Chapter 14: Gossip Column

Octavia finally got a chance to sit with her father and Danny. Her mother decided to talk to some friends across the room.

Octavia's eyes sparkled. "Thanks again, Dad. Danny. I loved all of it. Really. I didn't expect that at all."

Stolas beamed. "Again, I'm so glad you liked it, my dear. We wanted to make this day extra special for you."

Danny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about hiding this from you for the past month. We wanted it to be a big surprise."

Octavia chuckled softly. "You practiced when I wasn't around. I won't lie and say it didn't sting to hear about it being a secret, but the results speak for themselves. I don't blame you." Her eyes shifted to Danny. "You never mentioned anything about dancing before. Was that another secret from me?"

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "Would you believe me if I said this was my first performance?"

She gaped. "No way?!"

Stolas chuckled. "Indeed. We practiced whenever possible, especially when you were busy with your other studies. Sometimes late at night or when you were out with your mother."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, Stolas kept his promise of making me a Renaissance man. We set aside the science lessons for singing and dancing. He's been really good. His magic helped with training, but I guess I picked it up faster than I thought."

Octavia nudged Danny lightly. "I would have never guessed."

Stolas nodded. "Danny even suggested some of the choreography himself."

Octavia's eyes widened. "You came up with some of it?"

Danny shrugged. "That's a strong word. It's more like I took inspiration from other movies and videos online."

"I couldn't have done so myself. I prefer my information analog for the most part." Stolas chuckled.

Octavia's heart swelled. "It makes it even more special knowing how much work you put into it."

Danny blushed slightly under her praise. "I'm glad you think so. I was kinda nervous about it, to be honest."

"Really? You didn't seem nervous at all," Octavia said, genuinely surprised.

"Are you kidding? My heart felt like it would pop out as I was performing," Danny said.

Stolas patted him on the back. "It's always like that the first few times. You'll get used to it on the next one?"

Octavia smirked. "Next one?"

Stolas coughed and crossed his arms, not wanting to spoil Danny's personal gift directly. "What? Did you think we were going to stop at this one? You're wrong."

She smiled warmly at them both. "So far, this is honestly the best birthday I've ever had."

Stolas's eyes softened. "That's all I ever wanted to hear, my dear. And it'll only get better as the night goes on."

Before Danny could respond, a voice called out. "Stolas, darling! A moment, if you will."

Stolas turned to see a demon royal approaching them with an air of entitlement. It was clear that whatever this was, it wasn't something Stolas could easily brush off.

"Ah, of course," Stolas said reluctantly. He turned back to Octavia and Danny with an apologetic smile. "I have to take care of this."

Octavia waved him off. "It's okay, Dad. We'll be fine."

With a nod, the demon led Stolas away, already diving into whatever topic was on their mind.

Danny watched him leave. "Well, looks like we can finally talk again."

"How have the other guests been treating you?"

"The kid's table I was at seemed okay."

"Yeah. Most parents put the kids they don't want to deal with at that table."

"Really? They didn't seem that bad. A bit messy, but okay."

"Exactly. Their parents don't want them to make them look bad next to them. It's mostly just showing face coming here."

"That sucks."

"Yea… So," Octavia began, curious, "I saw you talking with Princess Charlie earlier. What did you two talk about?"

Danny perked up, scratching the back of his head. He still had to hide the next surprise. "Oh, yeah. Princess Charlie was something else. Not what I expected. Much kinder. She was a bit curious about meeting me after the show. She asked a few questions about myself here and there."

"Many royals say that when they talk to her long enough." Octavia frowned. "Should I be concerned she knows the truth?"

He blinked. "No… I think we're good. She was more interested in my connection with Stolas. I also asked about her parents."

"I'm still surprised not as many people know about Lilith as Lucifer on Earth."

He shrugged. "I guess belief in her isn't as popular. In any case, Charlie seems to love them and them back."

Octavia's lips thinned. "Wish I had that…"

"You're Dad's a good guy."

"And my mom?"

"… From what I've heard around. She can be… cold."

