Hey!

If you're following my other fic "Lonely path", don't worry, I'm working on the third chapter so I can finally finish this fic before I start continuing Selfless.

As for today's chapter...

Content warning: Mention of blood and injuries. Slight start of a panic attack.

Chapter 21 – Discovery

24 hours had passed since Blitz last saw Stolas in person.

Well, more or less. He wasn't counting that precisely, but… Still. He couldn't help but think about it, a bit.

Ok, maybe a lot. He hadn't been able to stop himself from texting the owl after him and Loona left him on Sunday. Not much, just enough to reassure the imp and prevent him from rushing back there. Something about leaving the prince injured, alone at home was making his spikes stand, and he couldn't calm down. Because he could get hurt at any time, since he didn't know what was happening, and it had him on edge.

His Loona was a great distraction, and he had things to do too, of course. Plenty. Even if it was the week end.

Then Monday came, and they were back to work. Not that he would have been against a day off to compensate for the unexpected work on Saturday, but with the Stolas situation, he decided against it. It was a good choice in the end, for he wasn't able to talk to Millie and Moxxie about it with how busy their morning was. He barely had time to send a few texts to Stolas, reminding himself not to freak out each time the owl was taking more than a few minutes to answer. His texts felt a bit weird too, but he did say he had to do… Something, whatever it was, yesterday for this week, so he was probably busy, and wouldn't want to share his schedule with Blitz, but fuck him if he didn't want to know so he'd act accordingly to find out what was happening!

After lunch, it was calm. They had managed to do a few hits in the morning, so it was finally time to drag everyone in the meeting room for another matter. Not that their job wasn't important, of course, but… Fuck, it was his company, if he wanted their help with Stolas, he could do whatever the fuck he wanted. Plus, it's not like if there was any sinners in the office at the moment.

"Ok, guys! I need you for a special mission."

Loona looked up from her phone, probably sensing what this was going to be about, while Millie asked curiously.

"A special mission? Didn't we finish all the jobs we had?"

"Sir, if this is a hidden way to help you with your own house chores again…" Moxxie started.

"Actually, no! It's about Stolas."

The couple blinked at the same time.

"His Highness? I thought you said he was fine? Did you find out how he got hurt… When was it? Two weeks ago?"

"No, which is a problem, because three days ago, he was hurt again! He was fine when we saw him in the middle of last week, and when I went to see him with Loona before, and I don't know if it is related to his injuries from two weeks ago, but I bet it is! It's the same secrecy all around it, but I'm sure it's not his work this time. I helped him patch up, and there were definitely wounds from a knife, along with… Well, bruises I guess, for him."

"Does that mean the prince is in trouble?" Millie asked. "And you want to help? Aw, that's cute Blitz! Defending your b…"

"I don't want to hear another word! This is serious. He got hurt, and didn't heal overnight. Even if he did look better, he still had most bandages on one day after. I'm still not sure if these were wounds from a blessed blade or not, but it may be. He won't talk to me about it, so we'll have to find out on our own!"

"Er, sir, what about our job?"

"Relax Moxxie, we were overloaded this morning but now we're bored! We just need to organize ourselves to have one person ready at any time to go check on him, maybe even watch him."

Loona's ears lashed briefly backwards, a display of unease, as she listened to the discussion. Blitz was trying to come up with ways to spy on the owl to find out what was happening to him. Moxxie quickly pointed out the Goetia used portals to get around, which would prevent most attempts at investigation, and tried to reason Blitz to let Stolas call for help himself, since the scarred imp told them the prince was supposed to contact him if he got hurt again.

The hellhound was looking at her phone, but in reality she was debating with herself. Judging from what she found out, well… First, he definitely still didn't tell Blitz, but she still firmly believed it wasn't her place to. But, two, she couldn't help but think that whatever was happening to him was taking place in his own home, and he didn't necessarily need to get out for that. Which was… Weird, he should be able to prevent intruders from entering his place, especially if it was a frequent occurrence, so she wasn't really sure, but… It was a strong hunch she couldn't shake off.

Even with the few information Blitz had, which was probably more than Loona except from what she found out Saturday evening, he also seemed to think it was weird that the prince was getting hurt in the first place, which quickly brought up his theory involving other royals.

