Via lead Balin back to her bedroom for some more bonding time as babysitter-and-child. She then turned on the light to brighten up the room, and Balin was surprised to see for the first time how colourful it was.
"Sorry I had the lights off last time." said Via. "There's not a lot of that around here."
"I understand." replied Balin. "I mean, owls are nocturnal animals. Right?"
That little comment made Via laugh. "Oh, you are so cute!" she then picked him up and spun him around in a tight hug before flopping onto her bed.
She then closed the canopy drapes and crawled towards him on the bed like a predator.
"Come here, little one..." she sang, before lunging at him with tickles.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Balin. "Via! You're tickling my tummy!"
"Yes I am, little one! Yes, indeed!" the teenage owl princess cooed.
They both continued laughing as they spent a couple of minutes in a tickle fight.
Soon afterwards, Balin brought his backpack into Via's room and pulled out his favourite board game, 'Soggy Doggy', for them to play together.
The rules of the game were very simple for the two: each player had to race around the board and wash the plastic dog in a bathtub placed the middle of it, and if the soggy doggy shook the water off of him, it was back to the beginning.
Balin and Via sat on her bed cross-legged as they played three rounds, best out of three, over the next half an hour. The two each got a tie for the first two rounds, one player getting a go when the doggy shook the other one.
But soon, in a suspenseful couple of minutes of playing, Via finally won the final round of the game, making the dog shake Balin wet.
"Wahoo! Yeah!" she celebrated.
Looking a little wet but smiling warmly, Balin then clapped for Via's victory.
"Kid, why are you clapping for me?" she asked with laughter.
"Because you won the game, silly." replied the boy with his smile.
"Oh no, I don't need any praise." flushed Via modestly.
"It's okay. You still won, fair and square." Balin then crawled up to her and gave her a soft hug. "Just a hug for the winner then?"
"Awwww." Via then returned the hug, stroking his brown hair. "Quite the little hugging machine, aren't you?"
As the two let go, Via then said "My turn." and started giving Balin little kisses on his cheeks, his nose, and his forehead.
"There. Runner-up kisses from the princess." she smiled.
Feeling very grateful, Balin tried his hardest not to wipe the lipstick off his cheek, making Via laugh and rub his back.
"Thank you, sweetheart." she giggled softly. "I haven't had this much fun since I was your age."
"What did you do when I was 7?" the boy looked up and asked her with intrigue.
"Well, I went to this theme park with my dad when I was little, called Loo Loo Land, and..."
"That sounds like fun. Did you have fun?"
Balin then lowered his smile as he saw Via freeze traumatically, remembering a theme-park experience she spent years trying to forget. Feeling a little nervous for her, Balin called out her name a couple of times, but she seemed to be stuck in the flashback.
Seeing her tail feathers slowly wagging on the bed, he then started giving her feather scratches on her back to try and calm her down, the way he figured it'd work with Loona.
In which cases, it worked, as she was hooting from the relaxing feeling bringing her back to life. Soon, she felt the relaxation stop as she turned around to see Balin with his hand on her back.
"So... you didn't have fun?" he then asked her.
Via then started tearing up and curling into a ball. "No, I didn't Balin. It was horrible! I got scared by this animatronic clown that a group of kids pushed me close towards. And... now... when I have nightmares, its smile never leaves!"
Balin then sighed sadly, lowering his head feeling sorry, thinking that he could've made a close friend of his cry asking them a simple question. So he gently hugged her softly once more.
"It's gonna be okay, Via." consoled Balin. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you cry."
"No, it's quite alright." Via then returned the hug, taking a couple of deep breaths in and out.
"I take it you don't me going there then?" he spoke again, as she nodded her head to him. "Because I promise I won't."
"Good. It's way too unsafe, especially for a little human like yourself." Via replied, gently caressing him. "Lots of other demons got hurt there too. At least, they did, before it burnt down."
"Why?"
"Because of Blitzø and his imp friends. I really should thank them one day." replied Via, which then put a stunned look on Balin's face. "Don't worry, they did it by accident. But it had to shut down sooner or later, but it got so many votes not to."
"Are you okay now?" asked Balin, placing his hand in hers.
"I am, sweetie. Because even though I can't take it back, I know to remember the good times."
Saying that, she looked at a photographic portrait of her and her family at Loo Loo Land from when she was young. It looked a lot like the British version of the American frontier ages, with Stolas & Stella standing on each side and Via standing out front in between them.
"No matter how boring." she finished with a chuckle.
"Yeah. But my parents once told me the boring stuff is the stuff you remember the most." said Balin wisely.
Via's heart then got warmed hearing something like that from a mere child. She then nodded knowing how absolutely right he must've been.
"So what else would you like to do in here?" she asked. "Aside from going ON and ON about Loo Loo Land."