She sighed. "Right…"

"On a lighter note, the Princess seems to have this big project in the works."

"Oh, what kind?"

"We were talking about… well, her idea. She's got this big plan to open a hotel here in Hell."

Octavia raised a brow. "Uh, why?"

"It's supposed to help sinners, like, redeem themselves. You know, a way for them to get out of Hell and into Heaven."

Octavia blinked. "A hotel… for redemption?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "I didn't really get it at first either, but she's serious about it."

"Aren't sinners sent to Hell for a reason? You know, because they were bad?"

"She thinks that sinners can, like, change or something. If they work hard enough, they could earn their way out of here."

"That's a thing?" Octavia frowned. "How is it supposed to work? Has it ever happened before?"

"I asked that too, but she didn't have an answer for that yet. I thought it might have happened before, but I may be wrong."

"Sounds pretty impossible?"

Danny shrugged. "Charlie's pretty convinced that it could work. She seemed really passionate about it."

Octavia crossed her arms. "It's not that I don't think she means well, but why? Lucifer never did anything about it before."

Danny put a hand to his chin. "She said that she didn't want to keep seeing her people suffer every year. Overpopulation affects Earth and Hell. I guess 'Hell is other people' is true in some way."

Octavia's eyes widened, knowing the real reason the Princess saw the sinners suffering. She and Stolas hadn't told Danny about THAT yet, had they? "Yeah… Sure…" She coughed. "Well, if they were bad in life, why give them a second chance? Doesn't that defeat the whole point of Hell?"

"I don't know," Danny admitted. "Then again, eternal punishment can seem like overkill. Crime and punishment and all that."

Octavia sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not really one to question the Princess. If she thinks this will help, I guess there's no harm in trying. In any case, I don't think most demons here are going to care much about sinners getting out of Hell."

Octavia grabbed his hand. "Come on. Let's see the other kids."

#

Lilith stood beside Lucifer. She smiled and nodded along with the conversation, yet she wasn't 100% there.

Lucifer, however, noticed a heaviness in her eyes. They've been like that for a while.

As they stood in the circle of royals, he glanced at Lilith from the corner of his eye. Her expression was calm, polite, but not present. The lively spark that once defined her was dimmed, replaced by something more resigned.

He placed a hand on her lower back. "Excuse us."

They barely gave a nod of acknowledgment before resuming their conversation.

Lucifer led Lilith away from the group through the crowd and toward the exit. Once they were in the quieter hallway, he stopped and turned to her, his brows furrowed with concern. "Honey, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." She avoided his eyes. It felt so rehearsed. "Everything's fine."

Lucifer sighed and reached for her hand. "Don't lie to me, Lilith. You're not fine." His thumb brushed over her knuckles. "And I think you haven't been for a while."

Lilith pulled her hand back. She glanced away and took a deep breath. "I don't want to do this here."

Lucifer tilted his head. "We need to talk about this. You're hurting."

Lilith crossed her arms. "And what exactly do you want me to say, Luci? That I'm getting tired of it all?" She kept her eyes forward, her shoulders tense. "Not now, Luci. This party… it's supposed to be something happy. For the girl." She took a deep breath. "I don't want to ruin it with my own problems."

Lucifer stepping closer and rubbed his neck. "I know you don't want to, but we can't keep pretending everything's fine. I brought us here tonight to try and bring the family together. To show that we can still... be a family."

Lilith closed her eyes. "Luci, I understand what you're trying to do. I do. But tonight isn't the time for this. It's Octavia's day. She deserves to have one night without our issues hanging over everything." She turned to face him, eyes softening. "We'll talk. Just not now."

Lucifer's shoulders slumped. Lilith was holding back. Pushing wouldn't change anything. "Alright, we'll talk later. But we can't avoid it forever, Lilith."

She nodded. "I know."

Then, without another word, Lilith headed back toward the ballroom. Lucifer stayed behind, staring at the door. Finally, he followed her back inside, though his heart felt as heavy as ever.

#

Stella continued to watch Stolas. He was sharing stories with a group of younger demons. She sighed, and she leaned in closer to her friends. "Can you believe him? Parading around like some sort of... circus performer. It's embarrassing."

