Chapter Text
Sighing as he packed up the last box, Stolas takes a moment to look around the empty palace he used to call home. After Stella passed away 3 months ago due to an illness, things have felt, strange. The house felt too quiet, too serene. It’s something Stolas hadn’t felt in years when he first got married at the young age of 19.
It was a loveless marriage, one done out of desperation as his father Paimon had been eager to exchange his future for a large sum of money. Apparently their family had been struggling for years due to Paimon’s extravagant spending and arrogance that their status as Goetia royals would carry them far (Their line was 58th in rank compared to the other Goetia families). And so at first opportunity, Paimon married him off to the next successful family that he could find, which happened to be Stella’s. Comparatively, they were only 38th in line, it’s not like this marriage would make big news. But according to Paimon, money was money, and Stella’s father had owed him a favor.
The only good to have ever come out of that marriage was his darling daughter Octavia, who was turning 8 come spring. Nonetheless, even though Stolas felt excited to move on and start living (as much as one can do in hell), it still felt weird. As if he should mourn, shed tears that he was incapable of doing, and feel any kind of sorrow at losing what should have been his lifelong partner.
But he didn’t do or feel any of that. Instead life moved on, and Octavia became his number one priority. Stolas had to put on a strong face, because even though he didn’t necessarily feel sad, the anxiety of what to do next was unnerving. Renouncing his royal status and cutting off contact with his father, he moved to the other side of the Pride Ring, away from all the royalty and riches that he’d never thought he’d leave. But when his application for a librarian was accepted at HellSpawn Academy, he took it as a sign from the devil that this was the next right thing to do.
So here he was, boxing up everything he owned, Octavia hand in hand, and uprooting his life. Except on his own terms this time.
*
This side of the Pride Ring was certainly… more lively than he had expected. Stolas was minding his own business, tending to his garden out in his backyard, when someone had called him a ‘tall chicken wing they’d like to eat’. And while Stolas knew this was hell, hell he was born in hell, even that took him off guard. The butlers and servants in the palace were a lot more amicable.
“Oh Gabriella, are we even doing the right thing? Moving out here? Octavia is still so young, and I haven’t the foggiest idea on how to raise a child on my own.” Stolas muttered as he pruned the leaves of his favorite plant, a large venus fly trap with cannibalistic tendencies that seemed to have a mind of its own sometimes. Something so sweet, yet so sinister, like the main character of his favorite soap opera.
Gabriella seemed to wrap a leave around his hand as if to comfort him, and Stolas let a small smile form. His garden had become his solace during the harder months of his marriage to Stella. Talking to his plants had become… necessary almost. He had no friends, no one to spill his woes and burdens to, no one to share in his joys. Stolas had his daughter of course, but she was far too young to ever burden her with such heavy topics. So his plants became his escape.
Drawing his attention away from his garden, Stolas walked back inside their house. Stolas had gotten a great deal for the place considering Pride’s prices. It had all that Stolas needed really. A bedroom for Via, and a small den that he used for his own room. It was small, but the change was welcomed. Now that it was just the two of them, there was no need for their large 3 story palace. It wasn’t as if Stolas ever had any guests of his own to fill the rooms with.
Prying open the bedroom door slowly, Stolas peeked his head inside to see if Via had woken up yet. The owlet had been having nightmares since her mother’s passing. Octavia missed Stella terribly. Although she had been awful towards Stolas, he couldn’t argue that she was at least decent towards their daughter, to which he was grateful. He would have tried leaving a lot sooner if Stella ever laid a talon on his darling Starfire.
“Starfire,” Stolas cooed, smiling down at the still sleeping lump in bed. “It’s time to wake up darling, we need to get ready for your first day of school.”
With a loud yawn the small owlet stretched out her arms, eyes blinking slowly as she sat up in bed. “Mmkay dad,” Via said while tossing aside her blanket and swinging her legs over the bed. “Ohhh I’m so excited! Do you think I’ll make lots of friends dad?”
