"Look, I'll get to the point, just so we can get out and have time to think about it, okay?"
"Fine, how about some snacks? I feel this is gonna take some time anyway."
"Urgh! Okay! Go get something! Or better yet, just ask Collin to get it. He's at the hallway waiting."
"Hmm, I'm not sure he would understand any of the stuff I ask him to bring. Eh, we can skip and get to the point instead, but let me have a sip of water first. Fuck, I'm really thirsty."
"Whatever Blitzo, just hurry up. I wanna take Collin out this afternoon."
"Gez, not like I have to know that! I mean, I guess I'm surprised you're telling me you're going out. Still, this whole thing about you two being a couple out of nowhere is like a stab in the ass!"
"Heh, you definitely don't mind when Stolas stabs you."
"OH, SHUT UP!"
Loona snickered, enjoying the look of Blitzo's flustered face as he walked away grumbling under his breath. She calmly waited for his return, looking at her hands to inspect her polished claws. It was a good thing she shortened their length, otherwise she could've ended up scratching Collin really bad last night. She chuckled as her mind recollected that moment, she had to admire Collin's willingness to make her feel pleased by the interaction, even if short lived, although he definitively caught her off guard once he started exploring the rest of her body more thoroughly, his curiosity getting the best of him.
She was even more stunned as he started to apply pressure on specific parts of her body, as a way to test how tense her muscles were, his hand carefully working on her skin as he applied weight, aiming to alleviate whatever aches she had on her body. It was such an unexpected caring gesture, especially during a moment she wouldn't expect anyone to bother with anything other than sex. Not even herself.
He also managed to pop several joints on places she didn't even knew that such was possible. The aftermath left her astonished, a huge amount of stress being washed away from her being. She never took notice of how poorly her body was acting up until then. Which probably contributed to her extremely bad temper, as Collin so bluntly pointed out after he was done with the treatment.
The sheep was a pool of endless caring and concern, to the point it embarrassed her greatly. Loona could never see herself being this gentle and attentive with anyone. Yet, Collin didn't think she was incapable of being a caring person, for he spent a lot of time early this day's current morning talking to her about trying to better herself. Yet, before she could get any further, talking with Blitzo was the first step of many in that long road ahead of her.
But things always tend to get complicated out of nowhere.
Just as she picked her phone to check for messages a sudden bright green light permeated the room. She quickly jumped of her seat, mind racing about the location of potential guns she would could make use of. Yet, after her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, she took note of the portal that was hanging on thin air few feet away from the center of the room. She recognized as the same translocation spell that Stolas used to rescue them from inside the Dorks building.
Which meant...
"Hum, hello? Excuse me?" Said a rather chipper voice that she had no problem recognizing. Her eyes traveled to the Owlish head peaking through the portal gap, looking at her with a set of four reddish eyes. "Oh, hello Loona. Is... Blitzo here?"
She blinked, confused as to why such imposing being was acting so weirdly. She relaxed her stance, although remained a bit on edge despite being familiar with the other creature. She knew better than to upset a Demon Lord.
"Huh, he's out getting something to drink." She replied slowly. "Is there something you wanna talk with him? I can leave if-
"Oh, no, no, no! That won't be necessary!" He quickly replied, Loona raised an eyebrow at the sudden tone of panic in his voice. "It's just... urgh, this is rather problematic, but... you think you could do me a favor?" He asked, looking apprehensive for a moment. Loona crossed her arms, staring back at Demon Owl silently. "I will be owning you big time, of course." He added with a hopeful smile.
"Sure, whatever you need." She replied, although without the usual confidence her voice tends to carry.
"Excellent! Well, you see, my wife is going out for some... errr, vacations? I wouldn't really call it that. She just said she needs some time out of the house, hehe. The problem is that, well... I can't be at home all the time, and I don't feel like leaving my daughter all by herself there alone. Is not really safe, despite all the safety spells. It seems my 'would-be' assassins are getting more crafty. I do not wish for Octavia to be endangered, for they could use her for leverage or worse. She's still young and haven't really taken enough defensive training classes from moi."
Loona felt her jaw loosening for a moment, realizing what kind of favor Stolas was asking from her.
"You want me to babysit your kid?!" She asked with incredulity. Stolas scoffed.
"Please, she's hardly that young. She can feed herself just fine if needed, but safety is something I will not take for granted when it comes to her. I trust Blitzo and the rest of you to keep her safe, you all did a wonderful job at the carnival, so this is why I feel confident about trusting her safety towards your group. I would ask Blitzo first, but... we had a bit of a... miscommunication, so I rather require this from you instead."
