Isobel woke face down, drool covering her cheek. She tried to move, but found a stiff neck and pounding head awaiting her. With a hand cradling her face, she sat up trying to remember exactly where she was. Everything was a blur in her mind as well as in her vision and she stayed there sitting as still as possible. She only dared to blink and even that seemed to hurt.
She was on a large blue, crushed velvet couch littered with a vast array of decorative pillows seemingly positioned in a kind of anteroom hallway.
Oh, that's right. Fizzarolli had taken her back to his home to crash for the night. The events of the evening before started to trickle through her memory block. The show, the bar, the laughing, and the drinking.
As she sat trying to figure out if her body needed to pee or puke, a little fly/dog creature scampered up and plopped down in front of her. Its bulbous eyes seem to dart all around, though never in the same direction at the same time. She stared uncomfortably at it as it wiggled on the carpet making little huffing sounds. Then suddenly, it sneezed, its gross, crinkled proboscis flying wildly and spraying flecks of something wet. Saliva? Mucus? Probably better not to think about it. Isobel's face contorted in revulsion. She had never been an animal person or an insect person, but the little creature didn't seem to mind as it ventured forward and rubbed its fly face on her leg. She sighed and reached down to pat in on the top of the head.
"I guess you're kind of cute, for a disgusting Hell beast."
Just then a loud horn sound blasted through the hallway sending the fly/dog jumping into the air, scrambling this way and that, before breaking down the hall. She could hear its toenails clacking against the tile as it sprinted away, right before another blast from the horn.
The sound sent a wave of nausea and pain through Isobel. She stumbled to her feet and made her way to a doorway. There was a third blast as she pushed the door open. On the other side she found a large kitchen. The tall, blue maned demon she had seen in the wings with Fizzarolli the day earlier stood at the stove in a loosely closed red robe cooking and humming to himself. Fizz and Blitz sat around a kitchen table laughing, each with an air horn in hand. Blitz shoved his horn in Fizz's face pulling the trigger. The loud blast reverberated throughout the room and the two imps dissolved into laughter.
"You've got to be shitting me with that," Isobel said, yanking the air horn out of Blitz's hand. He tried grabbing it, but she held it over her head out of his reach. "How do you not have hangovers?"
"Ha, last night was nothing," Blitz said. "Give me a real challenge next time. Drinking games, keg stands, body shots, something. Sounds like you're just a-"
"Light weight," Fizz finished the sentence, still kind of laughing.
"I was going to say pussy," Blitz shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not used to it, ok?" Isobel flopped into a seat next to them. "So give me a break. Plus, air horns first thing in the morning is a special kind of evil."
"I told you they were annoying," the demon who had been cooking said as he placed a plate in front of her.
"Oh, Isobel, this is Oz," Fizz said looking up at him with love struck, googly eyes.
Isobel looked up too and for the first time could not totally describe what she was looking at. She knew who he was, Asmodeus, the personification of Lust, but he was unlike anything she had yet to encounter. He was tall, with a body like a Grecian statue, plus feathers and fur. His skin was a sort of dark blue or purple, she couldn't quite discern the shade, and yet part of him also seemed to glow. He was all at once perplexing and incredibly intriguing.
He took her hand and bent low, kissing it.
"A pleasure to meet you," he said. As he stood again to return to his cooking, Isobel turned to focus on the food in front of her, a crimson blush staining her cheeks. She couldn't help but wish his robe was, perhaps. a bit larger with more coverage. Eggs sunny side up and bacon met her gaze, and her stomach flipped.
She turned a pained expression to Fizz, "Maybe coffee first?"
She spent the next 20 minutes nursing the strongest, most bitter cup of black coffee she had ever had. But it seemed to do the trick. She felt far more alert after and her stomach settled. She silently vowed never to drink whatever it was she had last night ever again. Maybe just no more drinking in Hell at all. Maybe no more drinking altogether. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
"Hey, hey," Blitz pounded the table. "No going back to sleep. We've got an appointment to keep."
"What appointment?"
"Stolas."
She was instantly awake. "You already called him?"
"Texted. It was easy. He actually wants to meet you. Like everyone else, he was watching the big show, saw you perform. Went on and on about it. Probably wants your autograph or something." Blitz was now eating Isobel's intended breakfast as well as his own portion.
"He's not the only one," Fizz laid out a newspaper on the table. A picture of Isobel stared back at them with a headline that read, Living Girl Sings at Spectacular. "You're becoming a celebrity. Maybe we should team up."
Isobel looked at her picture. It was clear that whoever did the editing, took several liberties. Her eyes had never failed to bring her attention in the past, but in the picture they appeared to be twice their actual size and the green coloring was far from natural. This was no good, the opposite of what she had wanted. She wanted to disappear into the crowd never to be heard from again, not be splashed across every tabloid rag in the seven rings for all to see.
