Not Backing Down

Two soulless but rather lively eyes gradually opened, enriched with smoky-brown eyeshadow and regular mascara. They then glistened as their owner gradually began to relish in amazement and tranquillity. Surrounding the bed she was lying still on were multiple constellations. Bright and pearlescent, every single one of them glowed soothingly, giving a fragile woman a piece of Heaven in the depths of Hell. It was like she had already won the rights to her soul back and earned a place in Heaven already. If only.

"My stars!" she exclaimed before tittering faintly. "No pun intended." The beauty of the spiralling landscape was as stunning as many sinners would consider her usual physical appearance to be. Beautiful yet fragile like a bleeding rose, she remained still in her fairly new attire that was deemed quite appropriate for work, consisting of a thin sage green jumper that exposed her shoulders, a grey overall dress that was darker than the formal dress she wore during her arrival in Hell, flexible leggings and high low-heel boots. She wondered where she was as she began to steadily sit up, lightly pressing her palms against the velvety bedsheets. She suspected that she must have succumbed to a state of blankness before waking up to encounter the constellations. Was she still able to access Hell beyond the Pride Ring with a hellborn's assistance? What happened exactly?

"Lisa?" someone called out to her quietly in a supple tone. Within that moment, the door creaked open by gradual and harmless force. "It's only me."

"Stolas!" Lisa exclaimed softly, delighted to see the one who inspired her to set such a daring long-term goal again. With just one wave of his hand, Stolas, the thirty-sixth ruler of the Ars Goetia caused the constellations to fade away, giving her a clear view of him, from the glowing complexion of his white face in the shape of a heart to his semi-darkened arms that would be logically classified as "wings with hands". He looked damper in a summery edition of a regal uniform that consisted of a blue cape and a sleeveless tuxedo jacket, much to his sense of self-worth.

"Welcome to the spare bedroom in my mansion, my dear." He gracefully sat down on the bed and then peered towards her as a large book was secured on his lap. "Are you feeling alright?" She could once again see trustworthiness in all four of his eyes beaming in a bright tint of red.

"I guess so, considering that I was surrounded by these constellations just a moment ago." She swore that she could smell the enticing scent that was a mixture of luxury wine and freshly made French toast he consisted of when he finally reunited with and reassured her in the Pride Ring at the time when she needed it the most after her damnation. "They looked outstanding!"

"Much obliged, Lisa!" Stolas had always taken pride in his knowledge of astronomy. How he hoped that he could someday take his daughter out for a trip through the cosmos, quite like how he did to help her fall back asleep when she was little.

"Did you come to rescue me?" asked Lisa in the present day of the struggles in Hades.

"With a bit of assistance. You have my darling little imp and the two littler ones to thank."

Stropping towards Lisa was someone much shorter than Stolas. His flesh was coated in a pale shade of red with various details, most notably the gritty heart-shaped mark on his forehead. His scowl was enough to make her tremble in nervousness as he was one hell of a boss in her first boss battle in Hades until another fiend arrived at the battlefield. 

"How helpful has he been at the time of your need?" the owl demon asked her. He took slight caution whilst climbing onto enough space on the bed due to its height.

"Well..." Just before Lisa could fully elaborate, the demon with large, curved horns snarled,

"Are you fucking kidding, Stolas?! This whiny bitch didn't want our help at all! I offered to kill her husband in the living world, but she found it "repugnantly vile" and yakked on about "showing sympathy" and how he apparently doesn't deserve to be killed just before that shitbag showed up!" Even though Lisa still understood that her husband never met the crimson-fleshed demon with a splodge of frosted white on one side of his face, she still took a little offence to the slight mentioning of the one she missed so much. He then glared straight at her, startling her. "You've missed your chance of seeing your hubby again, you ungrateful bitch!" Stolas gently placed his hand on his right shoulder, ready to reason with him.