Chapter Text
Bubowl was called in by his partner Atheniv for an emergency meeting. When he arrived at the living room, he noticed that Flammeusia and Nebulowl were also there.
"Hey, Atheniv, I came as you called," Bubowl said as he sat down, "What's wrong?"
"Okay, Bubowl, you know how I recently picked up a job at the Owl Outer Defense League?" Atheniv asked.
"Yes, Atheniv, you've already told me about how you're excited that you get to defend our owl species outside of this land. Did you get assigned to a new job?" Bubowl asked.
"Yes, and it's a special one!" Atheniv excitedly said as she pulled out her tablet and showed everyone where her location is, "It's in Hell. There's surprisingly a large number of owls living in that land, and I'm excited to patrol this new world!"
Both Flammeusia and Nebulowl looked excited that Atheniv is now working in Hell. Bubowl, on the other hand, looked concerned.
"Hell?! !شوخی میکنی؟ Do you realize that place is dangerous?! I don't want you to get eaten by a hellhound or even accidently hurt by one of the Exterminations that happen in Pride!" Bubowl exclaimed. Atheniv, realizing her partner was in distress, comforted him.
"I appreciate your concern, but I promise you that I will be safe," she assured, "We are given special protection there, and I know owl demons are friendly to regular owls there."
Suddenly, her tablet went off. When she went to look at it, she gasped at what she saw.
"!وای نه It's an owl in distress!" she exclaimed as she looked at the file, "It's coming from a man named Stolas. I need to save him now! Would you all like to come with me?"
"Sure, why not?" Flammeusia shrugged, and Nebulowl nodded.
"I'll come, but I'll also invite Urowlensis since he could be of help," Bubowl said as he went to call Urowlensis.
"Thanks, guys! Now I will get my gear ready and then we will go," Atheniv as she went to get ready to save Stolas.
“I hope you’re not entering false meetings in your calendar to prevent me from coming at certain times and hurt you in certain ways”, Stella chirped. “I won’t do you the favor not to touch your face every time. That’s what make up is for, right!”
They can’t even reach my head when I stand, Stolas answered in his head, but he kept his lips carefully shut.
For once, there was only one hellhound with her. Probably that the three weren’t available every time, especially since she came everyday this week, and Via was bound to come back soon.
Though, if one hellhound could hit his face without him needing to bend much, it would be the one present today, the watchdog breed. As the two royals entered the bedroom, he closed the door behind, and there was the familiar sound of the lock before he took the cuffs out.
Stolas was waiting not far from the door, hands behind his back after magically putting his phone away as soon as he entered the room, as Stella asked on the session she started by destroying his plants. She enjoyed seeing him go through these rules now, and it helped ground him despite the exhaustion, so he wasn’t complaining. At least he had taken the habit to wear casual clothes in the palace, but he would quickly need to replenish his closet anyway.
Said clothes were covering enough not to let see the bandages he still had on, but the hellhound noticed while cuffing him, and made an acknowledgment sound.
“Still hurt from last time, again”, he commented in a low voice.
That… Was probably the first time Stolas actually heard his tone. Or at least it was his first full sentence.
Stella shrugged as she observed them, sitting on the bed.
“I don’t care. Let’s say it’s for all the times I won’t be able to come next week.”
However, before the torture can truly begin, something unusual happened. The bathroom door opened, and in came Urowlensis.
"!سلام" He greeted in Persian, "I hope I am not interrupting something!" However, both Stella and the watchdog looked in shock at his sudden appearance.
"What the hell? Stolas, are you seriously fucking cheating on that imp of yours?!" Stella interrogated.
"What?! No! This is literally the first time I've seen him!" Stolas tried to deny, but Stella wasn't buying it.
"Wow, birdie! Quite bold of you to cheat on that Blitz-oh of yours while we're doing this little arrangement!" the watchdog teased as Urowlensis's eyes perked from the accusation.
"The 'o' is silent! At least have the decency to respect his new name!" Stolas clapped back. Just when the watchdog was about to give Stolas a beating, the door was suddenly busted down, and Bubowl, Atheniv, Flammeusia, and Nebulowl all came busting in.
"THIS IS THE OODL! WE DEMAND YOU RELEASE STOLAS RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Atheniv demanded. However, Stella just simply laughed.
"Well that's a new one! You're seriously telling me that you stupid owls are trying to save others?!" Stella blurted out as she continued to giggle and chirp like a little kid, "Oh please! I know your kind. You're so weak and pathetic, just like him! Now get out please. We're right in the middle of something."
"You really think we're just gonna leave after you cuffed him to do who knows what?!" Bubowl exclaimed, "Hell no! That is not how we roll!"
"Yeah, and of course a swan is attacking him!" Flammeusia added, "Your kind is always aggressive to ours! Not to mention this mutt right here who probably takes steroids to hide the fact that he has a small dick!"
"EXCUSE ME?!?!" the watchdog ran up to Flammeusia, "I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT MY DICK IS HUGE, WAS ABLE TO FATHER TWO CHILDREN, AND THESE GUNS RIGHT HERE ARE REAL!!!"
"And you're wasting those talents hurting our kind instead of using it for good?" Flammeusia rhetorically asked.
"Oh, trust me, what we were about to do to birdie is nothing compared to last time!" what the watchdog did next would shock the OODL. He pulled out his phone and showed them footage of one of the previous torture sessions, which included Stolas being forced to stand as all three hellhounds punched him, all with the threat of Blitzo being killed should he fall. All five owls were appalled from what they were watching, Flammeusia especially, and she was about to let them have it.