"Wait, sir, you don't mean to ask us to… Kill a royal, right?" Moxxie hesitantly asked.

"Come on, don't be a puss! If it comes to it, of course we'll do it! I'm not sure it's the case yet, and we would need to find out who's behind all of this, if the fucker even comes in person, but I want us to be ready!"

Millie was listening intently, nodding.

"He's right, honey! We should definitely help the prince if we can! It looks serious, but at least it's not as bad as when Striker got him… Oh! Do you think it's him again?!"

"Maybe, but I don't think so", Blitz answered, pondering. "He was trying to kill him, why would he do this now?"

"Well, he did torture him last time, before we were able to rescue him", Moxxie reminded them. "Maybe his orders changed?"

"I don't know… If you're right, then maybe whoever is hiring him will someday ask for Stolas to be killed like initially planned. Which means, we have to hurry, got it! We need a plan! We need to advance on that so I can go check on Stolas after."

He probably didn't mean to say that out loud, but kept going like if nothing happened despite the knowing glances he received. But they all knew it wouldn't do Blitz any good to tease him about this, plus he was right: the situation indeed seemed concerning, whatever theory they were bringing up to try and understand what was happening.

For most of the afternoon, they discussed how to do their own investigation, and started planning how to act if there ever was an emergency. Loona was keeping an ear out in case a client came in, but it seemed like they all passed the word around to only come this morning, which worked perfectly for them.

Blitz, on his side, was frequently texting the owl, even if the middle of their meeting. Not to try and get any more information out of him, just to make sure he wasn't being tortured again. Because that was what the injuries he saw were about: torture.

Until he stopped responding, and it was getting more and more difficult for IMP's boss to focus on the meeting he himself had started.

"Sir, are you okay? You know his highness can be busy for plenty of reasons and doesn't have to answer your texts in the next minute, right? You even said yourself he warned you it could happen…"

"Yeah, but usually he warns me beforehand when he won't be able to text for a moment! It's been ten minutes, and still nothing. It's longer than usual for him."

"Do you want to go for a quick check with the crystal?" Millie suggested.

"Oh come on, it's only been ten minutes! How can his highness focus on his work with texts coming in every five minutes or so!"

"Fuck you Mox, I'm not texting him that often! I'm trying not to do worst than a text per hour so he's not growing too suspicious. Even if I did text more often, I have good reasons to, okay?! I know he wouldn't like me butting in when he's trying to keep me out of it, but I can't, just, sit by and do nothing when I know he needs help! I'm sure he didn't sleep the night before we left his place, don't you agree Loony?"

"I think so too. I don't know what's going on either, but it's affecting his mental state. Via said he wasn't eating much even when she's here, oh, and she asked me to tell you to check his cellar next time. She suspects he's drinking much more than usual when she isn't around, maybe to cope with what's happening to him."

"Well, what would make sense… Hey, how did she even notice that?! She's not supposed to drink at all!"

The hellhound snorted.

"Oh, she's not, don't worry! She just uses the room to store some of her stuff for taxidermy, since it has good temperature and humidity control, and she noticed the… I think it was the absinthe stock, that was changing a lot each time she was back from her mother's?"

"Absinthe?! Oh fuck, that's some hard shit! … Wait, I thought Via only spend weekends with her mother? Since when it's entire weeks?"

Loona looked up from her phone, looking at Blitz like if he was the stupidest moron in Hell.

"Are you serious? Via's parents divorced a few months ago. I'm not sure all the papers are done yet, this kind of shit takes time, but since then, she's been changing home weekly. How can you not know?"

"I… Well, since we haven't talked much with Stolas before recently, I guess it never came up, but… He's divorced?!"

"I thought we'd see it in the news, he's a Goetian prince after all", Millie pondered out loud.

"Yeah, exactly!"

Loona shrugged, taking her focus back on her phone.

"Who knows? Maybe you just missed it. What does it changes? Wanna get married already? You're not even officially together yet."

"Of course not, that would… Hey, what do you mean yet?! I'm not… We don't…"

He tried for a while to find what to say, and was surprised not to be able to come up with anything. Because he did want to build something like that with Stolas. He was starting to be honest with himself about it, he just… Wasn't sure it was mutual. There were signs, sure, and Fizz was pushing him in that direction, but he was still afraid he'd mess up, so until he was able to talk to Stolas about it…

Suddenly he shook his head.

