"Enough." Lucifer's cold, almost bored tone belied his appearance as his grip crushed the arms of the sparkling golden thrown he was sitting. His short blond hair and feathered wings fluttered wildly as if he were in the midst of a hurricane while his eyes flashed with various vivid colours. Before him, a seemingly endless majestic hall stood with white walls and various golden ornaments. Massive pillars ran down each side, supporting a ceiling that reflected a shifting sunny sky with the occasional cloud.

"Let me get this straight." The hall shuddered as a few cracks marred the walls.

"Nyx. My Nyx. The Goddess I created myself and watched over for millennia. The one which is meant to be adapting to life and building 'bonds' at the edge of the dead zone under Eos' deluded care, is missing?"

The air trembled, yet Lucifer's voice hadn't changed in the slightest. It was as if the strange occurrences in his surroundings had nothing to do with him. "Missing, as in gone? Vanished? Her whereabouts are unknown?"

The more Lucifer spoke, the further the violent phenomena spread. Small sparks of fire, clumps of earth, droplets of water and motes of light would appear before seemingly turning to dust. Even the grand hall's white walls and golden ornaments nearby were not spared as they began to melt and bubble.

The only answer to Lucifer's seemingly rhetorical question was from an enraged grunt coming from under the debris of a pillar that looked like it had been rammed by a truck. Slowly, the slabs of marble-like rubble parted as Baros forced his hulking body to stand.

"That's not what I asked, Lucifer." Baros' projected voice slightly shook the air around him. Yet before Lucifers display, it looked fragile and powerless. "Where is our Goddess? Return her to us."

"You dare to accuse me? Even when you can't follow one simple command?" Lucifer's voice dropped to little more than a whisper, yet it could be heard for miles. "Get out. While I still consider your usefulness to be above the inconvenience your existence is."

"You do not command me, Lucifer. We made a deal." Baros' broken leg, which had been sticking out at an awkward angle, suddenly snapped back into place as he lumbered back to the centre of the hall and towards the throne.

"Are you not listening to me? Do you want me to send you back to that shit hole of an abyss? Where the pleasures of touch, sight, taste, sound and smell do not exist?" Lucifer's eyes narrowed dangerously as purple, blue, gold and red lightning seemed to flicker into existence around his outstretched wings. "Leave, before I end our agreement. Permanently."

Baros exposed his teeth as his muscles tensed. "You said that she would be safe if we let the golden woman take her. That she had a way to tame the violence and destruction. Now our Goddess is gone. Blocked from us. But we can still feel her anger. Things have only got worse. You broke the deal."

Lucifer shoulders dropped as he straightened his posture while glaring at Baros. While he looked down upon the Voidlords, their immortality and the numbers made it undesirable to escalate the issue too far. There was only one of him, and they were only one of the many problems he had to balance while ruling the five realms.

"I broke nothing. And even if I did, why would I bother trying to fool a lifeform such as your self?"

"As the 'supreme ruler' of everything, how can you not know where she is?" Baros roared, slamming his two oversized fists into the ground and creating large cracks. "If you didn't take her, who could?"

"Take her? Take her? Why would I take her now?" Lucifer released his own bellow, his thrown disintegrating as he abruptly stood up. "I've tried to keep her asleep all this time."

"And do not forget. I'm the one that allowed your kind to take ownership of the Voidlands. Killed any godlings that may threaten Nyx's dominion and orchestrate that farce of a suppression whenever your kind gets too full of themselves and reveals too much."

"You did not give us the Voidlands. We took them." Baros growled, snapping sounds coming from his body as it seemed to grow one or two sizes.

"Oh... yes," Lucifer smiled like the devil.

The moment they locked eyes, Baros stagged a couple of steps back as black blood started seeping from his left nostril.

"But could you keep it? Would I even tolerate your existence if it weren't for the fact that she has taken a liking to her... pets? If it were not for..."

Seemingly not considering Baros a threat, Lucifer closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he did, the hallway returned to its former grandeur and his throne reformed. "To lose my temper like this? How many millennia has it been? Three? Four?"

Lucifers smile slowly became less menacing. "This feeling... its almost novel. Who would have thought she could still push my buttons after all these years."

"Our time will come." Hissing, Barros returned to where he was standing before but didn't move any closer. He didn't even bother to wipe the black blood that was now dripping onto the marble-like floor.

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After a couple of minutes of silence, Lucifer shook his head slightly as he released the breath he had been holding. The raging energies around his body calmed and became non-existent as he sat back on his thrown after folding his wings.

"Maybe. Or maybe Nyx would like to know just how her 'little darlings' have been purposefully syphoning her energy and hiding from her. How you turned from liberators to wardens the moment I offered you some petty rewards."

Lucifers smile started to return to its previous, chilling state. "I wonder, would Nyx be upset that she wasn't even worth more than a single planet's continent in the eyes of the species she created? That if you could, she would never awaken from her slumber."

"We did it for her. We are servants of the Abyss." Baros pointed ears lowered slightly, and his voice sounded less confident as the anger in his posture vanished.

