@anitoonzforever requested a story in which Stella makes another assassination attempt on Stolas, forcing him to reevaluate his marriage. I hope you enjoy!
Reach out to me if you would like to commission me for any fanfics!
Stolas woke to the familiar sound of Stella screaming into the phone. He didn’t register the words. He didn’t even bother trying. He knew it would be something about wanting him hurt, wanting him maimed, wanting him dead… Anything to make him pay for cheating.
He hadn’t even considered it cheating at the time. He and Stella had drifted so far apart that they were only a couple on paper. It had been years since they had shared a bed, and Octavia’s conception had been the last time they had been intimate. Stolas had figured that Stella already had a male lover of her own and just hadn’t bothered to share this with him. He had no idea of just how much it would hurt her when she had found out about the passionate nights between himself and Blitzo.
At least Blitzo could hide behind the pretense that their time together was merely a business transaction. Stolas could not deny his hunger for the imp, and this is what made Stella so furious.
Stolas did his best to ignore his wife as he made his way downstairs. To his surprise, Octavia was already awake and sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast.
“Good morning, my owlet,” he cooed at her with a smile. She didn’t respond. “Via?” he urged.
She pointed at her earbuds, not looking up at him from her breakfast. Stolas knew that meant that she could hear him, but simply did not want to answer. He couldn’t blame her. He knew that he had ruined any stability that the young girl had in her life. But still, he lived for those moments of connection with her. He would do anything for her to see him as a loving, protective father again. Loo Loo Land had been a disaster, but their trip to the mall hadn’t been so bad, even though he would never understand the things that she was into.
Stolas walked over to the table and sat down. “Would you like to go to the mall with me today?” he asked. “I know how much you enjoy it there with your friends.”
Octavia finally looked up at him and took out one of her earbuds. “Can we go to Stylish Occult?”
Stolas smiled softly. “Of course we can,” he responded. “Let me get dressed, and we can go.”
By the time Stolas rose from the table, Octavia had a small smile on her face, as well. Stolas felt a surge of joy rise in his chest as he headed back to his room.
Stella was outside of the room, berating a servant. Stolas figured he would extend an olive branch. Things would never be normal between them, but perhaps they could pretend for their daughter’s sake.
“Stella, we are going out to the mall today. Would you like to accompany…?” He was cut off by Stella’s sharp scream.
“I will not be accompanying you anywhere, you cheating prick!”
Stolas had long since stopped being affected by her words. He simply smiled back at her. “Okay, darling. I figured I would extend the invitation. I will see you when we get home.”
With that, he slipped into his room to get dressed for the day.
Stolas emerged a few minutes later, dressed in one of his more casual outfits, which was still rather fancy by Hell’s standards. Octavia met him in the foyer, dressed in her usual dark and somewhat baggy clothing. She had her earbuds in and was moving her head to the music, but she took one earbud out when she saw Stolas.
“Are you ready to leave, my owlet?” Stolas asked.
“Yeah, Dad,” she responded, sounding exasperated, but she had a small smile on her face. “No bodyguards this time?”
“No, I didn’t invite Blitzo,” Stolas assured her. “It’s only you and I today.”
Octavia pulled up her hood, hiding her smile. “Cool.”
***
Stolas always felt out of place in Stylish Occult. He felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb in that store, mostly because he did. Still, his heart was full as he watched Via grin at the taxidermized badger demon on the pedestal in front of them.
“Can I get it, Dad?” she asked, picking it up and admiring it.
Octavia tucked it under her arm and continued looking around. Stolas’ eyes followed her around the store, turning a small imp to stone that dared to approach her with a knife. Luckily, Octavia didn’t seem to notice. Stolas caught something out of the corner of his eye and spun to face it, but his gaze was met only with display shelves filled with odd knick-knacks.
“Dad?”
Octavia’s voice snapped Stolas out of his thoughts. He turned to face her, forcing a smile. “All set?” he asked, looking at the stack of merchandise that she held in her arms.
“Yeah, are you okay?” she asked, examining his face.
“Of course, my dear,” Stolas replied. “Let’s pay for all of this and get some lunch, hm?” He walked with her over to the check out counter and laid down a large amount of cash on the surface. His eyes continued to scan around them, watching for potential threats.
Once the cashier had finished packing Octavia’s things into bags, they headed out to the food court. “What would you like to eat?” Stolas asked Octavia.
“Whatever,” she responded, popping in an earbud, but Stolas followed her eyeline to her favorite fast-food restaurant.
“I’ll grab us something,” Stolas said. “You want to find us a table?”
