Chapter Text
The full moon was close, its light already bright in the night sky. Usually, it was something the owl demon awaited with joyful impatience, but this time was different. Because everything was bound to change after that fateful night, and it could change either for the better… Or the worst. With hardly any in-between.
Still two nights left before everything was settled, and Stolas could hardly think about anything else. During the day, he could focus on tasks here and there, but once the hellsun was gone, it was hard not to ponder what he could say to put all the chances on his side…
But if Blitz didn’t return his feelings, there was nothing he could do about it. He didn’t want to force the imp into a relationship, even something as simple as dates in the hope that it would convince his heart. He thought about it a lot, changing his mind at least once a day, but right now he felt like it was a bad idea. Though, if he had to be honest, it was true he didn’t have many opportunities to show Blitz what he really wanted. He did try, but as their evening at Ozzie showed, the assassin didn’t get the message, and they didn’t see each other much since. If the imp ever felt anything for the Goetia, was it still there after all this time?
Thoughts kept circling in his mind as night crept in. After tonight, there would be only one night left before the full moon.
At least, Octavia was coming back soon! He felt a bit guilty to see her that way, but his daughter would be a great distraction til it was time. She knew what happened on full moons and wasn’t too keen about it, so the least he could do was to make up for it beforehand, because after dinner he knew she’d stay in her room the whole night.
With that idea in mind, he left his study to prepare for his owlette’s return, when he heard the front door open. A quick time check told him she was back early, not that he wanted to complain, as her presence stopped his thinking more effectively.
Beaming, he made his way to the entrance, surprised not to have heard her announcing her presence yet. She probably thought he was too far away to hear. But as he got close, he heard footsteps, too many for a simple person, and he frowned.
Suddenly the front door came into view, and with it the small group gathered in front of it, three hellhounds led by none other than his despicable ex wife, who wasted no more time before she screamed “STOLAS!” in a commanding tone.
“What in hell are you doing here?!” He asked as he approached, his tone cold and angry. “You know you’re not welcome here anymore…”
“Ah, here you are!” She cut him, smiling like if she was glad to see him, but he knew the light in her eyes, and he didn’t like it.
“Get out, now”, he ordered with a low threatening tone, not even acknowledging the hellhounds. If she thought he’d be intimidated by them, she was so wrong. It was his first time seeing her in person since Striker almost killed him by her orders, and with Octavia out of sight, he was certainly not going to pretend he didn’t know.
“Oh no, I don’t think so!” She grinned. “See, I can’t have you killed yet, but it doesn’t mean I’ll just let you live! I’ve seen the pictures of your arrival at the hospital, and I thought, what a shame I couldn’t be here to witness this! It’s a bit late to ask for pictures and videos of you being tortured, but it would be ever better to see it myself, don’t you think?”
Stolas raised a brow, still serious but a bit taken aback by her confidence.
“Is that why they are here?” He asked, pointing at the hellhounds. “You don’t think I’m going to let them torture me for your pleasure, don’t you? Even you aren’t that stupid.”
She snorted.
“Indeed, you’re behaving more and more silly since you cheated, but I think I have the perfect way to make you do as you’re told for once!”
Before Stolas could sent her back the way she came with a few wisely chosen insults, she shoved her phone to his face, and he froze.
"Hello, Stella! It's time to take your Spanish lessons!"
Confused, Stella looked over her phone, and groaned at what she saw.
"Oh you gotta be kidding me! Now is not the time!" Stella said as she tried to exit the app.
"I'm sorry, but you cannot continue unless you complete your daily Spanish lessons."
By now, Stolas was now getting more and more irritated.
"Stella, I have no time for this nonsense," Stolas firmly said, "Via is going to show up in an hour or so, and I suggest you take your petty ass out of here along with these mutts of yours... or else I'll do it for you..."
"NO! I'M NOT LEAVING!" Stella yelled at the owl's face, "Look, I'm gonna find a way to get out of this stupid app, and then I can show you what I was trying to show you!"
However, no matter what she did, the Duolingo app won't go away. The watchdog then went up to the swan and asked if he could help, which she did. However, when he got the phone he proceeded to slam it on the ground, breaking it.
"WHAT THE f*ck IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?!" Stella yelled as she slapped the watchdog, "YOU DIDN'T NEED TO BREAK MY PHONE!!!"
"What? I was just trying to help!" the watchdog whined as he rubbed the cheek that was slapped. By now, Stolas was done.
"I'M TIRED OF THIS sh*t!!! GET OUT RIGHT f*ckING NOW!!!"
But before Stolas can go full-on feral on them all, something strange happened. The phone suddenly shook, and out came what looked to be a green owl. It was none other than Duo the mascot.
"Excuse me, Stella, but breaking your phone will not get you out of your Spanish lessons. Please do them now," Duo stated.
"Princess, please, just do your Spanish lessons real quick, and then we can continue doing what we are doing," the Shar Pei tried to encourage. However, Stella was not about to let the green owl win.
"No..." Stella glared, "You think you can just show up just when I was about to do my plan with Stolass, and ruin EVERYTHING?! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Stella then charged at Duo and tackled him to the ground. Just when she was about to throw a punch, however, Duo pulled out a Spanish card and blocked her fist with it.
"¡No, no lo eres!" Duo exclaimed as he shoved Stella away, "That is Spanish for 'No you are not!' Can you say that in Spanish?"
"HOW ABOUT YOU SAY 'f*ck OFF' IN SPANISH?!?!" the chihuahua screamed as he sliced Duo's chest with his knife. Duo ended up screaming and collapsed on the floor crying.
"HOW DARE YOU STAB DUO!!! THAT IS IT!!! PREPARE TO DIE!!!" Stolas shrieked as he went into feral mode and proceeded to shred all three of the hellhounds. Duo and especially Stella watched in horror as a feral Stolas showed zero mercy on the three hellhounds. By the time he was done, all three hellhounds were razed beyond recognition. Once Stolas returned to his normal form, he knelt down to Duo.
"Are you okay?" Stolas asked.
"No... I need help..." Duo sobbed.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU KILLED MY HELLHOUNDS!!! YOU KNOW WHAT?!?! I'M f*ckING DONE!!! f*ck YOU, DUO!!! I HOPE YOU CHOKE ON ALL THE LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD!!!" Stella flipped off the two before finally leaving the palace. Stolas sighed before he picked up Duo and took him to the study room to heal him with healing spells. Once Duo was healed, Stolas wanted to speak.
"Duo, why do you always have to interrupt people just for their daily learning language lessons? I know that learning different languages are fun, but you don't need to be so intrusive," Stolas explained.
"I'm sorry, Stolas, but I just want people to make sure they learn their languages and not forget what they've learned. But unfortunately, it looks like Stella had other plans. What was she and her hellhounds trying to do anyway?"
"I have no idea..." Stolas answered, "Apparently, she wanted me tortured for her pleasure. I don't know what she was trying to show me on her phone, but whatever it is, it probably wasn't good, and I'm thankful your app came in just in time to stop her from continuing whatever plan she had for me."
After their chat, Duo decided to return to his world by going back to the app on Stolas's phone. Around this time, Octavia arrived.
"Hey dad, mom told me she met Duo from Duolingo! But she complained that he was rude. What happened?" Octavia asked.
"I can tell you, but... it's sort of a long story..." Stolas said as he got ready to explain to his daughter what happened.
