Octavia's POV
"Okay..." I twirled in front of the huge mirror in my room, giving my outfit one last critical inspection. "Well, this looks decent enough..."
A black T-shirt with a large, inverted white pentagram—the symbol of the rock band whose concert we're going to today. It looked a bit provocative, of course, but I liked it, and the quality, for merch from a not-so-popular rock band, was surprisingly good. The black skirt fit perfectly, and the gloves... Oh, I just adored these gloves: long, fingerless, in black and pink stripes. I think on Earth, this fashion was popular among... "emos"? I'm not sure, but it looked stylish. I was a little hesitant about my new haircut in human form—short, choppy strands, not very usual, but it fit the style. And that's the main thing, yes! I gave an important nod to my reflection.
Ahem...
My cheeks flushed treacherously. I embarrassedly glanced back at the front door, as if someone could have been spying on my childish antics. It remained tightly closed. Thank Lucifer my father didn't see that... He would have definitely started teasing me. Or hugging me while saying all sorts of sweet things... I don't even know which is worse...
I have to leave very soon. Dad promised to help and personally open a portal to the place where we agreed to meet. So there's no need to rush. As... strange... as he might seem to me, I always knew I could count on him. Yes, I didn't like his relationship with that imp at all. I'm even ready to admit that I used to be plain jealous of my father, afraid that he would leave me and go to his Blitzo, but now... Now I no longer feel that unpleasant emotion. After that day at the ball, when he stood up for me, I finally believed that Dad truly loves me. Then, in that hall full of proud, arrogant freaks who are always waiting for the slightest mistake to gossip about behind your back, he still went against all conventions and protected not only me, but Baal as well.
I'm sure that if it had been someone else in his place, they would have simply disowned their "problem" daughter to avoid ruining their reputation, not risked their position for her sake. You can have as many children as you want, after all... Yes. I think I've finally accepted my father for who he is. He's not perfect, and there are many things about his behavior I still don't like, but lately, I just sigh wearily at them instead of throwing hysterical fits. Because I've decided to trust him. If... if my father wanted to, he would have left me and Mom long ago, but he's still here, still putting up with her constant yelling and scandals. And all of it—just for me. How can I not appreciate that? How can I not trust him?
"Okay, stop being nervous, pull yourself together!" I slapped my cheeks encouragingly with my palms. Yes, I'm nervous. Very nervous. I've never been to Earth. And I've never been to a rock concert... Especially with guys, yes... No, Baal did say he would introduce me to a new "friend," he even told me a little about her, but that only made me more anxious. Who is this friend? What is she like? Will we be able to find common ground? How should I act? A bunch of questions, and the complete lack of answers only added to the pressure, almost sending me into a panic. I twitched nervously, making strange, unnatural sounds. Right, I saw that kind of behavior in anime, when a character gets really nervous, yeah...
And Baal... After that incident when he so easily and ruthlessly beat up Seviathan to protect me, I just couldn't stop thinking about him. He was very strange, I noticed that from our very first meeting. If someone had asked me to describe him back then, I would have said exactly that: "strange." But while before his "strangeness" was somewhat neutral, a little off-putting, now it only added intrigue, a mystery to his image. An unknown, incredibly powerful and... yes, what the hell, handsome... demon, who in terms of power is somewhere at the very top of the Infernal hierarchy, surpassing even Mrs. von Eldritch. And yet he's completely unknown; it's not even clear which Goetia family he belongs to, if he belongs to one at all. This only made me think about him more, constructing various silly, girlish theories in my head. Like, for example, that he's Lucifer himself in a different form, or his illegitimate son... I mean, who else could possess such incredible power? One of the Deadly Sins? Sure, but as far as I know, they primarily draw their powers from specific concepts, like wrath, greed, lust, and so on. But I didn't sense any excess of anything like that from Baal. If someone asked me what concept Baal would embody if he were a Deadly Sin, I would definitely choose something like "trolling" or "kindness." He was cheerful, joked a lot, broached unpleasant topics with humor, turning the scars from my resentment towards my father into small cuts that could heal on their own over time. He was always joking, knew how to listen, and could support any topic. It felt like talking to a very smart and mature person, and a surprisingly bright one at that, which is a huge rarity for demons, especially young ones.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I took a deep breath and opened my bedroom door. A few dozen seconds of unhurried walking, and I was at the mansion's exit.
"Via? Ready already?" Father's voice sounded right next to my ear, making me jump in surprise.
"Dad, don't sneak up on me like that!" I gasped, trying to calm my wildly beating heart. "Yeah, I think I'm ready..."
"Oh, you're so grown up, my little star..." Smiling, my father came over and gently stroked my head, ruining the hairstyle I had spent fifteen minutes trying so hard to perfect!
"Dad, stop!" I grumbled, feeling my cheeks start to burn with embarrassment again.
