Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Via? I think I understand why the Creator chose a day of rest or whatever,” Orion sighed happily as he stretched out in the middle of the study. 

Octavia was at her desk typing at her laptop, chuckled when she heard that, she turned to look at him, “Yeah?” 

“Yup! I don’t blame him at all,” the boy took out his phone to text Onyx, she had a double shift at Stylish Occult, so she was not available. It sucked but what could he do? 

“Anyway, what do you want to do today?” the oldest of the two asked, it was a boring Saturday, Loona was out with her friends and their two dads were on a small weekend trip to Lust so the two teenagers where home alone and bored. 

Orion put his phone away and sighed, “I don’t know, it’s not the new moon tonight so we can forget about seeing everyone.” 

Octavia had to agree with that, their cult was busy with something called ‘final exams’ so they were busy until June. Humans are weird. 

Just when she was about to suggest something, her phone beeped. 

“Hm?” she grabbed the phone from her desk and unlocked it, “Sallie May?” 

“Millie’s sister? What does she need?” Orion sat up and put his phone away. 

Octavia looked at the message with curiosity, “She said that there’s a group she wanted to introduce us too. Ace demons like us.” 

“Oh?” now he was curious, “Where?” 

“In Gluttony and that she’ll make sure to look after us.” 

Orion chuckled and rolled his eyes, “What does think we are? Babies?” 

“In her eyes, we are babies,” Octavia smiled, “She said that it’s up to us of we want to meet them. What do you think?” 

The boy nodded, “Sure! I’ll get the bike ready!” 

With that, he left the study to get ready while Octavia texted Stolas, letting him know that she and Orion were going out and that Sallie May would take care of them. He responded back almost immediately, telling her to be careful and to let him know when she and brother came home. She responded with an owl emoji giving a salute and went to her room to grab her backpack. 

Once she grabbed it, she ran outside after giving Pringles a quick explanation of where she and Orion were going. Orion had the bike ready and handed her the helmet when she walked down the stairs. 

“Tell Valac and Malphus we’re at Gluttony!” Orion called out over the bike's engine while Octavia got on and wrapped her arms around her brother. 

Pringles nodded and gave the twins a wave goodbye as they drove off. Octavia held on tightly; long bike rides were fun but tiring when you’re a passenger. If she wasn’t used to it, Octavia would have been exhausted during the ride. 

Orion took a shortcut in Wrath, making a pit stop at a gas station to stretch his legs and refill the bike. Octavia took in the scenery for a bit and soon they were back on the road to Gluttony. Once they made it to the ring, Orion parked the bike at the free parking lot and Octavia jumped off. 

“I’m driving when this is over,” she offered, Orion was always the driver when they went out. 

“Sure if you want,” Orion stretched his back and then asked, “Did Sallie may where she wanted to meet?” 

Looking at her phone, Octavia found out where to go, “The park by Freddy’s.” 

“Great!” 

They knew where that park was, Blitzø used to take them and Loona there when they were little, that was a long time ago. The park was a simple park with the typical playground for the kids with an area that had private areas where one could have a small cook out with friends. It was known for being the quietest place to go to in Gluttony, the party ring. When they made it the park, they saw Sallie May waiting at the entrance looking at her phone while tapping her foot. 

“Hey Sal!” Octavia called out with a wave and smile. 

The wrathian looked up and smiled, “Hey Via!” 

She then looked at Orion, “Hey you!” 

“Nice to finally meet you,” the boy greeted, “Millie said a lot about you.” 

“The good stuff I bet!” Sallie May chuckled with her hands on her hips. 

“Only the nice things,” Orion teased. 

A frown etched on the woman’s face, but she chuckled, “Ah well, come on you two! I found this group while hanging out with a few friends of mine and mentioned you two! They wanted to meet you.” 

The twins hummed as they followed her to the park. Normally, they would not meet anyone they didn’t know, they may have lived sheltered lives, but they were not naive. Blitzø taught them the dangers of strangers if they ever left the palace. And also, Sallie May wouldn’t let anything happen to them, Octavia knew from meeting her for the first time that Sal was a loyal demon and Millie trusted her. 