Chuckling at the innocent excitement on his daughter’s face, Stolas bent down to pick Octavia up to bring her to the bathroom. “But of course, Via, you’re the most darling owlet I know! You’ll make tons of friends in no time.” Toeing open the door, he gently plops her down on the step stool. “Now wash up quickly my dear, we’ve got to go soon! I’ll have breakfast ready in a bit.”
Hearing a quick chirp of agreement, Stolas heads to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Two bowls of cereal are on the table quicker than you can say sin, a bottle of milk sitting to the side. Stolas gulps as he sits at the dining table and adjusts the collar on his shirt once more. Will he do alright? Sure, Stolas held an extensive collection of books and loved reading, but he had never been a librarian before, hell he’d never worked a proper job before. Before hands could reach up to his head to tug and pull on fresh feathers, Octavia sped around the corner with an eager smile on her face.
Forcing a smile as Octavia joined him at the table, Stolas tried his best to quell any more negative self talk. He didn’t want to ruin both of their first days, after all.
*
Dropping of Octavia was a breeze, the owlet yelling out a quick ‘bye dad!’ as she ran up to join the other group of demons in her class. Which once again left Stolas to his thoughts as he walked down the hall to the library. Pulling on the hem of his blazer and biting on his lip, Stolas hopes for an uneventful first day. He had never held an actual job before. Would it be hard? Would he mess up and be fired on the first day?
Stolas’ thoughts were interrupted by a loud and brazen ‘Out of the way bitch!’, before bumping into him, causing Stolas to stumble into the wall as an imp and small hellhound whizzed past him, running into the classroom that Stolas was headed to.
Even though he never shared the same views on imps that his father and Stella shared, Stolas can’t help but curse the imp in his mind. That was rude and uncalled for, the hallways were plenty wide.
Smoothing down his ruffled feathers and clothes, Stolas brings his shoulders back and holds his head high as he makes his way to the library. It was larger than Stolas had expected, shelves of books were littered across the room and two curved staircases sat on both sides of the room, leading up to a quiet reading area. The demons in the room seem to be polite enough, moving around quietly as they looked for their specific book.
Eyes continuing to look around the room, Stolas makes his way to the front desk. The principal had told him over the phone that he would get him oriented once he arrived. Stolas never imagined that Satan would have a part time gig as a principal for an elementary school. But apparently Satan was also an oversharer, as he mentioned that his anger management counselor had said that it’d be good for him to have hobbies that didn’t involve giving death sentences to demons on the daily. Weird, but Stolas wasn’t going to complain. Said demon was sitting at the front desk now, which looked ridiculously small given his large stature.
“Um, hello,” Stolas coughed in greeting. “My name is Stolas, I’m here for the librarian position?”
Looking up from his phone, Satan huffs out a snort. “Ah, Stolas Goetia. Thank you for coming in and filling in this position on such sort notice. We were in dire need of a new librarian since the last one left.”
“Oh! Of course,” Stolas chirped, unsure of how to respond to Satan of all demons.
“On that note, welcome to HellSpawn Academy, as you can see, we value the importance of literature, given the vast collection of novels and books that we have here. You’ll have an assistant, Mr. Pringles, who will assist you and help you get acquainted with the lending systems here. It’s going to be a busy week as teachers will be coming in to get their textbooks for the year.” Satan claps a firm hand on Stolas’ back, and he stumbles slightly at the impact.
“With all that being said, thank you and I hope you enjoy your employment here at HellSpawn.” Satan’s voice booms with finality as he walks out of the library. As Satan leaves, an older imp briskly walks up to the front desk, clipboard in hand and pencil sticking out of his mouth.
“Ah, you must be Mr. Goetia,” the imp states as he checks off a box on his clipboard. “I am Mr. Pringles, and I’ll be your assistant librarian. I’ve been with HellSpawn for the last 20 years so it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Hello Mr. Pringles, please call me Stolas,” Stolas offers his hand out to the imp in greeting, wincing internally at the way Mr. Pringles addressed him. Was Stolas really getting that old? “Thank you for all the help really, I’ve never worked in such a position before so I truly appreciate having someone who’s been around. Shall we get started?”
