As usual, Blitzø drove at the fastest speed along the streets of Imp City. So fast, his license would've been taken two weeks ago on Earth.
He soon parked the van at a curb, almost breaking the fire hydrant in front of them with the fender, which was right next to an alley where they could use the Asmodean crystal without being seen.
"My-my, Moxx. Looks like you enjoyed the ride, for once." grinned Blitzø, looking at the white-haired imp in his rear vision mirror.
"Hmm, it was alright." he shrugged, as Blitzø and Loona got out of the front together.
Millie then raised her eyebrow at her husband, as she gently flicked an earbud out of his ear with her tail, grabbed a cushion from underneath his seat, then ripped a piece of black-dyed cotton from the van's roof.
"Safety first?" quivered Moxxie.
Millie then smiled and gave him a kiss on the nose. "Can't blame ya, hon." she giggled as they both got out of the van next.
"Welp, time to get this bastard done and dusted. With sandpaper." said Blitzø wiping his hands.
Loona then licked the Asmodean crystal to open the portal to Earth as the boss grabbed Moxxie and Millie's hands to drag them through it, and after spitting out the gunky germs Blitzø could've had on the crystal, Loona followed after them to the location:
LOS ANGELES
"...Okay. Looks like we're doing some nostalgia and shit." spoke Blitzø in his happy mood again.
"Uh-huh. Kinda reminds me when.." Loona was about to finish when the boss cut her off.
"Alright ladies! Let's..."
"Ahem?" Moxxie cleared his throat at him. "And...?"
"And what?" Blitzø quietly asked before shaking it off. "Never mind, let's just find where this asshole's residing. Loona? If you please?"
"Still can't smell anything here, dumbass. It's L.A." replied Loona sarcastically, as she rolled her eyes. "You must know the location by now, don't ya,-?"
"Call me Fatty out here again, and I'll call you 'Balin's mommy' someplace else!" interrupted Moxxie.
He was about to walk away whistling, before Loona angrily grabbed him by his waistcoat.
"MOXXIE! You have no clue how close you're at!" she snarled. "Call me 'Balin's mommy' anywhere, and I'll chop you to chunks with my choker!" the female hellhound then threw Moxxie to the ground.
"Talk about a tongue-twister." she said to herself, as she helped Moxxie back up, so he could dust himself off and stretch, before hearing a snapping sound.
"Shit. OK, Something just popped." he said.
"I'm sure it'll heal by the time we meet 'em." Blitzø was about to pat his back, but decided to pat his head instead to save him more pain. "As for you Loonie, to answer your question, I was the one who answered the call, so I have the fucker's address written down here." he then showed her a piece of paper with the address. "All we need now is a piece of transportation."
"Like one of its dream tour buses?" Millie pointed at a line of 'dream Hollywood tour' buses leaving the station with only one left to board. "Could be giving tours along that road."
"Alright, fine, but you two tell him to be quick. We've only got a good three hours to fill for that park back home." Blitzø softly ordered.
The entire gang speed walked to the tour bus as Loona changed into her human disguise, just in time to see the guide coming back from his bathroom break.
"Hey, hey, buddy. Are you giving these tours along Horneysec Crescent?" asked Moxxie nonchalantly.
"Absolutely, sir." replied the guide happily, voiced by Jack McBrayer. "There's a water-park with a rapid pool in the shape of Sandra Bullock's hair, including her pony-tail. Hop in."
The entire gang pushed him out of the way and scurried to their empty seats on the bus as it drove slowly away from the station.
"Welcome aboard folks...!"
The bus driver began talking with his headset microhpone turned on, while Blitzø quietly explained the plan to the crew.
"Now remember, the second we're off this metal piece of wombat shit, we go from lawn to lawn until we see the 6th mailbox on the crescent. Once we're there, the mongrel that mauled our client died during his death, so Loona will stand guard lying in the doghouse. If, in his grief, he still has it, that is."
"On second thought, fuck that." mouthed Loona. "I'mma see if there's a cafe down at that pool."
"Fair enough." shrugged Moxxie, leaned in closer to whisper to Blitzø. "That way, she also won't have to feel scared of hurting anyone like she has been with our previous clients. D-During her time with..."
"Never thought I'd say this, but I actually like your safe-planning for this one, Moxx." whispered Blitzø back, giving him an elbow nudge.
Millie then leaned closer to the female hellhound on her phone. "You can tell me honestly. Just once." she quietly spoke.
"Let's hear it." sighed Loona.
"Do you really feel... motherly, to that little sweetie of a human?" Millie asked with a smile.
Loona then blushed uncomfortably in a little silence, until...
"OK, I do...!"
AT THE GOETIA MANSION...
Stolas opened the door to his private library as Balin followed him holding Via's hand.