He made sure that she was sat in his eyeline before heading off to the restaurant. The line moved for him, and he placed their orders. He turned another imp to stone that seemed to be approaching Octavia menacingly, then smiled at the cashier who handed him their food with shaking hands.
Stolas returned to the table and saw Octavia smile slightly as he placed the food in front of her. “Your favorite,” he grinned. “I’ve never really understood the appeal, but I know how happy this… food makes you.”
Octavia chuckled and took a bite. “Thanks, Dad.”
As Stolas reached for his food, a loud shot rang out across the food court, followed by some screams and the commotion of scattering imps. Stolas’ head spun around, looking for the source of the shot. He laid eyes on a familiar face. Striker.
Stolas rose to confront Striker, who was loading another bullet into his gun, but froze when he heard a small, hurt voice behind him.
“Dad?”
Stolas turned back to his daughter, whose shoulder was soaked in blood. He gasped and immediately wrapped his arms around her. He lifted her from her seat and ducked around scattering imps to get to the exit.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he ran. “How badly are you hurt?”
“I’m… I’m okay,” Octavia said through tears. She shook violently in his arms.
“It’s going to be okay,” Stolas told her. “You will be okay…”
He kept checking over his shoulder, looking for Striker, but he didn’t see the son of a bitch anywhere. Stolas found them a place to hide as his mind reeled. He pressed one hand to Octavia’s wound and dialed a familiar number with the other.
“What the fuck do you want?” Blitzo answered.
“I need your help,” Stolas said urgently. “It’s Striker. He’s hurt Octavia. Meet me immediately outside the mall.”
To Stolas’ surprise, Blitzo didn’t argue or make any smart remarks. “On our way,” he said before hanging up.
Not even two minutes later, the I.M.P. van skidded into the parking lot. Stolas picked up Octavia and brought her to the van, getting her settled gently inside before the van took off.
“What happened?” Blitzo asked as he drove back to I.M.P. Behind him, Moxxie had already started to patch up Octavia as Millie kept watch, her gun close at her side.
“We were in the food court, and I heard a shot. I saw Striker reloading his gun, and I was going to end him, but my poor Octavia…” Stolas started to tear up.
Blitzo glanced at them in the rearview mirror. “Keep it together,” he told Stolas. “She’s gonna need ya.”
Stolas nodded and held Octavia’s hand as Moxxie finished dressing her wound.
“She’ll be okay, sir,” Moxxie told Stolas. “It’s just a surface wound.”
Stolas was relieved, but he couldn’t help but feel a mixture of strong emotions well up in him as he looked down at his baby girl. Anger and fear and sadness and guilt overwhelmed him. He bit back a sob and squeezed her hand gently.
“Dad?” Octavia said quietly.
Stolas quickly wiped his eyes. “Yes, my owlet?”
“I’m okay, I promise,” she assured him. “I’m sorry your money got wasted…”
“Oh, my dear, don’t worry about that,” Stolas told her, petting her head. “You are worth so much more to me than any amount of money. I’m so sorry you were put in harm’s way because of me.”
Stolas did not want to believe it, but deep down he knew that his wife had hired Striker to have him killed. He never thought that she would have their own daughter be involved in any way, though. Perhaps he had severely underestimated her anger.
The van skidded to a halt in front of the I.M.P. building and Blitzo jumped out of the car first, scanning the area with the sight on his gun. “Clear,” he called to Moxxie and Millie. Millie helped Octavia out of the van while Blitzo and Moxxie shielded them.
Once they got inside, Millie helped Octavia lay down on the couch. Stolas sat down next to her, still squeezing her hand tightly.
“We gotta get her some water,” Millie said. “She lost a good amount of blood.”
“Loona!” Blitzo called as he kept a vigilant eye on the door.
Loona sighed as she entered the room, typing something on her phone. “What?” She looked up and saw Octavia lying on the couch, her arm bandaged. “Oh, shit.”
“Loona, we need some water for her,” Millie said. “And something to eat.”
Loona nodded and went to head for the door.
“No,” Blitzo commanded, “Find something here. No one’s leaving until I say so.”
Loona turned around and went to scrounge through the refrigerator instead.
“Blitzo, thank you for this,” Stolas said, ditching his usual nickname for the imp in favor of his preferred name.
“Yeah, yeah,” Blitzo replied. He heard a crash from his office and spun around. “Stay here,” he barked at Stolas, who had started to rise.
Still, Stolas moved to have a line of sight into Blitzo’s office. Stolas’ face contorted in anger when he saw Striker there, circling Blitzo. Stolas went to turn the bastard to stone, but Blitzo gave him a warning look. Stolas backed off and resigned to watching what was about to happen. He stopped Millie and Moxxie from entering the room, knowing that Blitzo wanted to handle it himself.