"Just... be careful, okay? And if this... Baal... hurts you in any way, you just tell me. I'll..."
"Dad, everything will be fine!" I interrupted him. "He's my friend."
Friend? I was surprised myself at how easily the word slipped from my lips. We've known each other for such a short time, and I already consider him a friend? Strange. But... nice.
My father didn't answer, just sighed heavily and walked me to the exit. The portal to Imp City was already open. I stepped into it, feeling everything inside me tighten with excitement and anticipation…
Adam's POV
"And how long are you going to preen in front of the mirror?" Lute's voice, coming from behind me, was dripping with undisguised, biting sarcasm. I turned around. She was standing there, leaning gracefully against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing my favorite black T-shirt, which she had unceremoniously expropriated from me a couple of weeks ago, and short lounge shorts that left little to the imagination. She looked simultaneously ridiculously cute and terrifyingly formidable. I won't mention her sexiness, that's a given; my darling is always attractive.
"Jealous, my incomparable Valkyrie?" I couldn't resist a sly smirk, looking her up and down appreciatively. "Afraid the beauties of Earth won't be able to resist my irresistible charm and will steal such an eligible man away from you?"
"Don't be ridiculous," she snorted, theatrically rolling her eyes, but I noticed the shadow of a smile flicker at the corners of her lips. "I just don't like that you're getting involved in some blatant nonsense again. Why do you even need this masquerade? And this company... A Goetia princess? A hellhound? You, an Archangel, the First Man, are going to babysit this rabble? Why?"
She came closer, her steps light and silent, like a cat's. She stopped in front of me and, with a proprietary air, adjusted the collar of my shirt, which was already sitting perfectly.
"It's just a simple outing, my love," I intercepted her hand and gently kissed her thin, elegant fingers. "Besides, they could be useful. Especially one little owl..."
"'Little owl'?" Lute arched an eyebrow skeptically. "Throwing around nicknames already? Adam, I know you. I know how much you love all your little 'spy games.' But these are demons... Dirty, lying, vicious creatures. You shouldn't play with them. It would be simpler to just go and slaughter everyone associated with Eve."
"Violence isn't always the best solution, you know that," I sighed, pulling her closer by the waist. "You shouldn't hate the entire population of Hell. Yes, they've attacked us more than once, started horrible wars, and most of the inhabitants of Hell itself are real bastards, but you shouldn't hate all of them for it. Sometimes, even there, you can find quite bright souls."
"You're an incorrigible idealist…" she looked me straight in the eye, and in her golden gaze, a familiar spark of excitement flickered. "You watch yourself, Adam. I'll know if you were 'gathering information' over there, or having some kind of orgy with those furry teenagers."
"And what then?" I smirked, anticipating her response.
"And then," she narrowed her eyes slyly, her voice becoming quiet and threatening, "my brand-new frying pan made of angelic metal will be very eager to get acquainted with your head. Up close. And believe me, I won't deny it that pleasure."
I burst out laughing, hugging her tightly and kissing the top of her head.
"Oh, you're so cute when you're angry. I promise, no orgies. Only important business. Very important. And most likely, boring as all hell; I'll probably have to solve their teenage problems and all that."
"You'd better," she grumbled, but not as menacingly. She buried her nose in my chest, inhaling my scent. "And don't be too long. I miss you..."
"I won't be," I kissed her on the forehead. "I'll bring you something tasty from Earth."
"I don't really like Earth food," she mumbled, but I could feel her smiling. "Just come back soon."
"Of course, my sweet and stern angel."
I let her go, taking one last look into her eyes full of love, and opened a portal. Stepping into the crimson haze of Hell, I managed to hear her quiet but firm:
"I'll be waiting… And so will the frying pan."
I just smiled. Yeah, I'm definitely damn lucky to have her… But the frying pan part was unnecessary!
Third-Person View
Imp City greeted Octavia with its usual stench, filth, noise, and crowds of imps scurrying back and forth. Why such a commotion? She stood on the corner of some rundown street, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot and feeling the curious, and at times openly lecherous, gazes of the rare passersby. A couple of minutes later, another figure appeared from around the corner: a tall hellhound in a black torn tank top, tight jeans, and a spiked collar on her neck, walking with a lazy sway of her hips, not looking up from her phone. It was Loona. She walked up and, without even saying hello, stood next to her, continuing to scroll through her feed on HellGram. Her usual, feigned confidence and rudeness had vanished somewhere today. Loona knew what Octavia—the one she was "hanging out" with today—looked like, but she felt awkward, out of her element next to this... princess. Because of this, she tried to look as disinterested as possible, but her fingers were trembling nervously, and her gaze kept darting stealthily towards Octavia. Loona didn't know how to react to someone who could become her friend.