“They’re right around here.... there they are!” 

Octavia and Orion looked to where the wrathian was pointing and saw a small group of demons sitting at a gazebo under one of the tall trees. They were eating and chatting amongst each other and what made them stand out was that they were wearing clothes in the colors of the ace flag. So, Sallie May wasn’t kidding when she said that there was a group like them. 

But what she didn’t tell them was that there was a lot of lust demons in that group. 

“Are you fucking kidding me Sal?!” Octavia hissed as she and her brother stopped in their tracks. 

“Is this some kind of joke?!” Orion snarled, he was ready to fight. 

Sallie May turned to them with a calm yet frantic look on her face, “Easy you two, I know about your history with lust demons but trust me, there are good demons.” 

“There’s no such thing as a ‘good’ lust demon!” Growled the youngest. 

Millie was not kidding when she said that the twins hated lust demons, Sallie May thought to herself. She even saw the video of Octavia killing a lust demon at some party, Millie was secretive on that one.  

“Look kids, I’ll make sure none of them do anything crazy and if they do, I’ll kill ‘em myself!” Sallie May declared, “I promise!” 

As much as they wanted to believe her, Octavia and Orion would not move. Sallie May sighed and thought of a solution, “How about I bring the president of that group to introduce himself first and then you can leave?” 

That seemed to ease the twins since their feathers that had raised up in anger relaxed. 

“Fine but one little crack from him and we’re leaving!” “Hissed Octavia. 

“Deal!” with that, Sallie May turned on walked up to the group. 

Octavia and Orion watched as she greeted them, they looked happy to see her, and they saw an incubus walk up to her. They made small talk and Sallie May said something which made the incubus nod in understanding and followed her when she made the walk back. 

When she was in a safe distance, she spoke. 

“Via, Rion, this is Ethan,” Sallie May gestured to the demon, he was tall with a shag hair style along with the typical feature of a lust demon bnut there was something different about him.  

Lust demons have powerful pheromones that they used to bend anything and anyone to their will. The scent was distinct depending on the lust demon, it was either sweet and fruity or musky and with a hint of vetiver. It was meant to calm the victim, to ease them into letting their guard down but for a demon on the ace spectrum, it made them feel nauseous. Like smelling an old lady wearing too much perfume nauseous. 

But this guy was different, he didn’t have a scent emitting from him at all. Which was impossible since lust demons’ pheromones oozed out of them like a trickle fountain. But not this guy. 

“Hi!” Ethan greeted the twins politely, “Sal told me so much about you! I’m the founder of ‘Ace of all Trades!’, it’s nice to meet you.” 

The incubus extended his hand towards them but was met with glares of contempt form the two royals. But instead of being offended, he smiled and took back his hand. 

“I know, you see an incubus who doesn’t smell and is actually being nice,” he chuckled, “I understand but I hope you can give us a chance to describe our group.” 

Octavia and Orion looked at Ethan and each other, they should just leave and yell at Sallie May later. 

But... they were curious about that group since they never met any other demons like them before and Sallie May did say that she would stay with them. 

“Fine...” Orion mumbled with his arms crossed. 

“but don’t expect us to act buddy buddy,” Octavia grumbled. 

Ethan nodded, “I understand.” 

Sallie May made sure to stay in between the twins and the incubus as they walked to the gazebo where the other demons were. 

She did hope that the guns the twins had strapped to their hips stayed strapped to their hips. 

Chapter Text

“So... what do you want to know?” Ethan asked when everyone sat down at the gazebo benches.  

Octavia and Orion were sitting at the benches in front of him at an appropriate distance while Sallie May sat between them. Some members if the group were talking amongst themselves.  

“Here’s one,” Octavia grumbled with her arms crossed, “How can a lust demon be ace?”  

Sallie May gave the girl a stern look, but Ethan chuckled.  