Pondering, Balin looked around the room trying to find something to do, before spotting the gramophone they used last time they visited.
"We can have another dance party in here." Balin then suggested happily. "That'll make you feel better."
"Hmm, sounds like fun. But how about... I sing some music for you?" Via suggested next.
"You sing?" the little human boy looked up at her with intrigue.
"Mm-hmm. My dad used to sing me back to sleep when I got scared at night, telling me I'd always be okay." she then looked back at the picture in a little nostalgic melancholy. "That he'd... always be there for me."
"Can you sing that one for me, please?"
"Sorry little one. I'd fall fast asleep at the first note, so I don't know the words as much." replied Via. "But I have listened to a few lullabies, including from the living world too. Want me to sing you one?"
"Yes, please." nodded Balin.
Via then picked him up and put him in her lap with her arms wrapped around him as she sat cross-legged on the bed again, then with a flicker of magic from her talon, she turned on the gramophone which began playing...
'BLACKBIRD' by The Beatles
A/N: I recommend listening to the Voctave cover for this story, it is my absolute favourite one.
"Hope you enjoy my singing, little one." whispered Via, as she began singing softly and cradling him back and forth like a baby.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night...
Take these broken wings and learn to fly...
All your life...
You were only waiting for this moment to arise...
Blackbird singing in the dead of night...
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see...
All your life...
You were only waiting for this moment to be free...
Blackbird fly...
Blackbird fly...
Into the light of the dark black night...
Via then opened her eyes from the lullaby to see that Balin was already asleep with his head in her feathery bosom.
"Awww. You're already asleep too, I see." she giggled softly.
Gently standing up with him still in her arms, Via pulled her blanket, laid him down on the bed, and wrapped him back under it.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night...
Take these broken wings and learn to fly...
All your life...
You were only waiting for this moment to arise...
(Whispering) You were only waiting for this moment, to... be free... *kisses his cheek*
"Have a nice nap, little sweetie."
She was about to leave the room to let him rest, before she saw her smile in a mirror. She never felt a smile like that on her face during her teenage years before, and it was there again thanks to the boy.
So she walked back to her bed, closed the drapes, and hopped under the blanket, pulling the boy close to her feathers for a snuggle.
Just then, a figure slowly crept into the light of Via's bedroom and slowly up to the drapes.
It soon turned out to be Stolas, who peaked his head through the drapes to see the two's cuddly nap. The owl demon shed a few tears of joy once again, feeling truly proud of the 17-year-old his little girl had become.
Soon, he decided to leave the two be in their warm embrace and shut out the light before closing the door.
Meanwhile...
While the imps were busy with their target, Loona was now by herself having a coffee at the water-park, with the rapid pool that was actually shaped like Sandra Bullock's head, outstandingly.
A few times into her peace and quiet, she'd look up at the two teenage boys at the cafe, constantly intimidating them with snarls through her sharp human teeth to make sure they weren't thinking of any funny business with her.
Then one time as she drank the hot beverage, she felt one of them fondle with her ass underneath her ripped jeans, making her growl louder and punch him into the pony-tail of the Ms. Congeniality look-alike pool.
Soon after that, she got a text from Blitzø saying they were done with their mission, making her groan as usual as she threw her coffee cup into the bin nearby with a lucky shot. But he soon texted her again about something else.
"All-so Loonie-Tooney, we just a call from..."
"I dunno..."
"The princess of Hell?"
Loona then shrugged at first, before widening her eyes in surprise with a wolf roar.
"Blitzø, are we in trouble?!"
"Uhm..."
The '...' icon appeared and stayed on the phone for a while, which meant Blitzø was trying to make an excuse. But this now made Loona worried.
BACK IN HELL...
When they all met up again, Blitzø opened a portal home with the Asmodean crystal. But this time, at the front of the Hazbin Hotel. ...For an arranged meeting with Princess Charlie.
"Well... hopefully this'll be quick. ...And painless." chuckled Blitzø nervously.
"Agreed?" the entire gang said in unison, before walking slowly up to the newly refurbished building.
When they got close to the door, Blitzø tried to tidy up his blazer for 10 seconds, on purpose, before Millie nudged him up to the doorbell. Shaking, he rung it with his index finger before quickly standing back.
But after a while, the doors opened to reveal Charlie, Vaggie, Husk, Angel Dust, Cherri Bomb, and Niffty standing in a line with crossed arms.
They were all furious.
As everyone remained frozen, Blitzø cleared his throat to speak... trembling.
"H-H-Hello." he waved, showing a nervous toothy smile. "...E-Everyone."
Everyone else in the group of four, Hell, even Loona, all showed a nervous toothy smile next.
A/N: The big crossover is finally here, already. What'll happen next?
See y'all in the next chapter.