered one night vividly.
"Mommy! Daddy!"
Octavia's cry roused the owl prince from his slumber.
"Via's calling us, Stella," Stolas groaned sleepily.
Stella let out a sigh. "You get up," she replied tiredly.
Stolas sighed and rose out of bed, briefly putting his fingers to his head. He opened the door to Octavia's bedroom. The wallpaper consisted of several columns of moons and stars. Astronomy books lined a shelf while taped drawings on the wall showed stick figures of Stolas and Octavia, labeled "Daddy," and "Me." A nearby portrait showed a smiling Stolas giving an overjoyed Octavia a piggyback ride against a blue background.
Stolas opened the white door, wearing his red housecoat and a pair of demon face slippers.
"Via? What troubles you, my owlet?"
A small, frightened face popped out from under the covers: little Octavia. She wore pink jammies with white stars on them. Her face was white, and her eyes were large and pink with white pupils. Three gray feathers stuck out from her feathery head, and she also had a little tail.
"Daddy! Daddy!"
She ran into her father's arms.
"I had a dream! A really bad dream!" Her mouth quivered in a whimper.
Stolas scooped her up into his arms and yawned.
"A nightmare."
He wiped a tear away from her face.
Octavia spread out her arms. "I was looking all over the palace and…I couldn't find you anywhere! You weren't there!"
Tears appeared from her eyes, and she hugged her father around the neck.
"There, there, Via. It's okay. You're okay."
He pat her several times on the back and carried her into the room. A blue grimoire with a golden crescent moon on the cover floated into the room in a purple cloud of magic.
Stolas sat down on the bed, Octavia in his lap. The book hovered next to him, and he waved his hand to turn the pages. Stolas looked at Octavia.
"When you're sacred and you don't know where I am, you must remember…no matter what happens to me, I will never be far away from my special little Starfire."
He playfully poked her on the nose, and she giggled.
Stolas waved his hand and magic surrounded it. He moved his hand to the ceiling and created a starry portal above their heads. Octavia looked up with wonder in her eyes. It was then that Stolas started singing his lullaby to her: "You Will Be Okay."
"It always seems more quiet in the dark"
"It always feels so stark"
Both of them floated upward through the hole. A brilliant indigo night sky filled with stars was revealed. A small bright sun and a distant ringed planet hovered in the distance. Stolas stood on the surface of a large white moon dotted with craters of various sizes.
"How silence grows under the moon
Constellations gone so soon"
Stolas' feet made talon bird tracks on the surface as he carried his daughter.
"I used to think that I was bold
I used to think love would be fun
Now all my stories have been told
Except for one"
Stolas looked down at Octavia's innocent eyes as their faces shone from the pinkish light of the nearby star.
The ringed planet hovered beside another planet bathed in purple-pink light. A rocky meteor caught on fire and soared toward a molten planet.
"As the stars start to align
I hope you take it as a sign
That you'll be okay"
Stolas sat down on a small rock and held his daughter close.
"Everything will be okay."
The meteor slowly dipped into the molten planet, turning a fiery orange. The meteor broke through the planet, causing it to break into rocky pieces. Stolas and Octavia sat on a floating chunk of rock as light burst upward from between the gaps of the planet debris.
"And if the Seven Rings collapse
Although the day could be my last
You will be okay. When I'm gone you'll be okay…"
Octavia yawned and nestled into her father's feathery chest with a small smile on her sleepy face.
Like any good parent, Stolas wanted what was best for his child; to pass down existential knowledge for her to remember.
"And when creation goes to die
You can find me in the sky"
Seven planets and the moon they were on were pulled toward the pink sun, creating powerful impacts. The planets turned ashen black before everything burst into an explosion of light. Stolas' vocalizing face was illuminated by the large pink smoke from the galactic explosion.
Tears pooled in Stolas' eyes as the portal closed behind him, now back in the bedroom. A red and gold metallic model of a solar system hung from the back wall. Stolas lifted the starry blanket and draped it over a sleeping Octavia.
"Upon the last day
And you will be okay…"
Having finished the lullaby, Stolas walked toward the door, looking at his daughter lovingly again before closing it. Octavia slept peacefully in her bed like a happy chick in a nest.
Stolas spotted a shooting star in the night sky. He remembered to make a wish.
"Mother, please let my daughter be okay."