“I know right? You would think that a demon who specializes in lust should be like all the other lust demons,” he spoke with a smile, “Endless orgies, reckless sex with humans and absorb their life essence through sex...”  

The incubus shuddered at the thought of doing it, “Well that was never me or any of us in this group.”  

The six succubi and four incubi nodded in agreement.  

“How?” Orion asked.  

Ethan hummed, “Well I guess it happened when I started puberty. When a lust demon is born, they rely on their parents for the human essence since they obviously can’t go to topside to get it. But once they enter puberty, they are given a crystal and go to get the essence themselves. It's meant to be a rite of passage but when it was my turn to go to topside, I felt... nothing.”  

He remembered it as if it were yesterday, he was fifteen and his mother gave him his crystal, telling him to get the life essence himself. She picked the perfect place for him to go too, a place in the woods where teenagers were known to smoke and drink. A perfect hunting ground for a newly awakened incubus teenager. Except, Ethan felt nothing when he approached the group of drunk teenagers who were already going at it like rabbits. He just stood there, watching. Not feeling the sexual thrill, a lust demon would feel when seeing such a sight. Instead, he felt disgust, a sickening feeling in his stomach so he ran.  

“Mom wasn’t happy to see me run back home,” he muttered softly, “and when I told her I didn’t feel anything when saw them, she laughed and told me that she got spooked her first time and brushed off what I said.”  

That felt oddly familiar, the twins thought to themselves. They both remembered telling their mother how they felt about the many, many pictures of the suitors she showed them, and she brushed them off.  

“Anyway, she made me go again but it was the same result, I freaked out when a man tried to approach me and ran off. It was the same with a woman, I felt nothing but disgust and wondered why do we even have to be sexual,” Ethan’s phone pinged and he reached into a small cooler next to him, he pulled out a tall black can that had Asmodeus’ seal on it, “so I stopped trying to go to topside and that was where the issues started.”  

“What do you mean?” Octavia asked, she was curious, but she still wanted to leave.  

“Well, I encountered a sinner when I was sixteen and they told me that they were ace,” Ethan explained, “And after they explained what it was, that was when I knew I was ace myself. I told my mom who was wondering why I had a hard time getting essence.... she went ballistic.”  

He rubbed a spot on his head where his mother threw the heavy book at him, “She said that ‘no child of hers was going to be a defective weirdo’ and threatened to kick me out if ever spoke about it again.”  

“Wow,” Orion muttered, “And I thought lust demons were supposed to be accepting.”  

“Oh, we are,” a succubus wearing a shirt that had a gray, white and purple flag on it spoke, “But for the majority of lust, they are accepting as long as you throw yourself at them.”  

“Ain’t that the truth,” a male hellhound grumbled.  

“Anyway,” Ethan spoke again, “The issues I mentioned stem from this.”  

He held up the can he hadn’t opened yet.  

“Contrary to what humans believe, lust demons can eat and drink, but the life essence of humans is basically our vitality, that is why lust demons go to topside all the time. Without it, we wither away.”  

The lust demons in the group shuddered and rubbed their arms.  

“I didn’t know about that until after I turned eighteen and my mom stopped giving me the life essence. Slowly, my body felt heavy, and I was hungry all the time, I knew why, and mom told me that she was done giving me handouts even when I begged. She dropped me off at St. Anne’s and left without a word. By then, I couldn't even lift my head and breathing alone was agony.”  

“All because she couldn't accept you, eh?” Sallie May asked.  

“Yeah, and the doctors were no help either, they thought I was an addict and put me on detox. Heh, you can guess how that turned out.”  

How could he forget about the pain he felt when the doctors prodded him with needles in an attempt to ‘detox’ him even when he said that he wasn’t.  

“Thankfully because I was eighteen, they had to call Ozzie because ironically, he has zero tolerance for drug users. One look at me and he knew that I was starving for life essence. And he knew why I wasn’t getting it, so he gave me this.”  

He opened the can and took a swig, shivering from the tart taste.  