With a nod of agreement, Mr. Pringles sets off at a rapid pace, giving Stolas a quick rundown on how everything is to be run. It’s simultaneously dizzying yet refreshing at the same time. Stolas had always been an avid reader, although he didn’t know how well it would translate into being a librarian. But he found it to not be as difficult as he imagined. Although there was a long, long list of organization systems on top of keeping track of all the books that were currently being lent out as well as other tasks, Stolas found that it was not as overwhelming as he thought. Perhaps spending all his childhood in solitude along with most of his marriage did have a bright side to it after all. Who was he kidding, it was miserable. But at least spending so much time reading and to himself had lent to a sharp mind.
*
As the morning passed, Stolas prepped for the incoming teachers who were coming to pick up their textbooks. Thankfully, it seemed that they were set to come in at scheduled times, which allowed him time to grab the needed material and have them waiting on the book carts. The process had gone rather smoothly. Teachers would come in, grab their books, make some small chit chat here and there as they waited for Stolas to log it in to the system, and it would rinse and repeat. Some of the teachers were rather lovely, like this one married couple, Moxxie and Millie, who were so sweet. He found out that Moxxie was also a fan of musicals! Other teachers on the other hand, were not so lovely. They sounded as if they hated the job with every fiber of their being. And while Stolas could sympathize, some of the students here were truly the worst, it didn’t mean that they needed to take out their frustrations unto him. He was only the librarian after all.
Letting out a sigh as he grabbed the last cart full of books for the day, Stolas couldn’t wait to soak in a hot bath. Although getting started wasn’t too difficult, it was still a lot to get used to. Mr Pringles was a great help today. It was just too bad that he couldn’t stay the whole day. The older imp was great company underneath all the stoic politeness.
“Knock knock! I’m here to pick up some books, and – well hello there.” A voice called out loudly. It was an imp with white markings on his face, who had started waggling his eyebrows, grinning as he leant his elbow down on the front desk. “I didn’t know they hired such a sexy librarian.”
A faint blush formed across Stolas’ cheeks at how forward this stranger was being. Who was this guy?
“Um, hello,” Stolas murmured, brushing imaginary feathers out of his face. “I’m Stolas, the new librarian, and I’m assuming you’re the history teacher, Mr. Blackthorn?”
The imp scoffs, planting his chin in his hand as he spoke. “Psh, as if I’d ever be some stuffy history teacher. I’m Blitz. I’m the gym teacher here so I don’t have any books to pick up. I just heard from some of my friends that the new librarian was smoking hot so I came down to take a look myself.” The imp, Blitz, then reached out his other hand to trail a finger down Stolas’ cheek, causing the owl to flinch and lean back. Blitz only chuckled at that reaction, saying, “I have to say, those fuckers were right.”
“Oh! Um, then you don’t have any books to pick up?” Stolas asked as he readjusted his shirt collar. Was it getting warm? Stolas was starting to feel rather hot. He didn’t know whether to feel complimented or affronted that this random stranger only came down to the library to verify whether Stolas was physically attractive.
“Nah, not unless you got any books on how to pick up sexy owls.” Blitz said with a leering grin, before laughing at presumably Stolas’ bright red face. “Anyways, I gotta go teach my last period, but I’ll see you around birdy!” Before the imp leaves, he leans over the desk, his body oh so close to Stolas as he whispers, “Hoping next time it’ll be in my bed.”
Gulping at the close proximity, Stolas is left flabbergasted at how forward and crude this imp could be. He barely knew the guy and he was already insinuating such suggestive imagery and the two have only exchanged names! Before Stolas can even open his mouth to say as much, the imp shouts "ah shit I gotta go!" before jumping off the desk, rushing off to teach his next class.
Well, that certainly was an eventful first day. At least Stolas hasn't gotten fired just yet.