"Hey, we've been in here before." smiled the boy.
"We sure have, little one." Via then picked up Balin in her arms.
"You sure have?" Stolas then asked intriguingly.
"Only to show him the books, dad."
"Then let me ask you this, Balin..." the demon prince then cleared his throat. "Did Via speak of these stairs?"
"I asked her about them and she said it was a surprise." replied the boy.
"And she did rightly so." he started walking up each flight of stairs. "Come. Let me show you."
As Via carried the boy upstairs behind her father, they soon reached a curtain to a very secret room of the palace.
"So, little one, are you ready to promise to keep this a secret for me?" asked the owl, crouching down to his level in Via's arms.
"Pinkie promise." replied the little one.
Balin then extended his pinkie out to let Stolas wrap his around it, sealing their deal, while Via rolled her eyes in a giggle.
"Welcome, Balin Johnson..."
Stolas then opened the curtain to show Balin a space-like realm, filled with stars and planets from top to bottom. ...if space had a bottom.
"WHOA...!" Balin's eyes sparkled, as they and his mouth were the most wide-open they've ever been.
Via also went wide-eyed as she carried him still in her arms, having not seen this realm in a long time.
When she was a little owlette, Stolas would tell her stories of phenomena that would occur every thousand or million years after the Nebula's explosion.
"What is this place...?" Balin asked in wonder and curiosity.
"This, my dear boy, is the Great Expanse." Stolas replied to the boy, showing him around. "You may know all 8 planets of the galaxy: the sun, the moon... Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Uranus,"
Balin let out a little snort of laughter hearing that planet's name, the way Stolas pronounced it.
"Then there's Pluto." he continued.
Via and Balin then looked at each other cheekily, before imitating a game show buzzer with their thumbs-down, causing all three of them to laugh.
"And last but not least... Earth."
Stolas then showed the boy a hologram of Planet Earth, making him just as mesmerised as Via once again, as it was her first time seeing the planet from this perspective.
"Go ahead, son." smiled the owl demon prince. "You can have a closer look if you want."
Balin soon froze a little and looked down becoming nervous, and Via felt it in her arms as she still carried him.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Via asked him.
She then looked down to the bottomless pit he was looking at, and soon noticed how there was no floor or flat surface for him to walk on.
"Oh, it's okay." she soothed him. "You can still stand up here."
"B-B-But, aren't you guys using, m-magic?" asked the shivering boy.
"No, we aren't, dear one." Stolas consoled him. "What's different about this space, is that anyone can walk along here like we can."
"Yeah. You'll be okay." Via then showed a smile as she rubbed his hair to calm his head down.
"On a count of three? Please?" asked Balin, trying his best to be brave.
"I promise." Via then counted. "One... two... three."
She then slowly put the boy down on his feet with his eyes shut. But he soon opened one to see he was in fact, standing on his two feet on a rather wet surface, filled with bioluminescent water.
He looked down at the stars again before lifting each of his feet again and again, like an astronaut.
Minus, the gravity part. ...Yet.
He then walked close to the holographic globe of Earth and looked at it in awe. Somehow, he didn't feel so small looking at how huge it was, especially as he saw the country of Australia as it spun around slowly. He then reached out to touch it, only to receive little ticklish frictions from it. It didn't hurt him much, since it felt like a big plasma ball.
"All those years; wishing for a moment like this. I could only imagine what it would be like." sighed Via in her head, before she walked over to him.
As she had her feel of the Earth, Stolas put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle smile, feeling proud to see the affection he never expected to see coming from her as well. This made Via smile warmly as well, as she looked at him.
"Now, as I was saying, kids." Stolas clapped, as he began speaking again. "You may know these planets and the stars surrounding them, but there's more to this universe than just the solar system." the demon prince then gave Balin a little boop on the nose, making him giggle.
With a swipe of his hand, Stolas then revealed the other side of the galaxy, beyond the planets.
"There are stars mortals wish they could see, more marvels than people already know, worlds beyond your own. Beyond those eight circles of life and energy." he continued. "As a family, it is a Goetia's rite to watch over those intelligent lives with ours."
"Still think we're Gods, little one?" Via teased the little boy.
Having said all that, Stolas then watched as his daughter knelt down to the kid's level and nuzzled her beak into his cheek to make him blush, knowing he had prepared something special for her.
"Ooh! Can you please show me the Milky Way, Stolas?" asked Balin with a polite smile. "I've always wanted to see what it was like."
"Most certainly." replied the owl demon, as he clapped his hands twice to bring them to the Milky Way. "What a polite young man you are with those exquisite manners. Your parents must've raised you quite charmingly."
A/N: Imagine if 'Part of Your World' was playing in this moment.
Via then grabbed Balin's hand as they started walking along the stars of the Milky Way together.