“This is an artificial life essence drink. I drink it once a day at a certain time, it gives me what I need.”  

The other lust demons in that group did the same thing.  

“It’s not ideal but it does do what it’s supposed to do.”  

The twins understood that part, they knew that imps who lived outside of wrath had to heat up wrath coals to regulate their body temperature.  

“Anyway, that my life story about an ace lust demon. I’ll admit it sucks sometimes since I’m basically ostracized by my own ring, but I wouldn’t change myself to make everyone else happy.”  

Octavia hummed, she felt sorry for the guy, but she still had her reservations. He was still a lust demon after all.  

“It’s okay,” Ethan noticed the way she crossed her legs and softly gripped the hem of her dress, “I’m not expecting you to immediately get rid of your hatred towards us. It’s understandable since some don’t get the message, I mean Sisley here,” he gestured to the husky hellhound who was drinking a milkshake sitting nearby, “actually had a run in with an incubus last week, that poor bastard needed stitches when she was done.”  

The woman huffed, “Well what do you expect? For those assholes, ‘no’ means ‘yes’ and ‘back the fuck off’ means ‘lick my pussy’! He asked for it!”  

The succubus who was sitting next to Ethan chuckled, “It took a while to get you off him.”  

Orion listened and spoke, “So what do you guys do anyway?”  

 “We’re all accountants,” the succubus answered casually, “the lust demons in this group work at Ozzie’s palace looking over his finances. Since we’re not interested in sex, we get the job done.”  

“But we live here in Gluttony,” Ethan added, “We may ace but we want to have fun at clubs.”  

“And Lady Bee’s parties are the best!”  

The twins huffed softly, they did understand what those demons were going through, it still didn’t change how they felt about lust demons. Not after all they went through.  

“Anyway, I met Sal through my sister,” Ethan said when he realized that he completely diverted from why he wanted to meet the two teenagers, “she mentioned that she knew you guys and had a hard time because of a lot of stuff. And I knew that you would have rejected my invite if you knew what I was, so she offered to bring you here.”  

Octavia and Orion looked at the imp with frowns, she shrugged her shoulders and took a sip of her beer before checking her phone.  

“Oh shit, it’s midnight,” she said nonchalantly, “Aren’t you two technicality home alone?”  

The twins groaned and stood up, might as well go home and have a late-night anime marathon.  

“Nice meeting you I guess,” the girl mumbled.  

“We gotta go,” grumbled the boy.  

Ethan understood, those two were kids after all and kids should be at home at this time even though Gluttony’s sun never set.  

“Okay but before you go,” he stood up as well and pulled out a card, “please take this! We meet here once week, but we also do video calls. You don’t have to meet with us if you don’t want to but you’re always welcome!”  

Orion took the card, dad always told him to take cards, and stuffed it in his pocket, “sure...”  

“See you later Sal,” Octavia mumbled, not giving the other demons any thought.  

As they left, Sallie May sighed and looked at Ethan, “Sorry bout them, they were always a bit anti-social. And from what I know other lust demons really pushed it with them.”  

“Oh, it’s fine,” the incubus waved it off, “Can’t blame them honestly. Just hope they know that there’s a place for them to be themselves.”  

The imp nodded and was about to leave when Ethan stopped her, “When are you going to call my sister? She thinks you don't like her.”  

Sallie May let out a nervous chuckle, “It’s... complicated?”  

“’Complicated’ my ass!”  

X  

Octavia and Orion made it home safely and decided to watch their anime in the living room. They had their snacks and drinks ready along with the anime they wanted to watch. By the time they were settled on the couch with their thick blanket, it was already in the middle of episode one.  

“Still on the phone Via?”  

The bright light was obvious, and it really got in the way of enjoying the show.  

“Sorry, I was checking out that group,” Octavia sighed and put it away.  

“Guess you’re interested?”  

“Kind of, you?”  

The boy grumbled, he was interested.  

“Well, we’ve never met other demons us so... why not?”  