"Err, I guess? Look, for how long are we talking about her staying with us?"
"Oh, just till this night. I shall be done with my endeavors by then. Is that acceptable?"
"Yeah, I... it's okay." Loona replied, her tone deflating as she spoke. Stolas tilted his head, noticing the drop of her muzzle.
"What's the matter dear? You seem to be in such low spirits." He asked, looking at her more attentively. It surprised Loona her saw through her so quickly.
"I... nothing. I just had planned to go out with my mate this afternoon. I just hope he won't mind we have someone else to tag along. Then again, probably he won't. He's the type who seems eager to know new people, as long they don't try to kill him." She added with a chuckle.
"Oh, forgive me the inconvenience. Hmmm, still, Octavia could use of making some friends. I think you two will get along with her just fine. She's not really... temperamental. Just have a seemingly lack of disposal to do things. Although that's been more recent due... circumstances."
"Huh, sure. I guess we will take her around then." Loona replied dubiously, barely understanding most of what the Demon Lord just said.
"Splendid!" He said with a higher amount of cheerfulness. "Oooh, Octaviaaa! Just waiting on you to come through, my outlet! Did you pack your things?"
The muffled sounds of annoyance coming across the portal were the only indication of someone replying to Stolas. He turned his head back sheepishly.
"Hehe, she gets like that sometimes. Soooo... who's this mate of yours?" He asked, expressing genuine curiosity at the news. Loona shrugged.
"We met few days ago. He's a bit shy, not really impressive on the looks, but he treats me fairly and caring enough. No complaints about him whatsoever. I was in the middle of explaining it to Blitzo." She replied slowly, aware that it might be risky to mention Collin as a Fallen to a Demon Lord of all things. Stolas gave her a sympathetic glance in return.
"Oh, good luck with that then. I worry about him getting more upset, especially after... well, some conflicting events from last night. Tell him I wish him well when he gets back."
"Sure." Loona replied just as a rather thin figure, dressing rather wildly, slumped forward in a defeated manner as it came across the portal. Her appearance very similar of the taller Demon, but it was clear that she has a more lean figure of her own and is somewhat shorter, perhaps even near the Hellhound's height. "Sup."
The owl girl raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by the rather informal greeting.
"Hey." She replied hesitantly, her eyes studying Loona more attentively. Noticing that the Hellhound was dressing rather loosely Octavia felt more at ease, realizing that she may be on the presence of someone more around her age. "Name's Octavia, but you can call me whatever, I guess."
"Sure. Soooo... is that all Stolas?" Loona asked, looking skeptically at the taller bird, hoping he would be taking his leave shortly. Blitzo could be walking in any second now.
"Oh, yes! I shall be going then, take care my little star!" He said with more energy than necessary, which only seemed to aggravate his daughter. Thankfully Stolas retreated back into the portal a second before it closed for good.
"Well, I guess that's it for now." Loona said more than herself than anything, internally wondering what other unexpected things would happen on a day that seemed to be stretching far too long, and they were nowhere near launch time yet. She eyed the Owl briefly while pondering how to handle the situation. "Say, feel free to go around and check the place, I gotta talk with Blitzo on some stuff, if you need anything you can ask Collin." Loona advised gently enough.
"Who's Collin?" Octavia asked, her eyes scanning around the rather dark office with disinterest.
"Hold on, I will go get him." The Hellhound decided, making her way towards the small hallway in between the reception and Blitzo's office. She peeked her head around the door frame, spotting the sheep few meters away looking through a small window at the end of the hallway with a contemplative expression on his face. "Hey, Collin, come here. I need your help with something."
Collin snapped of his trance, glancing back in surprise at being called so much earlier than he expected.
"Huh, sure?" He said hesitantly while making way towards the office. He made it inside quickly, his eyes looking around for Blitzo, but he only found a strange bird creature instead. The fact that it was tall as Loona didn't really make him very comfortable. "Err, who is that?"
Loona closed the door quietly, spinning around to face the other two while keeping her ears raised. She was starting to wonder why Blitzo was taking so long to get a glass of water. She walked in between them as she tried her best to not creak the wooden floor with her heavy steps.
"Collin, this is Octavia, she's the daughter of Blitzo's... 'associate'." Loona started, internally rolling her eyes as she thought about Blitzo's scandalous relationship with a Demon Lord. Octavia loudly snorted at the term used to describe her father. Her eyes landed on the gray sheep, and they widened considerably once she spotted the feathered wings on his back.
"Wha... Loona... is that a... Fallen?" Octavia asked slowly, not daring to believe her eyes.
