Starlight Wings

Chapter 9

Needless to say, things weren't easy for the Goetia-Imp family for the next few days. Reporters hounded the palace as the full might of the guards held them back. It didn't stop news stations from reporting on the entire incident, with many publicly calling for Spiroz to be punished for what he had done. Many of Fizzarolli's fans had taken to the streets, mourning his death and angry that nobody hadn't avenged him. Thankfully, Moxxie and Millie, plus their kids, were ignored by the angry mobs, but that did little to calm them down. I.M.P. took a significant hit in sales, but it wasn't bad enough to hurt the company in the long run. Too many demons were selfish in their desires for revenge, so this would only be a tiny dry run. Still, that didn't mean things were okay on the political front.

Just as Octavia predicted, her enemies in court tried to use the entire incident against her, from accusing her brother of being an angel in disguise to outright colluding with Heaven against Hell. Thankfully, there were cameras and eyewitnesses who all painted the truth: Spiroz was going to be attacked, and Fizzarolli was aiming to kill him. What happened to him was merely self-defense, even if Spiroz never tried to do anything to defend himself.

Plus, Samuel's word was more than enough to help due to his reputation. He was adamant in his defense of his girlfriend and his family. He claimed that Fizzarolli had started everything, and the attempted murder would have been deadly for Sprizo or Blitzo based on his point of view. Octavia was lucky her boyfriend didn't care about the incident so long as she and her family were okay, and it only made her love him more. The difficult part was lying about how she was the one who had given Spiroz the Evil Eye from one of her angel associates that visited the court.

That led to one of the most common and yet necessary evils in politics: backstage negotiations. Octavia had no choice but to agree to a demand from one of these said angels to lie on her behalf. What would be asked in return, she kept to herself, but Octavia assured her family that it would be dealt with later down the road.

In the end, Queen Charlie ruled the incident as self-defense, much to the outcry of many. This only increased the protests and even a few assassination attempts, but they didn't get far. All of this was just too much for Spiroz to handle. He used the excuse of wanting to be in his room to hang out with Hedwig whenever he had the chance to clear his mind.

"I still don't get the movie," Spiroz said as he and Hedwig left the movie theaters in town dressed in their human disguises. They had just seen the remake of Dune, and Hedwig wanted to see it since her brothers were fans of the original and talked about how it, and the books they were based on, was greater than Star Wars or Star Trek. "The plot is so all over the place and the characters speak as if the audience is supposed to know how this sci-fi world works. Not to mention the actors act all emotionless and flat. I hate to see how the original was."

"I thought it was pretty good. I mean, the graphics were neat to see," Hedwig said with a cheerful tone as she skipped a bit. "Plus, I think Paul Atreides makes a good main character."

"Eh, I think a good sci-fi main character is someone like Bernard Quatermass or The Doctor from Doctor Who," Spiroz said with a shrug. "Anyway, want to get something to eat?"

"Sure," Hedwig said with a smile as the two walked over to a nearby sandwich restaurant.

However, neither of the two knew that two groups were watching them. The first was Hedwig's brothers, who were watching, invisible, from the top of the movie theater.

"So, what did you think of the movie? Does it hold to the original?" Elrohir asked his twin, who rubbed his chin.

"I think the concept of splitting the movies makes sense, but the visuals just didn't hold up, and acting is sub-par at best," Elladan answered.