Stolas went to his shower and turned on the cold water trying to distract his mind. This initially worked as he began to run his hands through his body so that the water touched his entire self as if he were trying to atone for impurities that way. But little by little, just as his body got used to the icy temperature of the water, his mind freed itself again, immediately bringing back the recent memories of what had just happened.
His hands running over his body now felt like his daughter's, the water felt like their sweat, and his mind was filled with thoughts of regret and inexcusable guilt that forced him to feel like ripping his skin off. The water running down his face made him look like he was crying even though he wasn't. Memories of an innocent girl were exchanged for those of lustful sin that now adorned her image.
The water running down his neck felt like her kisses, his arms were hers, the water in his mouth was the wetness of that first kiss. Little by little these memories of her produced an erection again, so the water that ran from him to his penis increased the intensity, bringing the memory of her warm interior.
He didn't even bother to use soap, shampoo or conditioner anymore. He could only let the water continue caressing his body continuously until he had enough strength to turn off the faucet. In his mind however he kept hearing everything he heard a few moments ago, the moans of his daughter; the pleas for intense love and fornication, almost in a sick way he heard her voice, that sweet voice. He listened to her as if she were still next to him whispering in his ear.
He was only able to get out of his shower until a few minutes later.
He dressed again in his robe and left his room. But he stood motionless outside, peeking slightly around the corner edge of the wall –to see if he could peer down the corridor where the dining room was, trying not to be the first to arrive and face the inevitability of dining alone. He had no remorse for letting the food go to waste if that was the case.
Moments later he noticed that the door of Octavia's room was also open, and she leaned out looking at the same point as him. He automatically understood that she planned the same as him, and that this was a stalemate; no man's land, where one of the two should give way to make way for the other. He stopped leaning out, took a deep, forceful breath, filling his lungs with air, and took the first step toward the corridor.
Arriving at the door of Octavia's room, he made an effort to continue looking straight ahead, as if ignorant of what he had seen, and continued on his way, listening to her footsteps following him from behind, although this was only for a while, as they suddenly stopped, he assumed that she had paused to give space between her arrival and his so he kept going.
A servant imp in the kitchen bowed to Stolas and wordlessly stepped forward to take the food, which he immediately put back on the oven for consumption as Stolas took his seat.
He placed his shoulders on the table and rested his head on his hands. He was motionless for a few minutes while the imp came back with the food finally heated up.
He looked up and saw Octavia leaning against the wall staring at the food, he also noticed that the moment their eyes met, she averted his gaze almost immediately. Stolas served two slices; one per plate and motioned for her to sit down and eat.
When he sees Octavia sit next to him, he then begins to eat, staring down at his plate, in complete silence.
None dared to break the imposing and deep absence of sound, the steam that came out of the reheated pizza in spirals rose to the sky symbolizing; when resolved into nothing, the ephemerality of things. It was sad to see that scene; father and daughter refusing any interaction, every moment the sorrows were heavier –an air so dense that it overwhelmed anyone who witnessed the situation.
After a while, they both finally got up from the table.
—Good night, Octavia. —He mentioned in a low voice looking at the opposite side, as to not look at her—.
—Good night, dad... —She replied in a similar tone; and like him, she avoided looking at his face as well—.
They both retired to their respective rooms and the night passed like any other.
***
The next morning Stolas got up like any other morning, took his pills and headed to his library once more. He would go through his books in search of something that would help him start the morning in a kind of "reading trance" that would prevent any thoughts or memories from reaching his mind; or worse yet, make him aware of his deeds. He curiously noticed that a book; The plants of love, was slightly out of place, but instead of bringing any suspicion, he tried his best to think of it as just a funny and a ridiculous coincidence; he had experience with plants known in the human world as aphrodisiacs, but he also knew that there was no way they could work with demons as they did not possess the same biology and their bodies were more resistant to external influences unlike a mortal's. He even remembers having tried to use it with Blitzo at some point, which in a way now made him wish that last night was caused by something of that nature; this to somehow be able to blame his guilt towards something else, but he couldn't believe that his daughter could be capable of such acts either; for he did find it inexplicable that it should be so. He initiated the act, and it gave him enough of a sense of guilt to ignore any possibility of a third influence affecting not only him, but his little girl as well.