Her father, despite all the misgivings, spent a lot of his time raising Octavia to add Hell's knowledge to aid her about important positions in regards to their family legacy. Being the daughter of a prestigious Demon Lord came with a lot of necessary instruction and dedication, to which she hardly ever paid attention to, unless she found anything her dad said about the hierarchy system even remotely interesting, but if there was one thing she always paid attention was the times he spoke about the Heaven realm. It was never anything of good, which was a weird thing to say since Heaven was nothing but pure good. Yet, the disdain and disgust on his voice whenever he mentioned Heaven was something that always stuck with her. She could remember Stolas talking about Fallen Angels, creatures that lost their way from Heaven, falling from the grace and purity to end up among their kind in the depths of Hell. A Fallen's existence was extremely rare and the power that came with them was often sought by the most powerful creatures in Hell, for the abduction or absorption of their flesh and soul would greatly empower its master or consumer. Seeing a random Fallen right in front of her eyes, like if it he was just living a normal life there, threw her in for a loop of extreme bewilderment.
"Huh, you... figured out pretty quick." Loona replied slowly, her body already tensing in anticipation. Collin blinked, unsure of how to react to being found out. "I know this looks weird, like... heh, what isn't weird around here, right?" The sheep could feel the nervousness building up on the Hellhound. Octavia stared at her briefly with a narrowed look before looking down at the Fallen.
"What is he doing here? How come you haven't told a Demon Lord about him?" She asked although without any sort of scrutiny. It seemed Octavia was far more curious about how the Fallen flew under the Demon's radar till now.
"Look, it's a long story, but... you won't tell Stolas, right?" Loona half asked, half pleaded, to which Octavia felt slightly conflicted about. Loona seemed alright, and the Owl was interested on getting along. Making friends while being Stolas daughter was beyond challenging. She didn't like the idea of hiding things from her father, but the memory of his recent screw up quickly shattered any doubts that were growing in her head. Stolas didn't deserve this knowledge, not yet at least.
"That will depend." Octavia said slowly, her eyes glaring openly at the nervous sheep. "What is he to you?"
"Huh... he's... my mate."
Octavia's head snapped back to the Hellhound, and for what felt like the first time in ages, she actually felt her beak drop open in utter shock.
"W-what?... are you... how... what?!"
"Okay, I know it looks weird an-
"That's not just weird! Is crazy! What were you thinking?" Octavia didn't even know how to express the amount of insanity that was just being displayed in front of her very eyes. "Why would you date a Fallen?!"
"I mean, C-Collin isn't really that bad!" Loona tried to justify, hating herself for how her voice cracked for a brief second. "He's being doing nothing but helping me get my head out of my ass for the last few days!"
"Huh, you're welcome?" Collin replied, raising an eyebrow at Loona's crude description before addressing the owl Demon. "I don't mean to cause trouble miss. Loona has been very kind to... well, not kill me. I don't mean to be an upset to anyone, it was not my intent to be in Hell, but... things went bad and here I am. If there's one good thing I can take from this series of events so far, it's Loona."
Octavia stared, she felt one of her eyes twitching for few seconds as she struggled to make sense of what she's been told. She wasn't even sure why she was getting worked up about the ordeal, for all she cared these two could screw themselves over as much they desire and that was none of her business.
"If my father finds out, do you have any idea what's gonna happen with your mate?" Octavia pointed out sharply, to which Loona had no actual response. "It would be a much kinder death if you just snapped his neck before that happened. Do you really think it's worth the risk?"
"I... take that Fallen are not welcomed here?" Collin asked with a nervous chuckle, although the fear in his eyes made his feelings on the matter very clear. Octavia huffed.
"That's not actually it, in fact, your kind is highly disputed among Demons. If anything, they will tear you apart from skin to bone, just so they can consume whatever energy they can feed from either your soul or body. That if they don't enslave your mind and body to their will instead."
A deafening silence followed those words. Collin's entire being went pale, and Loona looked far more nervous than usual once she realized Collin's actual predicament of being found out by the wrong creatures.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She said, clearly panicking as she started to walk small circles on the same spot. "What the fuck we do?! I thought the dye would be enough to hide what you are. Yet, somehow Octavia found out right away! What spell did you use to figure it out?!" She asked urgently back at the Owl.
"None, I just noticed the feathery wings. Nothing in Hell would have those, unless it's clearly a Fallen." She replied with a tone of annoyance at their obliviousness.
"Wait... so... how do I hide my wings?" Collin asked, a feeling of dread forming in the pit of his stomach. Suddenly everything around him felt extremely hostile. Loona had no answer, she looked back at Octavia hoping the owl had an answer for their problem. The owl rolled her eyes once she took notice of the Hellhound's clueless glance.