Blitzo kept both hands on his gun, aimed at Striker. Striker had a gun aimed at him, as well.
“Well, well, well,” Striker said with a sly smile. “If it isn’t Blitzo.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Blitzo snapped.
Striker took a step forward, peeking around the corner to see Stolas there watching. “I see you’re still letting that pompous Goetia use you however he pleases. Don’t be a fool, Blitzo. I will go through you if I have to.”
“Over my dead body,” Blitzo shot back, not realizing his mistake until Striker laughed.
“That’s the point,” the imp replied smoothly. “It’s not too late to join me, you know. No hard feelings.”
Blitzo raised his gun a little higher. “Go fuck yourself, Striker.”
Striker growled and lunged forward, grabbing for Blitzo’s gun. As Striker got one hand on Blitzo’s gun, Blitzo did the same, grabbing Striker’s weapon with one hand. The two wrestled for the weapons, pushing and pulling each other until finally Blitzo was able to break his gun free of Striker’s grasp. He pushed away from the other imp, knocking into the door and slamming it shut as he did.
Stolas pressed his ear up against the door so he could hear what was happening. Suddenly, two shots rang out at the same time. Everyone in the room gasped and rushed to the door as they heard a loud thud. Stolas held them back, waiting for a moment, hoping to hear Blitzo come to the door and tell them that it was over.
He did hear Blitzo, but he wasn’t speaking to Stolas.
“You get the fuck out of here and don’t come back,” Blitzo growled. “If I so much as catch a glimpse of you, or hear that you’ve been around Stolas again, I’ll fucking end you without hesitation. Got it?”
There was silence, but Stolas could tell that Striker had agreed by the way that heavy footsteps receded toward the broken window. After a moment, Blitzo’s steps could be heard heading toward his office door.
Everyone backed away as he opened it. He was clutching his side, where his shirt had been torn and he was bleeding a little. Behind him, there was a puddle of blood, then a trail of blood to the broken window.
“Blitzo!” Stolas gasped, grabbing him to inspect his wound.
“Calm down, most of the blood’s not mine,” Blitzo said casually. “He shouldn’t fuck with you anymore.”
Stolas wrapped Blitzo in a tight hug. “I cannot thank you enough,” he said. “Is there anything I could do to possibly repay you?”
For once, there was no sexual undertone dripping from Stolas’ voice. He genuinely meant it. Still, Blitzo pushed him away and rolled his eyes.
“Just try not to almost die so much. Fuck, it’s exhausting.” He plopped down in a chair next to the couch and examined the wound on his side. “Fucking asshole,” he grumbled.
“Let me help, sir,” Moxxie offered, but Blitzo shook his head.
“I’m fine. Escort Stolas and his kid home, now,” Blitzo ordered.
Stolas sighed. “I’m afraid we cannot go home at the moment. Not Octavia, at least.”
Blitzo narrowed his eyes. “And why the fuck is that?”
Stolas glanced over at his daughter, who had put her earbuds in and was moving slightly to the music now that the danger was over. He figured it helped her feel calm after everything he had put her through.
“I’m afraid that it was Stella who sent Striker to kill me,” Stolas told them in a hushed tone.
“Stella, your wife, Stella?” Moxxie asked.
Stolas nodded. “I overheard her on the phone after the Harvest Festival telling someone to kill me... No matter who they had to go through…” He looked at Octavia again, feeling an overwhelming wave of guilt. “I didn’t think much of it at the time. Imps and demons try to kill me all of the time, as you know. But, I never thought that she would put Octavia in harm’s way, and through thinking that, I put Octavia in harm’s way.”
“You couldn’t have known that Striker would be there today, sir,” Moxxie told him, trying to comfort him.
Stolas shook his head. “No, I couldn’t have, but I should have been more careful. My daughter was injured because of me, and not just because I took her to the mall today. It is because I stayed with Stella, even though I knew we were no longer happy together. She becomes more furious with me every day. I can only imagine what could happen if I let this go on.”
“So, what are ya gonna do?” Millie asked.
“I have to go there, by myself, and tell her that we are no longer together. I will deal with the ramifications of this myself. My daughter cannot be involved in our disputes any longer.”
Blitzo looked at him, obviously a little shocked, but he just nodded. “Okay. Want an escort for just you?”
Stolas smiled softly. “Yes. I would like that.”
“Great. Moxxie, you’ve got this,” Blitzo said quickly.
Moxxie frowned at him. “Sir.”
“Fine, fine. Get in the car,” Blitzo told Stolas as he grabbed the keys. His side had stopped bleeding, luckily, but he grabbed some bandages for the road anyway.