After a self-deliberation, he chose to simply ignore what happened and continue with his reading ritual like any other day, curiously enough, he did not realize either that he had not placed music to play or some type of incense, that with its delicate smells occasionally decorated the room, just like the day before.
Finally, he picked up a random book and started reading from a random page. While he tried to concentrate on reading, the deep silence of the room made him hear things that his mind imagined, and as expected he could only imagine her voice. The words of the book were imperceptible to his eyes, and it was rather as if what he read was an explicit recapitulation of his carnal adventure. Every time he reached a key moment where Octavia had spoken to him, he could hear her delicate voice repeat those same words, "I love you", "Take me", and more. The absence of a scent to adorn the room made him recall her perfume, the scent of her plumage, of her mouth, of her intimacy. But Stolas no longer seemed to fight these thoughts like the night before.
He was willing to trade with his conscience, he would let it flood him with memories until it ran out of things to remember, in exchange for his long-sought peace.
Stolas wanted with all his being to think that this way it would be easier, even if it was also more painful.
He had put the denial behind him now, make peace with his self-inflicted rage of remorse. He hoped that this step would be easier than the previous ones and that it would allow his mind and body to really rest a little from such aggressive martyrdom.
It could be seen how he simply travelled from page to page back and forth, it was already obvious that he was not even making an effort to try and read what was in front of him but pretended to read just for show.
Stolas seemed to be in a state that could only be described as zombified. This, however, did not take long to annoy Stolas himself, who after trying to focus on his reading again and failing each time, caused him immediate disgust, so much so, that he got up from his chair and dropped the book, and left, headed to his greenhouse still mad.
When he got there, he started with the typical routine that he did every time he was in that place.
He began to water the plants, he fed others. He looked at each flower and each plant and each bud carefully. He would get rid of vermin or weeds, and he would think of some way to make this an allegory of how he felt. He wanted to get rid of the pest, the weed, the insect or whatever it was that caused these mixed feelings. It seemed as if the pills he took every day were no longer working in the slightest and left Stolas exposed to all these feelings of self-loathing and self-destruction. He closed his eyes and imagined being devoured by one of his plants and ending his torture.
At one point he decided to sit next to several of these plants too, almost like playing Russian roulette and betting if one of them would read his mind and help him end the pain.
Of course, after a long time, nothing happened, and Stolas just laid on the floor trying not to burst into tears while his heart burned with great force from within.
After a few minutes, he stood up again to leave. As his mind went on and on over the facts.
What he still did not realize is that; indeed, something was about to be born inside him, but first he had to be ready to face truth and reality, two things that have caused him so much fear since he was little.
Leaving the greenhouse, he met one of his servants.
—Excuse me, could you tell me where Octavia is, is she still in her room? —He ordered in a serious, almost aggressive voice—.
—Princess Octavia left a few moments ago, but she didn't mention where to. —The imp quickly replied—. We were also looking for you to report that servants came from your wife's residence to take her things.
—EX WIFE! —Stolas reaffirmed in annoyance—. Remember, that woman no longer belongs to this palace.
—I understand sir, I'm sorry sir. I also let you know that your ex-wife is here too. as to supervise.
—Take charge, you don't need me for that.
—Yes sir.
Stolas didn't have the time or energy to deal with Stella. He was more focused on Octavia who had left without telling him. He took out his cell phone and dialled Blitzo.
—Stolas, it's still not full moon, I won't fuck you today, ok. I have work to do. —Blitzo was heard saying—.
—I'm not talking to you for that Blitz, I need to hire your services again.
The seriousness of the response, plus the lack of any jokes or homoerotic comments was enough to surprise him.
—Where are we going this time?
—I need you to find out where Octavia is and make sure she's back home safe.
—You know that hell is very fucking big and there are several fucking circles. I remind you that we do not do private detective work.
—Well, too bad, then you won't have any money.
An annoyed groan could be heard from the other end of the line, which was Blitzo trying not to give in to his greed to accept the job.
—Fine, fine, whatever. I will take care of your daughter.
—Very well. —Stolas concluded, hanging up the call immediately—.
—You're welcome, asshole. —Blitzo added after the call ended—.
***
Meanwhile at the I.M.P headquarters Blitzo had Loona called into his office.
—Heeeeeeey Loonieee, you are friends with Stolas' daughter, Hortensia or whatever her name is. —He exclaimed mockingly—.