"Why are you distracting me like that?! Now's not the time for this shit! If he doesn't survive this, then I… We'll… Oh fuck!"

He got up, pocketing his phone, and started to walk toward the door.

"Sir, where are you going?!"

"To check on him! He's taking too long to answer, it's not normal."

"Don't you wanna use the crystal?" Millie suggested again.

"To what, portal in his bedroom or study directly? I don't think he'll be ok with me if I do that!"

"Of course, when it's him, Blitz is careful of boundaries, but when it's us…" Moxxie mumbled.

Blitz never answered, for he was already too far to hear, involuntarily slamming the door on his way out to get to his van.

His instincts were boiling again, and last time they did, they had been right. Maybe, if Stolas texted back on his way, he'd change his mind, but probably not. He wanted to check on him daily anyway. Maybe not talk to him, he didn't want the owl to realize what he was going to do, but still, he needed it. For his own peace of mind.

So he drove to the palace as fast as he could, and this time he didn't hesitate before rushing to the prince's balcony to climb up. If Stolas was indeed in trouble, he had no idea when it truly started, but maybe he'd find the owl in his bathroom again, patching himself up alone… Oh, he'd be pissed if that was the case, he was supposed to call him for help!

Turns out, he would have preferred it if he had found the prince in his bathroom, it would have been so much better than the sight that awaited him when he finally burst into the bedroom, glad the balcony doors weren't locked.

His gaze didn't even sweep the place as it landed immediately on Stolas' form, laying down on the ground, his back to Blitz, hands in his back like if they had been tied up not long ago, which was confirmed with the bruises around his wrists.
It wasn't just that that made Blitz's breathing and heart stop. It was the fact the owl didn't react to his entrance, the fact that he couldn't see nor hear him breath, and the wounds he could see on him, and the blood on the floor all around, and…

The imp suddenly remembered he needed to breath, and it was his cue to finally rush to Stolas' side while he tried to refrain the panic growing in his chest.

"Stolas! Stolas! Fuck answer me! Stolas!"

He tried to gently take the prince into his arms to turn his face toward him, but froze as the owl let out a pained and weak whimper.

Fuck, he looked so hurt. He wasn't wearing make up either, which made him look even more exhausted and ill, and the bruises and wounds weren't helping. But at least, he was breathing, he could feel his lungs move along with his breaths in and out.

That helped Blitz settle down a bit, as he was taking in the owl's state, before his gaze wandered to the floor around.

Then, it clicked.

He was hurt here. In his bedroom.

This time, he couldn't prevent the protective growl from rising.

How dare they?! Whoever was doing this to Stolas, how dare they come to his house, to his fucking bedroom, to torture him that way? Why couldn't Stolas do anything about it?

He didn't know, but he would find out fucking soon enough, and make them pay. Then, he'd force Stolas back into these fucking self-defense lessons. He hadn't thought much of it when he first found the Goetia injured in his bathroom, because it made sense for someone who could portal to just go home to take care of his injuries, but it wasn't even it. He had done so, because he was hurt just there.

As he was observing the prince, Blitz slowly realized his wounds were oddly situated. Last time, his left leg and right arm were injured, but this time, almost all the cuts he could see were on his right leg and left arm…

The imp blinked at one peculiar wound on Stolas' shoulder, where his clothes had been ripped off. There was a bandage underneath.

A bandage on the shoulder that was fine the last time he got hurt that Blitz knew of.

Which meant… Fuck, he did got visited by those fuckers on Sunday too! He fucking knew it! He should have visited later that day, to be sure!

He didn't know if they really were several people behind it, but it seemed like a good guess, to be able to force a Goetia into this, especially several times. But it wasn't important right now. What was was that Stolas didn't trust him enough to ask him to come over to help. Why? Did he fear Blitz would ask too many questions? Did he got hurt in the middle of the night? What was it?

Stolas still in his arms, the imp was pondering hard, trying to process all the new information, and the strong emotions it was giving him, until the owl finally stirred.

Blitz froze, not knowing what to expect. But Stolas' eyes remained closed, and he sighed quietly.