"Well, cut them off, is quite obvious."
Collin instinctively took a step back.
"Woah, woah, woah! No one is cutting of anything!" Loona immediately replied, to which the sheep was profoundly thankful for.
"Then good luck figuring that out." Octavia replied with a shrug, pulling a phone out of her pocket as she walked towards the nearest chair. Before she could place her earphones properly the Hellhound approached her with a more incensed tone.
"Oh, come on! You're the daughter of a Demon Lord! Are you telling me there's not a single spell at all that can hide him somehow? Even a disguise would do!" Loona was starting to sound desperate and Collin felt guilty for causing her such stress. "Even if Stolas owns me for taking care of you, I don't think this would be enough for him to not hurt Collin. Please!"
Octavia grunted, she didn't like to be put on the spot like that, not that she could really blame the Hellhound for freaking out considering what she just learned. Yes, she could do something about it, but everything has its price.
"If I do this, there's one thing you need to do for me." Loona frowned worriedly, the daughter of a Demon Lord sure would have anything at this point, what could she offer that Octavia didn't have? She nodded wearily. "So... it turns out my dad is a bit... controlling."
Loona almost laughed in relief, a knowing smile on her face as she immediately understood where this topic was heading.
"Let me guess, you wanna an excuse to be out of the house, spend some time around with friends and, most important, feel free to do whatever without having to worry about being assaulted by some crazy fucking kidnappers?" She said humorously. Octavia blinked, partially astonished.
"Huh, yeah? Was it that obvious?" She asked, wondering if she was slacking on her exercises about keeping a neutral appearance. Not that she cared for such at home, but Stolas was always reminding her of how to behave when in front of a crowd. The only exceptions being when they traveled for some place to relax or enjoy themselves, which rarely ever happened in the last few years.
"No sweat, my... Blitzo is just like that. I can't even take a shit without him making sure I'm heading to the bathroom and not taking any detours." She rolled her eyes, displaying her clear annoyance with the Imp's antics. Collin grunted, not very comfortable with Loona's choice of words. The Hellhound gave him a brief unimpressed sideways glance. "Anyway, I got your back, that if you can do something about Collin. I won't mind going out with you, I know a ton of interesting places around town. Deal?"
"Fine by me." Octavia replied in agreement. Her attention shifting towards the sheep with focused intent. "If I remember correctly, there's this spell that can do better than just give you colors, I assume gray isn't natural since you're from Heaven." The Owl said as a matter of fact. Collin nodded, a look of anxiety on his face as he remained still as a plank. "Right... how was it again? Ah! Right... so, this might sting a little bit." She said as her hands started to lighten up with an ominous dark purple color. "Oh, don't move an inch by the way. Otherwise you might... err, lose something."
"What?" Collin asked, looking even more scared than usual.
"Just relax Collin, don't move and wait for it to be over." Loona said pointedly, to which the sheep took as a clear sign to not panic. He took a deep breath, trying his best to easy the nerves that were flaring all over his body.
"Right... I'm ready, but... huh... what will you be doing again?" He asked, realizing that he didn't even know what was going to happen. Octavia paused.
"Oh, that. Yeah, I forgot to mention. So... huh, I will be using a transmorph spell. It is not the most sophisticated thing ever." She started somewhat sheepishly. "I think this might completely change your appearance overall, but I'm not sure it will be a complete overhaul. Thing is... what do you want to turn into? I rather not try this again if you end up something you won't be comfortable with. Don't bother asking for just wing removal, that won't really work very well and you shouldn't be looking like that in here anyway."
Collin nodded silently. His mind racing to think of whatever could be appropriate for him and, to a certain extent, Loona. It didn't take much for him to figure it out.
"Huh, how about... a Hellhound?"
Loona's head snapped towards the sheep, her eyes widening in shock and disbelief.
"Collin? Are you serious? I mean, fuck... that's... really nice of you." She added softly. "Are you sure though? It won't be simple to just be a Hellhound. I hope you understand that there will be some stuff you will have to change, especially the way you... well, feed."
"I can't say I understand." Collin replied with a frown. "But if I don't change... I don't think I ever would. I... I'm ready."
Octavia shared a quick glance with a worried Loona before sighing heavily.
"Let's get this done then. A Hellhound... hum... a bit more of... yeah, this will do. Hold still!" She demanded as her hands aimed towards the smaller figure, the purple energy sprouting with the intensity of flames that quickly evolved Collin's body.
