Cruciata strolled through the gardens of her father's palace in the Eighth Circle, holding hands with Pava as she strolled through the night air. Pava smiled sweetly at Cruciata as the daughter of Beelzebub pointed out all the Hellish plants that grew here.
"You see those?" Cruciata asked, pointing to some ruby-red flowers. "Those are bloodblooms. They smell like intermingling lavender and jasmine with a slight hint of iron."
"It's beautiful!" Pava gasped. "Hell is amazing!"
Cruciata sighed. "I still shouldn't have dragged you down here without asking, Pava. You're not an ornament, you're a person. I see that now. Dad always raised me to see humans as weak, sub-demonic things, as livestock, but you... you disprove ALL of that. Thank you for opening my eyes, Pava." Cruciata placed a gentle kiss on Pava's cheek.
The beauty of the moment was spoiled when a fiery portal ripped open in the garden, revealing Archduke Beelzebub. Beelzebub scowled hatefully as he crawled into his garden on his 354 centipede legs heading straight for his daughter. "Lady Cruciata Carrionfly, we need to talk!" he shouted, dismissively throwing Pava out of his way.
"Don't hurt her!" Cruciata screamed as Beelzebub tossed Pava into the mud.
"It's only a former human," Beelzebub scoffed. "It barely has more actual feelings than the human animal it once was. Never mind! I'm here to talk about you, Cruciata." Beelzebub glared at his daughter, his hateful stare burning with all the wrath of Hell. "You told Baal and that obnoxious loyalist Michael about the plan, didn't you?! I suppose you got scared and thought you had to back out to survive! You lack the courage and vision to be a proper archduchess, you spineless whore!"
"Maybe I don't have a reason to want any of this anymore!" Cruciata screamed at her father. "Maybe I don't WANT Princess Miasma anymore! She slapped me on the cheek in the hospital! Maybe I'd rather settle down with Pava who actually loves me!"
"Pava?!" Beelzebub spat. "An ex-human is no worthy consort for any demon of my nearly royal blood!"
"We love each other!" Cruciata shouted. "That's all that matters!"
"No, my word is all that matters, Cruciata, and I forbid such nonsense!" Beelzebub growled. "You would really throw ME away for that onetime animal?! And make no mistake, you DID throw me away! I was this close to being arrested and stripped of my titles! I almost lost everything to Princess Nocticula Morningstar!"
"That's Lucifer's eighth daughter, right?" Cruciata asked.
"Exactly, and I had to work VERY hard to prevent her from ending up the ruler of the Eighth Circle instead of me!" Beelzebub spat angrily. "It's a good thing I'm an excellent politician and an even better sorcerer. I somehow managed to hide all evidence and keep the Iron Knights free to carry out my plans... no thanks to you, you faithless, unreliable bitch! Your only use now is as a scapegoat! Mark my words, you will pay for your crimes in my place, and your share of my inheritance will go to your brothers and sisters!"
"I don't care!" Cruciata shouted. "I did what was right for me and for Hell, and I'm fucking proud of myself!"
"Would you be so proud of yourself if I killed Pava?" Beelzebub asked flatly. "I'm strongly considering it. Perhaps that could get through to you about what happens to those who inconvenience Archduke Beelzebub Carrionfly, Archduke of the Eighth Circle of Hell, Lord of pollution and vermin, Hell's Chief of Justice, Grandmaster of the Order of the Fly, Overseer of Gluttony and Idolatry, Grand Chamberlain to King Lucifer... and soon-to-be King of Hell." With that, he crawled into his palace on his numerous insectoid legs. As he left, he extended his scorpion claws ans clacked them menacingly.
As soon as her father was gone, Cruciata flew over to Pava with her fly-like wings and helped Pava out of the mud. "Are you alright, sweetie?" Cruciata asked, tears in her compound fly eyes. She caught Pava in a tight, four-armed embrace.
"Mostly, I guess?" Pava said uncertainly. "Is Beelzebub really going to kill me?"
"Not gonna lie, I'm sure he'll try," Cruciata answered, tears pouring down her obsidian-colored cheeks. "But I won't let him! I'll stop him. I have to!"