They leaned against each other as the anime played, they always did that as kids and enjoyed the anime.  

Both silently agreed to check out that group again in the morning.  

Chapter Text

“I’ve heard of that group actually!” Piped Onyx as she happily ate her sundae.  

It was a rare weekend off and Orion was more than happy to take her on a date. They did the usual movie and lunch date before settling back at the hellhound’s small apartment enjoying ice cream. The prince had told her about the group ‘Ace of all Trades’ he and Octavia encountered a while ago and Onyx perked up.  

“You have?” Orion asked after he drank his large milkshake.  

Onyx nodded, “I’ve seen them around passing fliers to promote their group. I’ve been interested in joining actually.”  

“Hm?”  

“Yeah, I’m demiromantic,” the girl answered, “it’s... hard to find other aromantic demons like me. You know how some are when you tell them what you are. ‘You’re just being picky’ or ‘you just have high standards’ and my favorite one, ‘what are you? A cherub? Only cherubs act weird like that’...”  

She sighed softly and finished her sundae, “You would think hell wouldn’t care about all that.”  

Orion didn’t know that Onyx was demiromantic, but it didn’t matter. She was a cool demon to hang out with, and she was a great girlfriend who listened to him when he talked about the problems he had.  

“They were nice when they entered Stylish Occult and they said that if I was interested, I was welcome to join.”  

“Hm...”  

Onyx leaned against her boyfriend’s shoulder, “What about you? I know it’s a touchy subject since some of the members are lust demons but are you interested?”  

Orion still didn’t know but he and Octavia were curious about the group. It was just that they were still uncomfortable about the fact that there were lust demons in that group. For so long they were harassed by those demons because of their immunity to the pheromones and now there was a group of them who were ace? Ethan, the founder of Ace of all Trades said it was understandable because he himself experienced it. He hated it just as much and it was only recent that Asmodeus finally made efforts to put a stop to the harassment. The sin was very vocal about consent after all.  

“It’s.... complicated...”  

Onyx smiled, “Okay! I’ll check them out myself. I hope you and Via give them a chance; it would do you good now that you don’t have to deal with your mother anymore.”  

Orion gave a soft warble, she was right. Onyx was always right, and he loved it.  

They sat on the floor sofa in comfortable silence until the hellhound spoke again.  

“Um... do you think we can...”  

The owl prince looked at her curiously, “Hm?”  

With a blush, Onyx yipped, “Can... we.... um... kiss?”  

It was now Orion’s turn to blush, the thought did cross his mind, but he didn’t know how to bring it up. When it came to showing affection, they would either hold hands or hug, but kissing was still an area they haven’t fully explored aside from small kisses on cheek or forehead which always resulted in making both teens blush.  

“U-um... sure... we can try...”  

The girl smiled and her tail gave a wag; she was nervous though. Orion was nervous as well when he gently cupped her face, he took in a deep breath and gulped. How does an avian demon kiss a hellhound?  

Looking back, Orion had seen how his dad and Blitzø kissed so he tilted his head and leaned towards her.   

Soon, ever so gently, he pressed his beak against Onyx’s lips. It was soft but weird, beak against flew, who knew.  

Orion pulled away after a few seconds and both he and Onyx were red as tomatoes, but they smiled.  

“Wow...” the girl said with a chuckle, and she played with bits of her skirt.  

“w-was it bad?” the last thing Orion wanted was to make their first kiss bad.  

Onyx shook her head with a smile, “No! It was great! You were very sweet!”  

That made the young prince smile, and they both leaned against each other again. They decided to watch a show on TV before Orion had to leave for home.  

X  

Tapping on the keys of her laptop with a smile, Octavia smiled at the message she had received and was about to answer it when she heard the door to the study open, she didn't bother to turn her head because dad and Blitzø always knocked first. She finished typing when she felt something cold press against her cheek, she jumped, and she laughed when she saw that Loona had walked in.   

“Hey you,” she greeted with her usual smirk, “Whatcha doing?”  