"!!!لعنتی چه بلایی سرت اومده؟!؟! چگونه می توانید استولا را در معرض این نوع شکنجه قرار دهید؟!؟! این به راحتی بدترین جنایت نفرت انگیز علیه یک جغد است که من تا به حال شاهد آن بوده ام" the owls were shocked at her language. Even Stolas, who also knew Persian, was taken aback from her brutal outburst.
"ALRIGHT, I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU PRICKS!!!" Stella yelled as she pulled out the feed, "YOU FIVE HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO LEAVE OR ELSE STOLAS'S IMP WILL DIE BECAUSE YOU ALL WANTED TO BE A HERO!!!"
"Not on our fucking watch!" Bubowl yelled as he threw a candle at Stella, hitting her phone and breaking it.
"HOW DARE YOU BREAK HER PHONE!!!" the watchdog screamed as he shoved Bubowl away. He was then met with a clean punch to the gut from Atheniv.
"DON'T YOU EVER ASSAULT MY PARTNER, YOU FRICKING JERK!!!" While she and the watchdog were fighting, Nebulowl and Flammeusia also began their attack on Stella. Bubowl and Urowlensis also worked together to release Stolas from the cuffs.
"Come on, Stolas! Leave while we take care of them!" Bubowl commanded. Stolas nodded and left the room. Fortunately, Nebulowl and Flammeusia were able to successfully restrain Stella and cuff her, but the watchdog was beginning to gain the upper hand in the fight between him and Atheniv.
"OW!!! THAT HURT!!" Atheniv cried as the watchdog proceeded to kick her and knock her down.
"NOT SO TOUGH NOW, HUH?!?! I FUCKING HATE STOLAS, AND HE DESERVED ALL OF THIS TORTURE!!!" the watchdog yelled out like a dictator as he went to knock her out in a similar manner he did to Stolas. However, before he could do such a thing, he was suddenly tackled by a brute force. When the watchdog looked up, he gasped when he saw a feral Nebulowl pinning him down.
"...نام همنوع من را از دهان لعنتی خود دور نگه دار" he growled before snapping the watchdog's neck, killing him.
"DESS, NO!!! HOW DARE YOU KILL HIM!!! HE HAD A FAMILY!!!" Stella screamed, only for Flammeusia to slap her in the face.
"!خفه شو That is no excuse because he hurt another family man!" she retorted. Atheniv then walked to the swan as she glared at her.
"Princess Stella, for your hate crimes against Stolas, you will be under arrest. Warrants have also been placed on the other two hellhounds, plus Striker and the snipers. You all will be held at our world until trial. All I will say to you is good luck..."
With that, Stella was pushed into a portal of a jail cell.
"NO!!! I'M SORRY!!! DON'T DO THIS!!!" the swan cried out as she tried to beg for forgiveness, but it fell on deaf ears, and the portal closed.
"We should check on Stolas," Urowlensis suggested. Everyone nodded and looked for Stolas. They found him in the living room, crying while curled up on the couch. Atheniv knelt down and hugged him.
"...خدای من I am so sorry we couldn't rescue you earlier. I can't imagine what you're going through right now," she sadly said.
"No... don't be sorry... it's not your fault..." Stolas whispered as he wiped tears, "The only people at fault here are Stella and those who've worked with her. She'd been abusing me for years since we first married, and since I started to move on with my true lover Blitzo, she's been worsening her abuse to a point where I wanted to end it all at one point because I hate my life so fucking much..."
"Thank you for holding onto hope regardless..." Bubowl said, "People do care for you, Stolas, and you don't deserve anything that she made you go through, even if you made mistakes in the past."
"Okay, but we gotta work on fixing up those injuries of yours. It looks like they haven't healed from previous abuse," Flammeusia commented as she pulled out a special first aid kit to heal any remaining wounds. The group was shocked with the extent of abuse and torture the owl prince had endured at the hands of Stella and her goons. Nebulowl in particular almost returned to their world to kill Stella and her remaining goons, but the group talked him down, stating that they will get a punishment just as harsh in trial, especially with the evidence they collected.
"What about my daughter? And Blitzo? How will I explain all of this to him?" Stolas asked.
"We tell them the truth," Atheniv firmly said, "I know you've been hiding the truth from them to protect Blitzo, but with the threat gone, they deserve to know."
"Yeah, and that girl of yours in particular needs to know how terrible her mother actually is!" Flammeusia added. Soon after, all of Stolas's injuries were fully healed.
"Thank you all so much for your rescue. I cannot express enough how thankful I am," Stolas thanked.
"No problem, your highness," Atheniv said as she handed him a business card, "You can call us anytime if you want. We may also need you back for the trial."
Stolas nodded, and the group went to head home. Urowlensis, meanwhile, decided to stick around.
"Hey, Stolas, since you are gay like me, there is a support group for gay owls you can come to," he said as he handed Stolas a business card for the gay owl support group, "Please know that you are not alone, and I would love to see you there."
"Thanks. I'll consider it," Stolas thanked as Urowlensis quickly followed the group. Once everyone was gone, Stolas let out a big sigh. He never expected the OODL to come to his rescue, but he was glad they finally put a stop to all of this torture madness.
"I'm going to take a shower, and then maybe I'll take up the gay owl support group offer," Stolas thought to himself as he went to take a well-deserved shower.