Collin felt his whole figure jerking in protest, the unexpected utter agony demanding him to scream his lungs out. He shut his eyes forcefully, the sensations were beyond unpleasant and he was almost certain his bones were being shattered and put back together in place. He lost sense of everything around him but the raging inferno inside his head, he wondered if his skin was melting and if his eyes had popped due the intense heat.
As quick as it came, it stopped. He dropped instantly, feeling the dusty touch of the floor connecting with his face, although something felt strange as he impacted the wooden material. Hitting the floor did not hurt as much as he expected, if anything, it feel rather smooth. His eyes were still stinging, but he managed enough courage to open them slightly. His sight was blurry at first, but it became very sharp once it adjusted with the light in the room.
Perhaps too sharp.
His hearing came back next, at first there was nothing, but then several tingling noises started to reverberated inside his skull, after few seconds he felt like he was hearing the entire building around him. The amount of noise was a struggle to contain, he quickly realized he needed to focus on what he wanted to hear exactly, otherwise he would be easily overwhelmed.
"Co...Collin...ear me?...Collin! Hey, Collin!"
He blinked, his eyes looking around for the familiar sound, finding Loona few inches away from his face, looking down as she was crouched over his limping form.
"Hey... Loona." Even his throat felt weird as he spoke. "What's up?"
She blinked dubiously at his response. Her eyes looking back at Octavia, who seemed extremely anxious as she took in the results of her spell.
"Can you get up?" She asked after a moment of hesitation. Collin nodded, his head was a bit fuzzy, but he felt confident enough to stand on his own. As soon he placed his hands over the floor, he saw two purple paws with opposite thumbs instead of hooves.
"Wha..." He quickly stood on his feet. Eyes widening in shock at the changes over his body. True to her word, Octavia's spell did change him. Yet, the clear fur pattern on his body made it painfully obvious that the spell wasn't completely successful.
"Huh, is that supposed to happen?" Loona asked slowly. Watching as the purple wolf stood on his feet wobbly. His eyes traveling all over his new form, stopping briefly at the sight of his own short tail. Collin breathed a sigh of relief, having feared he would have a tail bushy as Loona's. His clothes had actually adapted to his new shape, which was a Godsend in the sh- wolf's opinion. Even if was a strange thing to think considering it was a Demon who did the changes.
"Huh... why I have purple fur again?" Collin asked as he looked back at the girls. "Is... there any purple Hellhounds out there?" He asked worriedly. Loona and Octavia raised an eyebrow, even Collin's voice changed slightly, sounding deeper than what it used to be.
"No, but we can say you dyed your fur. Plus, no more wings to give you away." Loona said immediately, hoping to squish his worries. "Although, your eyes remain the same, and are purple again." She added with a frown. "So... you're not really a Hellhound. Octavia turned you into a wolf that walks on two legs."
"Well, I guess I missed some details." Octavia justified herself with a bit of guilt. "Anyway, that should keep you out of trouble from just the looks. You will be fine."
"Thanks Octavia. It means a lot." Loona quickly said, looking at her with a grateful smile on her face. The owl merely shrugged.
"Eh, just gimme a call to when you feel like hanging around. Or I will call you, whichever." She replied. "Speaking of it, I should get your number."
"Yeah, sure thing!" Loona walked towards the owl as Collin kept studying his body, still too stunned to believe such changes were actually possible.
As he studied his image on a small mirror nearby, confirming that his eyes were normal again, the sound of footsteps echoing in a room nearby reached his sensitive ears, which perked once focusing on the new source of sound. It looked rather cute but made him feel silly to see his body react like that.
"Shit! I think Blitzo is finally coming back." Loona said urgently as she also caught onto the same sounds he did. "You might wanna sit on the next room. I have a talk pending with Blitzo, that whole parent stuff."
"Oh, fuck it. I'm outta here." Octavia said, not even remotely interested on sticking around for that type of conversation. She rushed towards the door, opening it quickly, checking both sides of the hallway, before making her way across and entering the other room.
"Well... that just happened." Collin said, pausing briefly as he took note of how his voice sounded different. "What a morning, eh?"
"Holy Hell, you can say that again." Loona replied as she focused her attention back at Collin, her sharp eyes studying his new figure more thoroughly. "Gotta say... you look handsome, for a wolf." She added with a playful smirk. Collin let out a nervous laugh in return.
"Yeah, that di-
"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Both Loona and Collin looked back at the door, there stood a bewildered Blitzo, his narrowed eyes locked on the stranger in his office. Loona scratched the back of her neck nervously.
"So, huh... Blitzo... you might wanna sit down. Things, huh, got a bit more complicated."