[LEX'S WORKSHOP]
It's a beautiful day outside, even for Hell, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, people are burning in Hell for their sins, everything looks normal.
Liana is organizing some folders on her desk when Lex enters the building with an angered expression. He's already undressing from the suit he was using, while muttering some slurs in portuguese.
Liana barely glances up as she flips through a stack of papers, but the sharp clatter of Lex tossing his jacket onto the nearby chair catches her attention.
"What's up, boss? You seem… tense." Liana asks gently.
Lex huffs. "I just came from a meeting with the other Overlords, including 'the Viados', to discuss my partnership with Asmodeus"
Liana holds a laugh at his affirmation. "You mean 'the Vees'?"
"Yes." He sighs and tries to remove his tier. "They were bullshiting me on my face about something that I honestly don't care enough to remember. The only bearable person was Carmilla."
She chuckles and approaches him, helping him to remove the tie. "Well, Mrs. Carmine always was more disciplined than the others." She smiles. "But at least you're okay now. You don't have to worry about the rest of those imbeciles."
Lex sighs heavily, allowing her to help with the tie. "Yeah, at least that…" As she takes his tie off, Lex stretches. "Are the engineers working on Asmodeus' mods as requested?"
Liana steps back, folding Lex's tie neatly before placing it on her desk. "Yes, the engineers are on it. They've already started prototyping the enhancements for Asmodeus' VIP clientele. Everything's on schedule."
Lex nods, his posture relaxing slightly as he rubs the back of his neck. "Good. In that case, I'm going out. Wanna come with me?"
Liana raises an eyebrow, surprised by the invitation. "Out? Where to, exactly?"
"A café, I need to refresh the air. Is that good?"
Liana pauses and looks at him for a second. She hesitates for a moment, then nods. "A café? Sure, why not. I could use a break from all the paperwork."
"Good. See ya in 10 minutes." He goes inside his office to prepare to go out.
She blinks in surprise. After a brief moment of understanding the situation, she goes dress up.
[LATER]
In the streets of the Pride Ring, Lex drives a hovercycle that connects to his lower-body.
Behind him is Liana as a pillion passenger, gripping into his waist to keep her balance.
Soon, they stop and Lex says a single word. "Here."
Liana nods and slowly hops out of the hovercycle. As she does, it morphs back into Lex's legs. He stretches his legs. "Damn, I'm rusty… almost literally." He looks up and sees Liana staring at the sign of the café Richest Cup.
"... Lex… Don't tell me you want me to go there." She says with a slight trembling voice.
He nods. "What's the matter?"
She looks at him and gestures to her like it was obvious.
Lex blinks, obviously not getting it (or at least pretending to).
She sighs and rubs her temples. "... Lex, stop pretending, you're not stupid. You know people like me aren't welcome in places like this."
He shrugs and puts his hands behind his neck. "I don't know what you're talking about."
She clench her fists in annoyance for his 'ignorance'. "Oh goddammit- I'm an imp, Lex. Places like this don't like imps."
"Actually, the place doesn't care about it. The people who frequent it don't like imps."
Liana narrowed her eyes at Lex, crossing her arms. "And how is that supposed to make me feel better? If the clientele doesn't like imps, I'm still walking into a lion's den."
He shrugs. "And what? It's not like they're going to do anything with me aro,und."
Liana sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Lex, I get that you're powerful, but that doesn't mean you can just wave your hand and make prejudice disappear. It's not that simple."
Lex tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. "Lia, do you trust me?"
She froze for a moment, caught off guard by the question. Slowly, she uncrossed her arms and met his gaze. "Of course, I trust you. You know that."
"Then stop worrying. If anyone so much as looks at you wrong, I'll handle it," Lex said, his tone calm but with a dangerous edge. "Besides, I didn't bring you here to make a scene. I just wanted to have a coffee and talk somewhere different. You deserve a break."
Liana bit her lip, still hesitant, but his words softened her resolve. "Fine. But if this turns into a disaster, you owe me double the hazard pay."
Lex smirked faintly. "Deal."
They walked into the café together, the bell above the door chiming softly as they entered. Conversations quieted almost immediately as the royal patrons turned to stare, their eyes narrowing at the sight of an imp in their midst.
Liana's steps faltered, but Lex kept walking, his presence commanding the room without effort. He chose a table near the window, gesturing for Liana to sit across from him.
"Relax," He murmured as he sat down, crossing his legs casually. "They'll get over it."
Liana slid into the chair, trying to ignore the sharp glances being thrown her way. "Easy for you to say. You're the overlord. I'm just a secretary."