Octavia took the drink and took sip of it, mocha was her favorite, “You know that Sal introduced Rion and I to that group? I was talking to one of them on sinstagram.”  

Loona smirked and sat on the chair next to the girl, she still found it weird that the twins were actually interested in joining a group associated with their identities. A group founded by an incubus of all demons. The hellhound knew all too well how their hatred for lust demons and she didn’t blame them. She actually witnessed a moment where a succubus was flirting with Octavia in the living realm. Loona was no stranger to a human disguised lust demon doing what they do but she did notice when the succubus had an excited look on her face when Octavia showed no interest. She then really pushed it with the flirting no matter what Octavia did to make her go away, Loona was about to attack until the young girl tore the succubus to shreds, literally. That was how the Loona found out that Octavia and Orion were ace, which explained why they were never affected by any of the charms and pheromones of lust demons.  

That was also a cause of worry for Loona.  

In hell, demons on the ace and aro spectrum were seen as odd because of how they rejected the idea of sex and love. One of her friends even told her once that there was a small community of ace and aro demons living in Gluttony because the ring was the only place where they could feel accepted and have fun. Loona had wanted to introduce the twins to that community, but things had happened, so she put it off.  

“Still can’t believe that Sallie May introduced you guys,” the hellhound muttered to Octavia.  

“I guess she wanted to help us make friends,” the girl shrugged, “She did say sorry for not telling us that lust demons were in that group.”  

“Well, it’s no big secret that you kids hate lust demons.”  

Octavia sighed and leaned against her stepsister, she then said in a dramatic flair, “The joys of being demonic royalty.”  

Loona wrapped an arm around her with a smile, it felt nice having a little sister.  

X  

“There is more of us out there,” Valerie, a succubus, said to Octavia, “It’s just easier for them to hide than to deal with the backlash.”  

It was Saturday and the two young royals decided to go to Gluttony to see the group at the park again, they didn’t know why but they were bored at home and wanted to stretch their legs. Orion saw Onyx there and ran to her side with a smile, so Octavia tried to interact with the others. At first, she interacted with the imps and hellhounds since she was more comfortable around them but soon found herself talking to the succubus at the gazebo’s bench. Valerie made sure she was at a good distance so she wouldn’t make the girl feel uncomfortable and explained a question she knew Octavia had.  

Were the lust demons in the group the only ace lust demons in hell?  

“No offense Octavia but you and your brother live very sheltered lives,” she explained, “You don’t have to deal with the backlash like we have to deal with on a regular basis.”  

Octavia had to agree with that, the Goetia was very hush hush regarding sexuality and would dismiss it as unnecessary. Her dad’s marriage was proof of it even though he was gay. But things were now different now that he along with Octavia and Orion were basically exiled from that stupid family.  

“It’s actually easy to notice an ace or aro demon in Lust,” Valerie said, “before I moved here, I would go to bars just to convince myself that I was not ace until I noticed an orgy at a certain bar. An incubus there was very uncomfortable and looked like he wanted to run but he stayed, I knew that look and I knew that I would never find peace if I stayed so now, I’m here.”  

Her phone beeped and she took out the can of artificial life essence to drink, “I wonder how that incubus is doing now.”  

No doubt he probably was still in Lust hiding his true self in shame or... he ended his life. It would not have surprised her if he did. Ace and aro demons were forced to hide what they were just to avoid the whispers and stares, some found it easy to ignore who they were and pretend that there was nothing ‘wrong’ with them but to the many who couldn’t often resorted to throwing themselves off the tallest building they could find.  

She sighed and finished the rest of the can, “Anyway, got any more questions?”  

Octavia shook her head when they heard a guffaw from the male hellhound nearby.  

“Tell us you’re not desperate for an audience without telling us you’re desperate for an audience!” he laughed out.  

Orion, Onyx and the others were laughing which confused Octavia, but she heard Valerie chuckle.  

“That idiot,” she muttered with a smile.  

“What was that about?”  