The other demoness shrugged. "I don't know. Lucifer and most of the guests seemed to like it, so he must have been doing something right." She didn't want to admit that she was also enjoying herself during the show.

Stella rolled her eyes. "At least young Daniel has the excuse of acting like a child because he is one." Granted, the boy and her husband earned points from Lucifer. "I could overlook for now." She didn't want to admit that a part of her was actually enjoying herself during the show. That part of her was suppressed for the best. She waved her hand dismissively. "Be that as it may, the family needs a proper man, a proper prince. I imagined one to be commanding and strong, not flitting about in ridiculous costumes like some... entertainer."

The other demon in their group smirked. "To be fair, Stolas is emulating the King of Hell a bit. Both have a flair for the dramatic, don't they? They even had the same ringmaster aesthetic for a while. Not exactly what you'd call... manly in the conventional sense."

Stella huffed with irritation. "Yes. Yes. I know. That's one of the things I loathe about Lucifer, but would never say to his face. I much prefer one of his siblings. If only Stolas were more like Satan."

Her friends nearly spit her drink. "Really? The ruler of Wrath?"

"At least he knows how to run a tight ship." Stella put a hand on her hip. "He even runs a successful business across the rings. He knows how to take charge and make people submit. Barely anyone can say no to the demon."

"I don't know if it's some fallen angel power, but he just has this presence. And that body... He's huge." A devious smile crept on her face. "Such toned muscles. Oh my, I bet you could grind meat on th-" She paused as she turned back to her friends, who were giggling at her slip.

"Oh, no. Keep going. Don't let us stop you."

Stella cleared her throat and calmed her blush. "Right... Where was I, before that?"

"Your husband..."

"Yes... Stolas... He's not a… bad father, but he's marginally better than my own in some aspects, but he doesn't need to hear that. Octavia is turning out better than I initially thought." Devil knows how Stella would have appreciated her parents being more attentive. "I know he says it's for our daughter, but he could have easily hired someone else to be part of the act. I know Paimon was more content with hiring outside help."

Her friend raised a brow. "Didn't he try to get one of those Fizzaroli toys, but they were unavailable."

Stella deadpanned. "Just let me vent."

"Sorry…"

"The point is that I've sacrificed a lot to reach this point in my life. Growing up, my parents promised me a proper royal husband. The least he could do is the same."

The other demons exchanged glances. "Couldn't your parents have found someone that's… less work? Did they even try to find a better match?"

"Oh, please. I'm absolutely sure that as soon as they saw the invitation from Paimon, they jumped on it and sold me out. It was the easy ticket for a Marquises to associate with a prince."

"I mean, it could be worse. You've shown us those texts your brother sends your way sometimes?"

Stella shuddered. "Don't remind me. I have the right mind to bash his head in the next time he makes that tone with me. I swear, he should have never gotten a hold of that book on Earth royalty and how they 'kept the bloodline pure.' At least the first demon families had an excuse. There were limited options, unlike now." She sighed. "Regardless, we've agreed to keep appearances. We have an image to uphold."

"So, how'd your husband take your 'suggestions'?"

"I think my pestering is starting to work. He wasn't against trying to exercise more." Stella began. "Though... I can't say dancing would have been my first choice."

"I don't know. Some dancing can get the blood pumping. Do you know what I mean?" the other friend asked, enjoying the drama.

Stella huffed. "We are all aware of what your type is."

"The point is, how receptive has he been?"

Stella shrugged. "I'll get there eventually. I just have to keep wearing him down till he actually listens. There are plenty of ways to keep your spouse under control. I'll get there one way or another."

#

AN: Special thanks to Seana, Jebest4781, Charles, vividlearner744, OmegaDelta, Henry Stickman, fearmegu, Kitsune Robyn, SonicSonicsSonic, Tapion, Dragon lord, Shooter1344, Alexander SegreLaw, Red Rasher, I am lord dems, Ajax Roranson, trey hill, Asaf Montgomery, and Legion!

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