He smiles faintly and brushes a strand of hair from her face. "My secretary. There's a huge difference."
As Liana shifted uneasily in her seat, Lex waved over a server, a young demon with slicked-back hair and a nervous expression. The server hesitated for a moment, clearly unsure whether to address Lex or Liana, before finally speaking.
"W-What can I get for you, sir?" he asked, pointedly avoiding looking at Liana.
Lex leaned back in his chair, his arms draped casually over the armrests. "Two coffees. Black for me, and she'll have…" He glanced at Liana, who blinked, momentarily caught off guard.
"Uh… just a cappuccino." She muttered, her voice low.
The server nodded quickly, scribbling on his notepad. "Right away, sir." He turned and nearly tripped over himself as he hurried to the counter.
Liana let out a soft sigh, rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't know how you stay so calm in places like this. Everyone's staring like I just dragged mud through their pristine floors."
Lex let out a light chuckle. "Well, I had a lot of those back when I was alive and before I was rich."
Liana raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly. "Before you were rich? You keep dropping these little breadcrumbs about your life, but you never actually say anything. Care to elaborate for once?"
Lex's expression shifted slightly, a flicker of something unreadable crossing his face. He drummed his fingers on the table, as if considering whether or not to indulge her curiosity. Finally, he shrugged. "Well, I was raised in a slum in Brazil with my little sister by my mother, my mom died, I started to study tech, I built an enterprise and eventually got rich…" He looks down for a second, deep in thought. "... I won't elaborate any further."
Liana leaned back in her chair, her gaze softening as she processed Lex's words. For a moment, the noise of the café faded into the background. "That… explains a lot."
Lex raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly. "Explains what, exactly?"
She offered a small, knowing smile. "Your whole 'no soul contracts' policy. The way you treat your employees. Even the way you handle business, calculated, but never cruel. You've been through it, haven't you? You know what it's like to be at the bottom."
Lex let a light laugh. "Yeah… that's part of it… the other part is the one I refuse to elaborate on."
They stay in silence for a moment, Lex deep in thought, his expression darkening.
When Liana was about to change the topic, someone suddenly burst through the glass, shattering it in many small shards.
The person who broke the window laughs. "Hey hey hey! Look what we got here? A place full of this royal scum!" He laughs.
As the other patrons look either afraid or disgusted, Liana and Lex take a good look at the person, a hellhound boy with gray fur and baggy clothes. He's holding an angelic shotgun.
Lex gets up and sighs, rubbing his temples. "Kiddo, what are you doing? That's no toy to be played with-"
The boy shoots to the ceiling to alarm everyone. The royals look afraid seeing the angelic gun. Some aim their hands at the boy and launch their magic at him.
The boy grins. "Whoever try to use magic against me, feel free to, but are your little magic tricks faster than a bullet?"
"Pellet." Lex corrects before sitting back to finish his drink.
The tension in the café thickened as the royals, now visibly panicked, froze in place. No one dared move under the threat of the hellhound's angelic shotgun, or rather, as Lex had pointed out, pellets.
The boy's manic grin widened. "That's right! Stay scared, you royal cowards! Your lives mean nothing compared to mine!" He waved the gun around dramatically, clearly enjoying the power trip.
Liana shifted uneasily in her seat, glancing between Lex and the armed intruder. "Lex…" she whispered under her breath. "We should probably do something before this turns into a massacre."
Lex sighed deeply, still unbothered, as he took a long sip of his coffee. He placed the cup down with deliberate care and finally stood up again, towering over the chaotic scene. "Alright, Johnny Boy. You've had your fun. Now, why don't you put the toy down and walk away before you do something stupid?"
The hellhound's grin faltered slightly at Lex's calm demeanor, as if he didn't quite know how to handle it. He swung the gun around again, his wild eyes darting between the terrified royals and the only one who didn't seem fazed by the situation.
"Oh, what's this?" The boy sneered, stepping closer to Lex. "You think you can scare me just because you're some big shot in the Pride Ring? What makes you think I'll—"
"I'm not trying to scare you," Lex interrupted smoothly, his voice low but piercing. "I'm giving you a choice." He took a slow step forward, his shadow swallowing the hellhound's smaller form.
The boy's grip on the gun tightened, his pulse quickening as he tried to make sense of the situation. "I don't need your pity or your choice, freak! I'll—"
Lex's hand shot out with lightning speed, grabbing the shotgun by its barrel and twisting it in an effortless motion, causing the boy to stumble forward. The hellhound's mouth went dry as the gun was wrenched from his grasp.