“Oh he’s talking about the rumor about Verosika Mayday.”  

Hearing that name made Octavia clench her fists, she hadn't seen or heard from that woman since that stupid party that almost ruined her and brother’s life, what was the rumor about?  

Valerie sensed the growing anger and spoke softly, “I won’t say much but there’s a rumor that she puts her pheromones on over during her concerts here and topside. Topside is understandable because you need to lure humans but here? Why would you put your pheromones on overdrive in hell of all places?”  

That caught her attention, “Seriously?”  

“It’s just a rumor,” the succubus shrugged, “I guess it was because her latest song did not blow anyone away like her other songs have. But then again almost all her songs were the same, but I digress on that one. Anyway, someone went to her recent concert and noticed that her pheromones were more obvious than usual.”  

“How is that possible?” Octavia tilted her head, “You can’t see them.”  

“The concert lighting made it obvious, and it started a firestorm of rumors,” Valerie said with a sigh, “I’m not a fan and her songs are literally the same, but she doesn't deserve that.”  

Octavia disagreed on that but kept her beak shut. Serves that bitch right, she nearly destroyed what her dads had and for what? To make herself feel better? Octavia hated her then when she was twelve and hated her now.  

“Personally, I think her song tanked because a new singer just emerged and everyone wants to hear new blood,” Valerie took a bite of her pizza, “Honestly, Gizelle’s music is more upbeat and all about having fun in life. No offense to Verosika, sex may sell but even the most sex crazed maniacs want something new for once.”  

Octavia has heard of Gizelle, she was a hellhound who made waves when she participated in Lady B’s open mic party. She was such a hit that she was already trending by the time she left the stage. Her songs were indeed uplifting and all about having with life, a complete opposite of Verosika’s songs.  

“Anyway, you two coming to pride?”  

Octavia looked at her, “It’s this weekend, right? Don’t know.”  

“Okay! But if you and Orion do come, we’ll be there,” Valerie smiled, “It’ll be the second time we participate!”  

“Cool,” was all the young princess said softly as she took a slice of pizza that was offered to her.  

She spent the rest of the afternoon watching the group, mostly her brother hugging Onyx from behind resting his head on top of hers and felt at ease. She never felt that way with other demons before. She only ever associated with her dad, Blitzø and Loona when she and her brother were growing up, so it was weird to be around demons they barely knew. Their cult was different because they were humans who were loyal to them.  

Orion said something to Onyx and ran to his sister with a smile, “Hey you!”  

“Hey,” she smiled, “Leaving your girlfriend for me?”  

“She’ll be fine, she wanted to talk to the others about a movie that came out,” Orion took a slice of pizza, “wasn’t interested so thought I be with you.”  

Valerie knew what movie they were talking about and stood up to join them, she turned to the twins with a smile, “I hope we see you guys at pride! It’ll be fun!”  

As she left, Octavia leaned against his shoulder, it felt nice to do that. Octavia missed the old days of when it was her and her brother against hell, but it was nice that they were able to do things separately. Her therapist was helping her overcome that need to be with her twin all the time and she was grateful for it.  

X  

“You made it!” Ethan exclaimed when he saw Octavia and Orion walk up to the group.  

It was the first day of Pride fest and Ace of all Trades had gathered at the end of the street, they were wearing their respective colors with Ethan wearing a shirt that had a black ‘X’ over the colors purple, white, black and red. He was making sure everyone was ready when he noticed the twins walk up to them.  

“Well... our dad wanted us to experience Pride fest since he never got too when he was our age,” Octavia sighed as she looked around the festival.  

“He might want to spend time with his boyfriend,” Orion added with a shrug.  

Ethan looked over to see a tall owl demon walking away, the twins were lucky to have a supportive parent. He hadn’t spoken to his mother since that day she left him at the hospital, and he was thankful that he at least had his little sister who found him after what happened. Still, he wished his mom was as understanding as prince Stolas was with his kids.  

He sighed and then smiled, no point in dwelling on the past, “Well I’m you decided to hang out with us! Come on!”  