Octavia coughed, trying to get her attention.
"Ahem… Hi. You must be Loona?"
The wolf-girl flinched in surprise, nearly dropping her phone. She slowly looked up at her, tearing her eyes away from the screen.
"Uh... yeah," she said curtly, feeling her cheeks start to burn. Shit, why is this so awkward? She buried her face in the screen again, pretending to be incredibly interested in looking at photos of someone's food.
An awkward, oppressive silence hung between them. Octavia didn't know what to say. She was unaccustomed to being in a place like this, especially in the company of such a... rough-looking demoness. Loona, in turn, felt like a complete idiot. What was she even doing here? With a Goetia princess? On some stupid three-way date? Bullshit. Complete bullshit.
"Hey, been waiting long?" a familiar, mocking, confident voice sounded behind them.
Both girls flinched and turned around in sync. Standing before them, arms crossed over his chest and a sly, charming smirk on his face, was Baal in his human form: the usual piercing red eyes, unnaturally pale skin, and white hair, but his horns and wings were gone. He was dressed in a simple black short-sleeved shirt and dark jeans.
"Hey, beauties. Ready for an adventure?"
"Finally," Loona grumbled, hastily hiding her phone in her pocket. Her voice came out sharper than she wanted, but there was clear relief in it. "I was starting to think we'd be stuck here until the next Extermination."
"Sorry, had some business to take care of," Baal winked at her, then turned to Octavia, who was looking at him with undisguised interest. "So, little owl, haven't changed your mind yet?"
"No," Octavia replied curtly, feeling the awkwardness and tension recede a little under his confident, warm gaze.
"Excellent! Then let's go! The human world awaits! And some real rock 'n' roll!"
He snapped his fingers, and right in front of them, a golden, shining portal vibrated in the air and then, with a soft hiss, opened. It smelled of something completely unfamiliar and unusual—freshness, rain, ozone, and… exhaust fumes. The girls looked at Baal in surprise, and then, with curiosity and a slight tremor, stepped inside.
Adam's POV
Earth, Los Angeles. Night.
Earth greeted us with the coolness of the night, humid air, and the deafening noise of a huge, never-sleeping city. We found ourselves in a dark, narrow alley, cluttered with trash cans. The perfect place to appear from a portal without attracting unnecessary attention or scaring the locals.
"Wow..." Octavia, already in her human form (a cute goth girl with short purple hair), looked around with almost childlike delight, curiously examining the high brick walls, completely covered in some incomprehensible bright graffiti, and the distant, beckoning lights of skyscrapers piercing the dark, almost black sky.
"So this is what it's like… Earth… Not at all what I imagined."
"It stinks," grumbled Loona, who had also managed to take on a human form (a tall, slender blonde in ripped jeans and a dark crop top). But there was no longer her former nervousness in her voice, more like curiosity.
"Get used to it, beauties," I chuckled. "This isn't even the smelliest or dirtiest place on this planet. So, you ready for some real rock?"
Yeah, the girls had prepared for our little outing splendidly. Octavia, as I said, was the epitome of gothic cuteness, and her naive attempts to put on a "prim and serious face" made me genuinely smile. Loona, on the other hand, had more of an aggressive sexuality than cuteness, which was aided by her human form with a shaved temple, eyebrow piercing, and bright black makeup. Essentially, I was now in the company of a typical Emo and a Goth, while I myself, in my humanized demonic form (white hair, red eyes), looked like some kind of non-conformist who had recently escaped from an anime festival. Yep. We were quite the cheerful company.
The concert was taking place in an underground club called "The Underworld." Ironic, isn't it? And the club was not far from us: just a couple of minutes' leisurely walk through the neon-lit streets, filled with various "people." Yes, I still can't perceive the local people as… well, as real people. I'm serious, even the damn sinners in Hell seem smarter and more adequate to me than these nobodies. And these are my people? My descendants? It's disgusting to even think about it. But I was forced to think about how to fix this whole situation. And I had ideas.
"Ladies, if you please," I gallantly offered my hands to both girls. Octavia, with slight awkwardness, immediately latched onto my left. And Loona, after a moment's hesitation, placed her palm in my right. Hmm, I actually made the gesture simply inviting them to go ahead, and not… well, you get it. Oh well, we'll manage like this. "Ahem… have you two met yet?" I decided to try and break the awkward silence.
"No," Octavia awkwardly looked down.
"Yes," Loona grumbled at the same time.
Ah, so becoming friends the easy way didn't work out for them… A pity. I was hoping they'd find common ground on their own, and not… all this. I'm no master of female friendship, or friendship in general, to be honest. In my past life… well, you understand, I didn't have time for friendship back then. And Adam was "friends" only with his comrades-in-arms, veterans with whom he had been through Hell, so I have little experience here either. I'll have to improvise…