"You want me to help you... Kill your father?" My incredulity echoed within the room, returning with hollow emptiness. "As in... God... Like the god?" I searched Lucifer's face for any indication of jest, hoping he was playing a cruel joke that he would reveal any moment now...

"This is no joke, Desmond. I want my father killed, preferably by our doing." Lucifer prodded his ruby hued hand between us, stilling holding it out for me to shake.

'He's really not kidding...' I thought, knowing he could still hear me.

"So how does that work? Isn't he like omnipotent and all knowing and all powerful? Wouldn't he know you're planning to kill him?" I asked, retreating a step, my back thudding into a bookcase behind me.

"Yes. But much to your point earlier. What good is knowing, if you are helpless to stop the result. You will become strong enough to do it, of that I am sure. All I ask is that in return for helping you, I get a little something in return." Lucifer's eyes held hunger behind them, masked by casual eagerness.

I scoffed outwardly, but despite my better judgement... I inwardly considered the deal in earnest. Just because he was going to help me grow in power did not mean I would ever actually become capable of killing a being such as God. I was only one man after all, Wizard or not. The devil trapped within my soul was one thing, I was confident I held the advantage over him once I grew in power... But an honest to gods... God... This was clearly a deal that was skewed toward my reaping benefits now, while his would be a gamble for much later....

I took a deep, slow and methodical breath, feeling the answer deep within my heart. I stood to gain too much. Not the least of which was an assurance that I could begin to trust Lucifer, if only barely. Whether I wanted to admit it or not I needed him just as much as he needed me.

"O-okay." I said tentatively and his smile widened. "But I have another term..." I added quickly. Lucifer frowned with disappointment, but simply nodded. "Once I have completed my part of the deal. I can't believe I'm saying this... but after killing your father, when you have taken over heaven.... You are not to go to war with any other religions or pantheons, unless I give you my blessing." My chest swelled with the conviction that with this amendment, I would squarely come out on top of this arrangement.

I knew I could not force him never to go to war with other deities, and I was sure that killing the Christian God would create many enemies. Maintaining a relationship with him at that time would be beneficial to me.

"Deal." Lucifer said without hesitation, catching me completely off guard.

"D-deal? Just like that?" I guffawed.

"Why would I reject any offer of yours? So long as I get my terms of the contract, I care not what you propose. My arrogant father has been in power too long, hiding behind my brothers -the other Archangels- I think it time he be deposed." Even despite his grotesque visage and fangs that shone brightly through his smile, his usual cool confidence still radiated from him with its usual calming effect. It was still Lucifer, regardless of how devilish he appeared.

Power hungry? Perhaps. Plotting? Certainly. But at least now I knew exactly where I stood and what each of us could expect from the other. The devil you know is still better then the one you do not....

I took his hand firmly, the slick moisture of sweat gone from my palm. I felt confident, if a little guilty. But this was the remedy to the poison that was Lucifer, this was the cost of doing business, the cost of survival so that I could one day return home. I just hoped my family would understand.... We each peered into the others eyes as we said in unison.

"Deal."

Pain blossomed within my right forearm, like a hot iron stuck to my skin. Our fists held fast together, unrelenting and unyielding as brands burned into our arms. Lucifer winced as a his sleeve burned away, revealing his own deep ruby colored flesh for which the mark burned brightly into.

The brand appeared in my arm as a large triangle, its tip shaped downward towards my wrist, The sides of the triangle extending beyond the point of convergence crossing through each other and extending outward in two flourished swoops. The letter V sat between them below the tip of the triangle and my wrist. From inside the triangle, two lines crossed each other diagonally, their ends jutting just past the side edges of the larger shape.

Finally the brand finished, the smell of hot burning flesh filled the air reminding me of a barbeque. My stomach rolled from the nausea it induced while my mouth, undeterred by the knowledge it was human flesh, watered at the idea of cooking meat.

"It is done, my friend. This sigil of Lucifer marks us as bound in contract. Neither to abdicate their duty at the called upon time. The penalty for a breach in this contract is death and one thousand years of torture in hell."

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Now that the brand had been completed, our hands released and each of us rubbed at our fresh wound.

"Well... I guess that wasn't so bad." I offered meekly as the throbbing began to give way to mere discomfort.

"Speak for yourself. I've lived in hell for thousands of years and even I cannot get over how painful these deals are. But such is the way, pain is the greatest motivator after all." Lucifer's form began to slowly return back to normal, even his burned sleeve grew back to its usual length.

He must have seen me observing him, for he added. "I cannot have myself looking out of sorts now can I?"

"I guess n-" An earthquake shook the castle, interrupting any calm or relaxation that might have been possible. Never allowed a moments rest I watched as the bare room groaned in protest under the trembling.

Panic gripped my heart as I grasped at the bookcase behind me for support. "What's happening?"