"So much for keeping a low profile," she said under her breath.
"You look worried," Fizz noticed.
"I'm just afraid that the angel who's after me will figure out exactly where I am, if she doesn't know already."
"What do you think she'll do?" Now Fizz seemed worried.
"I don't know."
Before Enki was not allowed/able to hurt anyone. She technically had never actually hurt Isobel. But could things have changed since then? And yeah, she didn't attack condemned human souls, but those around Isobel now were not human. They were direct products of Hell itself. Would they be fair game? Would Isobel's cloud of disaster envelope them?
"All the more reason to see Stolas as soon as possible," Blitz chimed in. He seemed unbothered by the whole prospect and was now eating Fizz's leftovers.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid closed behind Isobel and Blitz. She had her hood up and a pair of Fizz's sunglasses, big enough to cover most of her face.
"Are you sure this is ok?" she asked Blitz again for something like the hundredth time.
"It's fine. Let's just get it over with." He was not worried about a surprise angel attack. In truth, if that were to happen, he'd probably be dead before he hit the ground and then his worries would be over. But they couldn't afford to get mobbed in a public place. All it would take was one jackass to recognize Isobel from the TV and then fucking pandemonium. They could not afford the delay, they had places to be and an owl to sweet talk, not that he ever had trouble with that before.
The elevator dinged again and the mass of people began to exit. It seemed like there were more people than usual for that time of day. Blitz wrapped his tail around Isobel's wrist so as not to lose her in the tide, and led her through the crowd. They walked the streets and eventually came to an exquisite mansion. It rose up all purples and gold. A beautiful beacon in the middle of an ugly world. Blitz hesitated.
"Something wrong?" Isobel asked after a beat.
"No, just not used to going in through the front." He had been inside the palace many times of course, but always under the shade of night, crawling up to Stolas's balcony. Their encounters would sound very Shakespearean, if they weren't immediately followed by hard-core, kink filled sex. But this was an official meeting, so in through the big double doors they went.
A small imp butler led them through a few chambers and into a drawing room where Stolas the 10 foot, owl demon prince of Hell awaited.
"Blitzy!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He lifted Blitz into the air and gave him a big smooch on the cheek. Blitz crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as Stolas hugged him before putting him down. He then turned to Isobel. "And you must be the living girl stuck in Hell." He took her hand and smiled down at her. "How funny."
He was far more silly and delightful than she had expected. It was clear he had been putting on airs for the Harvest Festival as he seemed far less stiff and proper. He was a dandy, cute and sweet, who seemed enamored of Blitz and highly curious of Isobel. He wanted to know all about her. He examined her eyes and smudged hands, and Stolas was so nice about it, Isobel didn't even mind. They spoke, drank tea, and ate small sandwiches for a very long time, leaving Blitz bored out of his mind. However, eventually they had to get to business.
"So," Stolas said, crossing his long legs and bringing his fingertips together. "You want to use my book, I understand."
"More like just a spell from your book." Isobel didn't quite know how to explain it. "I saw you create that portal during the Harvest Festival and I thought it may be exactly what I need to get back."
"Oh, just a trifle display of magic."
"Maybe to you, I thought it was amazing."
"Oh, really?" Stolas did so enjoy it when others complimented him. It happened so rarely throughout his life.
"Well, you know," Isobel shuffled her hands in her lap. "I come from a place with no magic. Since coming here and seeing all the things people like you can do. I'm jealous, honestly."
"Oh, yes," Stolas laughed with little hoots. "Evil demon magic." He waved his fingers in a spooky fashion. Isobel smiled and shook her head.
"I don't know how anyone can think the stars are evil."
Stolas stood and started to walk toward a large bookcase.
"Maybe one day you will be able to learn magic, as well. But until then…" He pulled a dark blue grimoire adorned with a golden moon off the top shelf. "Of course what you are asking is rather illegal. It might be quite the scandal if a member of the Goetia were to dabble in the affairs of living souls, especially ones wanted by the forces of Heaven."
He walked around Isobel to Blitz who was leaning against the door frame. Stolas brushed a hand over the red imp's horns.
"Fortunately, for you," he continued. "I know a certain imp that does not concern himself with such trivial things such as laws. Right, Blitzy?"
"For fuck's sake," Blitz shrugged the hand away and took the grimoire.
"This will have to be done quickly and quietly, you understand?" Stolas was suddenly very stern.
"Hey, Stolas, you know me," Blitz said. Quickly and quietly is my middle name."
Stolas regarded him with narrowed eyes. "Riiiiiiiight."