"Did you?" Lucifer laughed as his eyes turned into crescent moons. "Do you really think your pathetic excuses matter? Perception is reality and reality is perception. If Nyx believes you have betrayed or harmed her in any way, then you are her enemy. If you are her enemy, without something to make your existence worth something, you shall perish."

"Now, stop treating me like that old fool or incompetent woman that your sisters deal with. I know the Voidlings fear Nyx like a mortal fears death. A natural fear that prey feels when it's in the presence of its predator."

Lucifer chuckled as Baros released a deep, rumbling growl. "No, fear isn't the right word; you are terrified. For an immortal race as... lacking in self-preservation as yours, it can only mean one thing. You are not as timeless as you claim. Nyx has the power to do something even I can't. End you."

Seeing Baros right eye slightly twitch, Lucifer chuckled. "Oh, how fun it is to finally have someone foolish enough to confront me face to face. Your dreams, your fears, I see them all, Void Lord. I see them all~."

Watching as Baros bared his teeth yet not respond seemed to delight Lucifer. "Now, now. Is the little Void Lord about to throw a tantrum?"

The hallway remained silent for a short while. "Good Boy. Now, I believe its time to clear up a misguided concept you had."

"You naively believed we were equals. That, I assure you and every other being bar one in this reality, is not true. You exist here only because I haven't found the right way to destroy you yet. That and you are somewhat useful."

Even though the hall was very bright, Lucifers eyes seemed to sparkle. "And now that you need my help, your fate is all but sealed."

"We don't need-"

"SILENCE. Unless you want my armies to reclaim the Voidlands and send you back to the Abyss where you can await Nyx's wrath when she finds out what you have been doing, you will shut up and listen like the slave that you are."

Barros slowly closed his mouth as the cracks under his body spread almost to the edges of the hall. However, even though he looked like he was about to charge forward, he remained in position.

"Good. I don't need you to like me, only obey." Lucifer clapped his hands. "Let the moths fly around and busy themselves a bit longer. I've gotten soft over the years, so am content to gift them the bliss of ignorance until I am ready."

"However, that doesn't mean I will, or rather you in my stead, be doing nothing. Go and find Nyx. The moment you find her, let me know. I will think of a way to defuse the situation so everyone, even you Voidlings if she still wants you, will benefit from her return to her rightful place at my side."

Lucifer leaned back as his gaze became slightly unfocused. "Hmm, Shes probably highly resistant to most divine restrictions after being trapped for so long so using them wouldn't buy us much time. A hundred or so years? Maybe a little more if we use the life source of a planet or two."

"I won't let you imprison her again." Barros took two steps forward before crashing into the floor. There he struggled to move as in an enormous force was pressing him to the ground.

"What can you do about it if I did?" Lucifer, in a very Nyx like mannerism, tilted his head. "Nothing. Anyway, that's not a plan but a band-aid. One that probably would make things worse at this point."

"No, I'm sick of living with that ticking time bomb around my neck. A living ally is far better than a dead enemy. Plus, even though I hate to admit it, it's lonely at the top." Lucifer waved his hand, and the pressure Baros seemed to be experiencing vanished.

Slowly, making no sounds of pain or protest, Baros returned to his four feet as he glared with hatred at Lucifer. "Do you really not have her?"

Lucifer didn't bother to answer, just rolling his eyes and resting his chin on his fist as he leaned against the armrest.

"Then why haven't you started searching? Why do you remain here? I thought she was important to you?"

Taking a deep breath, Lucifer sighed. "So much potential, yet you Void Lords are still as thick as a brick wall. I have already given you reasons that should make some sense. I will not do so again."

Baros' eyes narrowed. "Aren't you just scared? Scared she will attack you the moment she lays eyes on your filthy form?"

Lucifer chuckled. "Scared? No. But you are right about one thing. We have a complicated past, and I want a few more things in my favour before we meet. I suggest you find her before I am ready, or your kind will rapidly outlive your usefulness."

"If you ever harm her."

"Enough of your bluster. I'm bored. Leave." Lucifer raised his hand, a spiral of multicoloured energy forming at his fingertip. "Unlike earlier, I am serious this time."

"While it might take your body a few years to reform, it doesn't matter much. I can always go and visit one of your sisters. I hear their bodies are similar to Nyx's true form, and my bed has been cold for far too long."

The hall suddenly dimmed as Baro's body vanished. As it brightened again, a small crack could be seen slowly closing.

"To be honest, that might not be a bad idea anyway. I do miss my Nyx." Lucifer sat in silence for a while as the smile slowly vanished from his face.

"Urg, I had actually hoped Eos' little pet project would have worked. How can a woman live so long and still be so incompetent? I swear the only thing she is good for is fighting and fucking."

Standing up casually, Lucifer sighed as he shook his head. "Ahh, what a shame. I could have reaped all the benefits without any of the risks. By the old gods, how I wish I found someone more competent to be my first wife."

"Gabriel."

As Lucifer's voice faded, another angelic man appeared. He hovered a couple of meters to Lucifer's right as six wings slowly flapped behind him. "Go check in on the Goddess of the Night and make sure she is in good health and spirits. I might be needing her... support sooner than I thought."

Without saying anything, the angel bowed before vanishing in a flicker of light. At the same moment, Lucifer vanished, leaving the large hallway in deafening silence.