Stolas followed him out to the van and went to get in the front seat.
“Are you nuts? That’s the easiest place for a sniper to get you,” Blitzo said. “Get in the back.”
Stolas didn’t argue. He climbed into the back of the van and kept his head down as Blitzo pulled out of the parking lot. The royal wondered if Blitzo always drove so fast and recklessly. It was sort of attractive…
He stopped himself from falling into those thoughts. He needed to clear his mind and focus on the task ahead of him. He needed to confront Stella.
Blitzo whipped into the driveway of Stolas’ mansion and parked the van behind the building. “All right, am I going in with you or what?” he asked.
Stolas shook his head. “No, I don’t think that would be best. I will return when I am finished speaking with her and inform you of the result.” He shut the van door, then made his way inside.
Stella was just inside the door. She smiled when she heard the door open and turned to face who entered. Her smile fell away when her eyes met Stolas’. Her eyes narrowed and she went to speak, but she was cut off by Stolas.
“I am sure that you have noticed that I am alive and well, Stella. Do you notice anything else?”
Stella’s eyes scanned over his body. “You still look like a cheating prick.”
Stolas sighed. “No, Stella. Our daughter is not with me.”
Stella’s expression turned to one of horror. “No. Don’t tell me…”
“She is safe,” Stolas told her. “She is with friends. But she is also injured. Injured by an imp that you sent to kill me.”
“Injured? How badly?” Stella asked, suddenly seeming to care much less that her husband was still alive.
“Striker shot her, Stella, while trying to get to me. This needs to end.”
“Yes, I agree. Octavia will never be involved again,” Stella replied, missing his meaning.
Stolas stepped closer to her. “No, Stella. I mean that this relationship needs to end. It is ended. I underestimated just how far you would go to hurt me. I never thought that our own daughter would fall to harm due to my failure to end this relationship as soon as it ceased being a relationship.”
“And whose fault is that?” Stella snapped, but there wasn’t the usual level of bitterness in her voice.
“I am aware,” Stolas replied evenly. “And now you are free from this. I will deal with the political ramifications. You may have whatever you would like, property-wise, as long as you promise not to interfere with me or my daughter ever again.”
“Yourdaughter?” Stella asked.
“Yes. I will be taking Octavia somewhere safe until you show us both that you can be trusted. If you promise that the assassination attempts will cease, she may see you after some time, if that is what she chooses, but for now, you have shown us both that you have no regard for her safety,” Stolas said evenly.
Stella began to argue, but Stolas stopped her.
“We will negotiate the terms of this divorce later. At this moment, I need to return to Octavia. She will be needing her father.”
“Stolas,” Stella said, her voice suddenly soft. “You know that I never intended for Octavia to get hurt.”
“Yes, but you allowed it,” Stolas replied before turning and leaving without another word. He went to the van and climbed into the front seat. “We shouldn’t be bothered by her any longer,” he reported, “But Octavia and I will be needing a place to stay while I sort things out.”
Blitzo sighed. “You can stay with me, as long as you stay the fuck out of my bed.”
Stolas giggled, a little happier now that things were taken care of, once and for all. “You say that now, Blitzy, but I know you. You won’t be able to resist having me around.”
Blitzo rolled his eyes and drove off back toward I.M.P. as Stolas watched out the window. The mansion disappeared from his view, and he let out a soft sigh. He would no longer have to worry about tip-toeing around Stella, and she would no longer have to worry about him. Most importantly, he and Octavia were safe. That was all he could ask for.
Some void angel sketches that I got a bit carried away with because I started to think about how cool it'd be if something with the serum/the void tried to "repair" Lyon's eye (mostly because I swear its not normal under that eyepatch and you can pry that head canon from my cold dead hands) then I thought oh what if more void stuff-
About a year ago I was just messing around and created a tiefling barbarian based off a community pose resource. She farmed so much aura that I ended up making builds for her in multiple different systems and wrote at least 10 pages of backstory. She is at the top of my "want to play" list, and I just had to revisit her and see if I could improve on the design.
What if he finds a book about blood magic? A type of magic anyone can learn, but one that’s deeply forbidden even in Hell. He begins practicing it so he can stand against Andre and save Via. I haven’t fully worked the idea out yet, but I like it.
tbh a lot of my advice boils down to “hey you know that terrible horrible looming thing you’re doing your best to avoid and distract and escape as much as possible but no matter what you do it just keeps looming and looming and ruining your life”
gummygunk
janainaart
pixelskylines
titsay
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
baratheonpilled
ellievsbear
jacobvanloon