Before Lex could say anything, the boy did a spinning jump and kicked Lex's head with incredible strength and agility.
Lex's eyes widen as he's thrown back, dropping the gun. The boy just grin and grabbed the gun again and aimed it at Lex. "Mark my words, you royals. I, Leonidas, am going to destroy every single one of you royal scum!"
Lex rolls his eyes and cleans some blood from his nose. "You like to talk a lot, kiddo."
Lex wiped a drop of blood from his nose with the back of his hand, unfazed. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"
Leonidas' grip on the gun tightened even more, as though he were trying to will himself into a position of power. "I don't need to enjoy it, you fool. I just want to watch you all burn. And you're the first to go." Leonidas aims at Lex and presses the grip.
As the kid shoots, Lex's arm suddenly morphs into a giant metal arm and he manages to defend from the pellets.
The pellets ricochet from Lex's arm and hit the walls and ceiling. Lex's arm morph back and he points at Leonidas. "Is that all you've got?"
Leonidas grit his teeth and rushes towards Lex, trying to kick his side. Lex manage to defend with an arm and gives the hellhound a headbutt.
The moment their heads collide, the boy grabs Lex's head and stabs a knife through it, making Lex fall to the ground… but not dead yet.
The café falls into a heavy silence as Lex drops to the ground, the knife lodged in his head. Leonidas stands over him, grinning maniacally, watching as the blood begins to ooze from the wound. His breath is heavy, but his eyes gleam with twisted satisfaction.
But then, Lex's body begins to twitch.
With a sharp, metallic screech, the knife is suddenly ejected from Lex's skull by a burst of pressure. His body jolts upright as the wound begins to heal itself.
Leonidas takes a step back, startled but not backing down. "What the hell? You can't just… get back up like that!"
Lex shrugs. "I'm a sinner. My brain was blown by a bullet, that's how I died. It means that I don't die from attacks on my head in this form."
Leonidas grit his teeth, but before he could proceed the fight, police sirens sound from afar. He huffed. "Fuhuhuck…" And runs away quickly.
Lex sighs and sits back on the table, drinking his coffee as if nothing happened.
The café is in stunned silence, the air thick with a mixture of fear, disbelief, and the lingering scent of smoke and gunpowder. Liana is frozen, her eyes wide in disbelief as she watches the retreating figure of Leonidas disappear into the distance.
The royals, who had previously been terrified, slowly begin to breathe again, but their gazes remain fixed on Lex. He's sitting at the table, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred, casually sipping his coffee. His calm demeanor is at odds with the wreckage around him.
Liana, after a long pause, finally lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Lex…" Her voice is a mixture of exasperation and awe. "You're really something else, you know that?"
Lex lowers his coffee cup, a faint smirk curling on his lips as he meets Liana's gaze. "I've had worse," he says nonchalantly, as if being stabbed in the head and having a gun aimed at him were routine occurrences.
The room remains still, the tension not entirely dissipating. The royals, still shaken, murmur among themselves, casting occasional glances at Lex as if they've just witnessed some otherworldly display of power.
Liana shakes her head, half-smiling in disbelief. "But I wonder what that kid was… Why would he do that? He seemed so young…"
Lex sighs. "I think he thought he was some kind of vigilant. Making justice with his own hands." He stretches. "Anyways, that's over, let's enjoy our drinks."
Liana looks at him dumbfounded but she sighs. "... Gimme a break…"
[SOMEWHERE ELSE]
Leonidas rushes down the streets and enters an alley. He quickly climbs the stairs of an old building and enters one of the windows silently into his room. He hides the shotgun under his bed and lies to sleep… but then he hears the door opening.
He quickly stands up excitedly and goes running to the entrance door. He smiles at the sight of a taller, female hellhound carrying some groceries sacks.
Leonidas smiles widely, his tail wagging. "Hi mom."
As she was about to greet him with a warm smile, her eyes widened and she rushed at him, dropping the groceries. She takes his face onto her hands gently and checks his wounds. "Leo! Are you okay? Where did you get hurt?"
Leonidas just chuckles and hugs her. "I'm good. Just had a small accident at the stairs, nothing serious." He breaks the hug. "You're late, what happened?"
Leonidas' mother sighs. "I had to work overtime in the Studio because of Val…." She smiles. "But don't worry, I bought something for you." She boops his nose and leads him to the kitchen to have dinner.
[TO BE CONTINUED]