Octavia and Orion followed the incubus to the group who were happy to have them. Orion saw Onyx there in a cute black, gray, white and green dress with her hair in a small bun, he ran to her and hugged her happily. Octavia decided to talk with an imp woman and a male hellhound, they were talking about music and whatever else when a noise that louder than the music of Pride rang out.  

“Blitzø! At least put some pants on!"  

That was the voice of prince Stolas chasing after a large work van, driving the van was the one and only Blitzø, survivor of Satan's trial. The imp was shirtless with the colors of the Pan flag painted on his bare chest, half of his body was out of the vans window, and he was shouting something. But it was obvious that he wasn’t just shirtless-  

Octavia and Orion blushed bright red and hid their faces in their hats, he was so embarrassing!  

Onyx patted her boyfriend’s back gently, “He’s... spirited, I’ll give him that?”  

And imp woman did the same for Octavia, “At least he’s proud of his identity?”  

That did nothing to ease the twins who were grumbling about how they survived their stepdad all these years.  

Ethan, who used his hand to avert his gaze from the scene, approached them, “Come on you guys! The parades starting!”  

As soon as he said that someone blew a loud horn to signal the beginning of the parade. Valerie handed out small asexual flags to everyone in the group as they were getting ready to walk. She then picked up a sign that said, ‘Asexual Lust Demons exist!’, she held it high with a big smile. She knew that many would look at her like she was crazy, but she didn’t care. The imp woman who was by Octavia held up a sign that said, ‘Trans Asexuals Exist!’ with a smile and Ethan who stood in front of the group as they walked held a large sign that said, ‘We are Ace and We Exist!’.  

Many saw and just went about their business while some gave them peace signs. Valerie was waving her sign high when she saw a group of pan demons dancing, she smiled since she loved dancing. But then she saw a man in the group dancing stiffly and her eyes widened; it was him. The same incubus she saw at that bar so long ago, he looked the same as he did at that orgy. Tall with long hair in a low ponytail and there was a heart shaped mole under his left eye. He still looked uneasy around the other lust demons, but he had a smile on his face around them. He then saw her and the ace group, he gulped, looked around and gave a peace sign with a shy smile. Valerie smiled and gave a sign back; she was glad that at least he was okay.  

And hopefully, he would seek out the group now that he knew that there was a safe place for a demon like him.  

Octavia and Orion waved their flags with big smiles on their faces; they never got to experience the chance of expressing their identities ever since they discovered who they were. Stella forbade them from ever telling anyone and would hit them if they protested. It would take a while before they would tell their dad, and he hugged them close in understanding. Never had they felt so much support and love in that one hug and even though Stolas admitted he didn’t understand their identities, he would still give them all the support they needed. They saw their dad and stepdad (wearing a pair of shorts thankfully) nearby, both men gave them peace signs in support before they went off to do their thing.  

Onyx held Orion’s hand as she waved her flag, she never thought that she would ever fall for someone the way she fell for him. And she hoped that they would always be together as long as they could. Even though Orion was a Goetic prince and she was just a hellhound, they didn’t know what the future had for them, but they were happy right now.  

The parade ended with Ace of all Trades receiving new members. Many were from Lust, and a few were from Greed which was a surprise for Ethan because many in Greed were tight lipped about their sexuality even though Mammon was known for being loud about how he ‘didn’t need bitches’ to be happy.  

Even though in hell where the idea of discrimination should not be an issue, ace and aro demons were still seen as the ‘odd’ ones who acted like heaven born who ‘cried at the idea of sex’. But Ethan was hopeful that someday that demons like him were seen as any other demon. It was a long way coming though and he accepted it and he accepted that some ace and aro demons will always feel uneasy with lust demons like him but that was a bridge to be crossed a little later in life.  

Right now, he enjoyed a fun day at Pride and when he saw the sun setting, he told Octavia, Orion and Onyx to go home since he knew how wild Pride Fest could get as soon as the sun set.