"Very peculiar, I've not encountered this before. Perhaps it would be best if we looked in on what is happening out there in the real world." Lucifer held himself fast to the post with the newly shaped hole through its center, a forever reminder of my threatening actions against him.

Tables rocked and the bookcases smacked against the yellow stone wall until one tipped and fell over, smashing into the ground with a loud crack. I winced as I began to consider what it meant for things here to break. It was all made up of my soul after all, what if that hole in the post or that shelf being broken meant a piece of my soul was breaking?

Steadily the rumbling came to a halt and Lucifer wasted no time, not even bothering to check our surroundings. He wove his hand across the air, summoning three displays that scintillated happily into existence, their bright yellow edges creating new shadows within the room. Hastily I moved beside Lucifer, hoping beyond hope that my friends were okay. My soul could wait.

*****

When I first peered into the magical monitors, all I was met with were several views of my backside. Dirt covered my body as I lay facedown in the dirt, obviously still quite unconscious. Dried blood covered ragged and torn clothes. What I could see of my surroundings appeared to be the same as when I had viewed earlier, watching Asterion run uphill with me over his shoulder. A dusty old dirt road with no vegetation to speak of. Except now, Asterion was no where to be seen.

"What is going on? Where is Ace?" I demanded nervously, searching or any sign of him.

"Just give me a moment." Lucifer retorted, his hands rising before him with poised fingers. It appeared as if he had an invisible keyboard under his palms as his fingers twitched with a strange precision. The displays veered about the scene instantaneously responding to his ethereal inputs.

As the screens settled on a view point looking over the top of my head, I spotted them. The dust road had come to an end, an aged white cement wall with cracked red tiled roofing sat on the left of the display. I had no idea what lay on the other side of it, but that was not what concerned me.

Asterion stood in a battle stance, his twin axes drawn, he was panting and appeared beyond exhausted. I could only perceive him from behind, But his shoulders appeared as strong and oppressive as ever, while his long thick black horns protruded from the top of his head.

My gaze continued to the shadow that stood beside him, who I straight away knew to be Theseus! My heart leapt at the joy of seeing him, finally knowing with certainty that he was okay. I could not make out all the details regarding his condition no matter how hard I tried, but he certainly looked worse for wear.

My attention was pulled from him as Lilith came barreling into view. Her demonic wings buffeting harshly against the air, dusting up the dirt around her as she landed beside everyone else. I could not see her face, but her hair was a bleeding black that created a dark aura around her as she stood. Lilith seemed to whisper something to Theseus, who stiffened his posture.

Finally came Apollo. His blinding radiance was just as I recalled from earlier. Floating down from the sky, he landed softly opposite to them, even from here I could make out his dreadful sneer.

"Give me the boy and I will make sure your deaths are swift and painless." His callous words bellowed out before him as he gestured his brilliant yellow bow of light toward my body. "Blood will be paid in blood!"

My companions shifted themselves closer together, creating a wall of flesh ahead of me.

"Maybe you should've trained your boy soldier better and he wouldn't have died so easily!" Lilith spat loudly, the reverberations of her demonic voice causing me to wince. The light radiating from Apollo intensified as he seethed with anger.

"I'll have to agree with the lady here, dear Apollo. The death of Agreus is unfortunate, but lies squarely with you. Leave us be, and we might avoid further bloodshed." Theseus sounded weak, and gestured something to the god that I could not perceive from this vantage point.

*****

"What are they doing? Shouldn't they run away?" I urged Lucifer, pointing hopelessly to the screen as if he could not see what what I was.

"There is nothing for us to do but watch, Desmond. Relax and trust in your companions." He answered calmly, not bothering to return my desperate look. Frustrated, I grit my teeth and did as he said, returning my fixed gaze back onto the moving pictures before me.

*****

With a bright yellow blur, Apollo shot an arrow directly at Theseus, for which Lilith promptly and swiftly deflected as she leaned before him, her bronze dagger glinting dangerously in the sunlight. With a screeching hiss she poised herself once more for combat, her wings flexing wide as if to intimidate.

"So this is it then, is it? You force our hand to slay a god? At the behest of a Christian, we lose a valuable warrior and also our God of the sun?" Theseus spat the word Christian, but readied his blade none the less. I knew he would be prepared for whatever followed.

"You think yourselves strong enough to slay me?! Show me then, you childish whelps. I will pierce your hearts with arrows before the sun sets on this dark day." He screamed, lost in a rage I could not comprehend. Despite my need for survival and my desire to see my companions triumph, Apollo had lost a son. His need for revenge was understandable.

I watched on helplessly as my three companions charged with eager battle cries, their weapons raised and poised for death. It was now us, or him. My fingers clenched into my arms with anticipation and anxiety as I stood by, only to observe.