Though it was stupid. He needed to move, to treat his injuries, and it would fatally wake him up. But… He didn't really want to face him yet, for he had too many questions, and he knew he wouldn't be able to hold back… Neither his curiosity, nor his anger at what was happening. He knew it wasn't Stolas' fault, he was the victim here, but still, it was too much, and Blitz was only glad he had stopped growling. Breathing slowly in and out to calm himself, knowing Stolas was bound to wake up soon, he decided to go for another approach.

He started purring, letting the rumbling slowly increase, until Stolas frowned and blinked several times, before his four eyes suddenly opened widely as his whole body tensed, white pupils appearing and locking with yellow eyes.

"Blitz?!" He croaked.

"Hey, calm down, you're going to hurt yourself more. I promise it's okay, you're safe."

But the tension didn't disappear, on the contrary. The small demon could see Stolas was in pain, but the owl ignored it to sit up and frantically look around, scared and panting.

"Stolas, look at me. Hey, I said look at me!"

As gently as he could, Blitz put his hands on each side of Stolas' face to turn his head toward him.

"Good. Now look at my chest, and follow my breathing. That's it, like that. You're doing great. Deep and slow, that's it."

Blitz was regularly throwing in a compliment between a few breaths in and out, something, anything to make sure Stolas wouldn't spiral down. Once their breathing aligned, he released the owl's face, and Stolas blinked.

"Why… Why are you here?"

"I told you, I'll be there whenever you need me to help treat your wounds. Speaking of which, we really need to get you looked at, you look terrible! No offense."

He was trying to joke, but it failed miserably as Stolas flinched, a pained squeak escaping his beak.

"Sorry! I… Just tell me if anything hurts, okay? I'll carry you to the bathroom."

It was obvious from the expression on Stolas' face that he was about to protest, but Blitz beat him to it.

"No, I don't want to hear anything! You're not tending to your wounds by yourself in that state, certainly not! It's no trouble, don't worry."

Blitz didn't wait for an answer and gently took the owl in his arms. Stolas probably understood any protest would be in vain and didn't say anything as he was carried to sit on a stool in the bathroom.

"There! Next… I guess I'll have to cut your clothes to access your wounds. I hope you didn't like these!"

He put out scissors, before he heard Stolas clear his throat. He turned back to him.

"What? Oh, you need water? Just a sec!"

He put the scissors down to grab the nearest glass to fill it with water. Stolas made no move to take it even when Blitz offered it to him, and the imp frowned.

"Something the matter?"

"Blitz, I… I need help with something first. That way, I will be able to assist you, and drink by myself."

"No, you're not doing anything, you hear me! Fucking rest, for once! I don't want to think of all the times you had to do this all alone… Fuck, that's it, I'm pissed!"

Stolas shrank on himself before he whispered.

"Please, it's important… Remember the healing spells I'm working on?"

"Yeah, you used one Friday evening on your leg. I guess you were so adamant on working on these to be able to heal yourself, but from what I've seen it's not enough yet to heal a wound in one go, you'll just exhaust yourself more! Let me patch you up first, then you'll be able to try your spells if you want…"

"No, Blitz, I improved my spells. There were a few important information I didn't have to make them really efficient, I can heal broken bones in a few minutes now. But for that, I need you to make sure the bones are straight, so they heal properly. Can you please do that?"

Blitz winced.

"I know we're used to patch ourselves up at IMP, but I'm no doctor, I'm not sure…"

"Blitz, please", Stolas whispered with a whine.

They locked eyes for a few seconds before the imp gave up first with a sigh.

"Ok, fine, I guess it's easier than using a splint, I'll have enough to do with all your wounds, but first, let me cut your clothes! I'll work better without them to feel your bones and make sure they're positioned correctly."

Stolas nodded.

"Just cut my sleeves, the other wounds are already accessible."

Blitz raised a brow.

"You sure?"

"Yes, please." Stolas asked in a soft pleading tone.

"Ok, ok… There, done! So, which one do you need to mend first?"

He hoped it wasn't more than two, only to freeze when Stolas answered:

"Oh, I think it's better if we start with my fingers. They're all broken, it's not very convenient."

03/07/2024

I may or may not post the chapter a day earlier next week, we'll see!

Have a good day ^^