—Octavia, you idiot. So what? —Loona looked at him indifferently—.
—Yeah, you have work to do while I do mine, you just have to take care of finding her and make sure that nothing happens to her. Track her down or something, you know, like a dog. —He commented sarcastically—.
—You're an asshole Blitzo.
—I love you too Loony.
***
Back at the Ars Goetia palace, Stolas tried to relax a bit as he tried to distract himself while Octavia returned, and Stella left.
—Look what we have here. —A female voice was heard saying—.
—Stella.
—Stolas.
Stolas continued on his way, trying to ignore her and get away from her as soon as possible.
—Does the pathetic little man not want to see my face?
—I don't have time for you today, Stella.
—You never had it, you're always busy with your stupid books, plants or fucking that imp.
—How creatively original Stella, as if you hadn't already said it a million times.
—I'll say it until I get bored of saying it.
—Well, let it be soon.
—You know this won't be over soon.
—Let's wait for the moment where that matters to me. Now stop bothering me, I have things to do.
They both went their separate ways.
Taking advantage of the fact that Stolas would avoid her for the rest of the day, Stella dedicated herself to scouting the palace. Even though her servants were there to take away her belongings, she wanted to make sure that she didn't let anything slip away, especially if it could help her hurt Stolas even more.
Walking around the palace she found that everything was as normal as ever. She saw last night's pizza in the trash; she saw the plants, Stolas' room, and even checked out Octavia's room, this one in a little more detail, as anything that would help keep him away from Octavia would also be a victory for her.
Thanks to the effectiveness of the staff, she was unable to find many clues that would tell her something of importance, since the room had already been cleaned. But she did overhear the cleaning staff gossiping with each other.
—I'm telling you, Princess Octavia brought someone over last night, I'm pretty sure you could smell it, it was a nightmare to get the scent of sex off. —The imp could be heard saying in an almost inaudible volume—.
—It had to be in the morning or early morning, last night she only dined with Prince Stolas and went to sleep. The cook said they didn't even speak to each other the whole time. —The other imp replied—.
—If the prince finds out...
—IF he finds out. It's none of our business to say anything to anyone.
Stella felt like she had hit jackpot, this conversation had delivered what she needed on a silver platter. Octavia was still 17, and therefore any sexual act was still frowned upon by high society, even in Hell. All she needed now was to know who she had slept with, but she didn't remember Octavia having a boyfriend, much less a lover; not a friend who crossed her mind. But that didn't matter to her, it was just a matter of figuring out how to prove it and she could use that to prove that Octavia couldn't live with her father.
After her imps left, Stella dedicated herself to investigating the room carefully once more, but the good work of the palace's staff did not give her any new evidence, meanwhile, the staff had noticed Stella's presence in the room as well as her actions, so they did their own counterintelligence; spying on her while she did her meticulous investigation, a couple of hours later Stella left the palace.
The web of misinformation had begun to materialize, and it was only a matter of time before the rain washed away this web of half-truths and revealed what was trying to stay hidden.
It was late afternoon-night when Octavia returned. Stolas got a call from Blitzo.
—Your daughter is home safe and sound.
—Thanks, Blitz. —Stolas immediately hung up the call—.
—You're welcome, asshole. —Blitzo said, once again, when he saw that the call was hung up almost immediately—. Well Loony? You had fun?
Loona simply turned to Blitzo with a dazed look that hid concern.
Back at Stolas' palace, Stolas hurried over to his daughter's room to pretend he didn't know if she was home or not.
—Hello Dad.
—Hello, Via, I thought you were in your room so I...
—No, I was hanging out with a friend.
Stolas was starting to sweat, the whole day he was going through a living nightmare of feelings of all kinds, which in the end had led him to accept what had happened the night before; and he wanted to let Octavia know that everything was okay. Meanwhile inside him, he knew that what he really wanted to tell her was that he accepted that he had aroused feelings for her and that he was ready to take responsibility for what had happened.
—Via, I...
—Hey dad, wanna we watch a movie? Yesterday we agreed to see one, but we never did. —Octavia interrupted—.
—Of course, of course!
Octavia smiled and approached her father, facing each other she stood on tiptoe and gave Stolas a short, fleeting kiss on the beak. From there she went to the living room to wait for him.