His jaw dropped wide open at the marvellous feeling, until Via closed his with one of her talons.
"Careful, baby." she giggled. "Wouldn't wanna get any stardust in your mouth."
Soon, Balin relaxed a little at the sight, soon realising he was walking on the wet surface below him. He was surprised to see this liquid water existing in this vacuum of space, so blowing his mind, it also gave him a cheeky idea.
A few steps ahead of him, Via felt something splash her with some of the water and quickly turned her head 360-degrees like an owl to see it was Balin with a smug grin, who then tried to pretend he didn't do it.
"Awww... is it like that?" she cooed, as she started splashing him back. "How's that?! Huh?!"
The two both started laughing, splashing and chasing each other along the stars before Balin pounced on Via and cuddled her below the waist. This made her chuckle a couple more times, seeing how cute and innocent he was with his arms around her.
Stolas then had hearts in his eyes seeing his daughter return the hug as well, before looking up at an upcoming surprise.
"Psst! Owlette!" he whispered to her and pointed up at the stars.
Soon, Via gasped as she saw one of the rarest phenomena EVER!
It was Azathoth's Tears, showering down from above, past the three beings like asteroids.
"But... but how?" she asked in shock. "They only come every..."
"I know." replied Stolas softly, sitting down next to the two. "I know."
"Stolas? What is that?" Balin asked him in wonder.
"Azathoth's Tears." smiled the demon prince, wrapping his arms around the kids' backs. "The people in your world call it: a meteor shower."
"It's so beautiful." Via then choked with real tears in her eyes.
And with that, the three all smiled watching the tears shower down across the stars, in an incredible formation.
"Ooh! Balin! Look at that one!" Via then pointed out for the kid.
A few moments later...
The strange figure clambered through one of the windows of the mansion, showing himself as a serpentine-like demon wearing a cowboy hat and boots with sharp spurs. His tail even had spurs too, where the scales were.
Before he could do anything in that moment, he heard laughter from the three two doors nearby and dived into the nearest one before anyone could see him.
Stolas held the curtain for Via and Balin as they exited the Great Expanse, holding each other's hands.
"Thanks dad. This was truly beautiful." she smiled.
"Anything for you, sweetheart." he replied softly, before replying sheepishly. "For real this time."
"Well, I'll just take the kid up to my room. Maybe chillax a little, after all that fun." Via then picked up Balin again with all her strength.
"Have fun, you two!" Stolas shouted.
As Via carried him down the stairs and out of the library, Via then thought of something she had been told before.
...
LOONA: "Sometimes... Sometimes, it's not as simple as that. This kinda shit gets messy. And everyone's got issues. Especially dads. And sometimes they fuck up. Like, ALL the time. But, that doesn't mean they don't care. I mean, try to cut your dad some slack. He may not always get it right, but... he's trying."
"That's more important than you think."
...
"Thanks to you too, Loona." sighed Via at the thought, looking at the sky through the windows.
Soon, Via heard a little cluttering going on in the background and turned her head 360-degrees again, thinking it was probably an imp trying to stalk them for their money, before she shrugged it off and continued walking down the halls with Balin in her arms.
As she kissed his cheek, she then disappeared, giving the snake-like imp the opportunity to come out of hiding and phone someone.
"Y'ello, ma'am." he said in his very Southern drawl. "I'm about to get a count on those possessions your hubby has here, but the thing is..."
He then heard some shouting cutting him off on the phone, in a very British accent.
"I know, I understand ma'am, but I'm inside now!" he continued. "But I happened to see somethin' else. That lil' daughter of yours, carrying what looks like..."
...
AT AN ICY CASTLE...
"A human child."
"I'm sorry, what? A 'human' child, do you say?" another owl-like demon spoke on the phone on the other side, as she stared at a whiteboard with multiple papers on it "Hmm... rather odd."
"What should I do about it, ma'am?" he then asked.
"Leave him to me, Stiker dear." the owl then turned around to be Stella Ars Goetia, Stolas' monstrous wife and princess of the Goetia family. "Though he may be a little, obstacle-ish, I want us to focus our eyes in the bloody amount of debt and power that traitorous embarrassment has to pay us, before we can think of anything else." she then hung up the phone showing a terrifying smile to the readers. "After all, the little guy could be a brat. What more can he do than that?"
She then ended the chapter, cackling monstrously as the snowflakes flurried all around her icy castle of a home.
A/N: This chapter was inspired by two things from the show: the music video for Stolas' 'Look My Way' and the 'Seeing Stars' episode, which featured my favourite scene ever in the whole series over the last two years.
The moment I watched that scene while eating McDonald's in my car in front of the lake, I had goosebumps AND I felt like I was about to cry. So it was so much fun for me to make my own spin on what happened after all that.
Anyways, see y'all in the next chapter.