PART FOUR
BIRDS, ENEMIES AND ALLIES
LUCIFER
Attacked by warlocks. That is what the Ruler told everyone when Lucifer and her relatives found her parents down in the garden bleeding. For the safest place for a mortal, there were still people who could fight them.
The funeral was quick. The Great Ruler placed one flower on each pyre. Her relatives cried alongside the nobles, telling them how kind and caring they were. How quickly they left this world, they shouted to the soldiers near them.
But when the sun set, the fire vanished, the banquet was over and every noble walked far from the palace. Most of her relatives kicked Lucifer out of the gate.
Her breath quickened, trying to hold back tears. In the front of the rest had bright red hair with silver stripes accompanying them. Her voice was sharp as she was ordering two of the guards to pull Lucifer further from the palace.
''Send her to the streets or the orphanage'' She demanded. ''None will figure out that she is Royal after all'' Her lips twitched with satisfaction.
''No''Lucifer cried, with her hands pulling her further from the golden gate and onto the ground. ''Please'' Tears did not stop running.
''You have no Royal to help you now.'' The woman laughed.'' Not anymore.''
Everyone giggled harshly while Lucifer became more distant from the palace.
''What is the meaning of this?''A voice broke from the crowd, silencing the mocking.
''Let the girl down.''The voice ordered calmly.
The soldiers did not think twice as they took Lucifer back to the ground. But Lucifer was far too weak to look up.
''You can't do that,'' the other woman shrieked.
''She is my niece, just like she is yours'' The other voice sighed.
''She is a ba-''
''She is as Royal as I am'' The other woman's voice sounded sweet and sincere. And yet poisonous. As if she could kill you at any moment with a sweet smile on her face.
''Now, pick her up, and apologize to her.'' She ordered the old woman. ''After that, bring her to my chambers.''
The old woman cleared her throat and was ready to order the guards again but the other woman halted them.
''She will pick her up.''She said gently. ''Just as a proper Royal would do for their family''
Lucifer remembered the older woman caring for her by her small waist. She also remembered that her face was as red as her hair while her voice kept apologizing to her with everyone staring at her in the hallway.
If she had the strength she would have smiled.
If she was strong.
Maids made her a bath with light cream walls surrounding her. The soap was soft and scented with flowers. Camellias, just like the ones her mother decorated her curly brown hair with. The ones that her father was bringing every day from the garden and put inside a vase. She closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of the camellias. She suddenly felt warm and content, knowing her parents were near.
But they aren't.
Tears gave up once more, thinking about images she would never see again, and started crying around the ones who were cleaning every inch of her skin.
Some of them tried to calm her down. Others laughed.
Pathetic.
The maids braided her curly hair twice and pulled them higher from her neck and dressed her in green from the beginning of her neck, putting an emerald necklace till the end of her green ballet shoes.
The other room was warm with the fireplace keeping the room as bright as it could be. The maids were preparing heavily scented tea in two light green cups next to the pot and herbs. Lucifer noticed that the flowers they were using were dark purple.
Lucifer looked around nervously, studying one of the portraits that were right above the fireplace, moving shadows high to the colors.
One of the people who have been painted on the canvas was her aunt Boudica. Far younger, probably in her early twenties. Bright skin, bright smile. Green gown, simple and not detailed. Almost no jewels decorated her body, except for a small wedding ring. Next to her, holding her hand tight was a man. Dark curly hair, gentle characteristics. But then, Lucifer could see that half of his body was painted silver. As if he was almost a machine.
''I hope you like lavender.'' A voice whispered behind her.
Lucifer panicked and looked over her shoulder, finding her aunt Boudica standing dressed in a green complex dress and with a beautiful smile.
''Your Grace'' Lucifer tried to courtesy but her aunt denied her actions.
''At ease'' She stopped with a laugh and looked back at the maids. ''Leave us both alone.''
All the maids behaved and walked outside the room.
Boudica circled her niece as she tried to look away from her, ashamed.
''Sit'' She insisted, showing off her dark green leather couch.
''Your Grace I am-'' Lucifer tried to interfere with her aunt’s demands.
''I am your aunt, Lucifer'' She laughed with pride. ''If you call me Grace again-''
''Are you going to send me away?'' Lucifer's breath quickened.
Boudica lowered her head, looking at the couch. ''Have a seat dear'' She muttered.
Lucifer did not speak after that and obeyed her aunt. She looked down nervously, facing the small table and the wooden box that was right in front of her.
''I know how you feel'' She said behind her, preparing the tea by herself.
''I had to burn my father too at an early age.'' She laughed. ‘'I was twelve if I remember correctly.'
''How?'' Lucifer asked curiously, playing with her fingers. ''How did he die?''
There was only the sound of the fireplace while her aunt waited for the right moment to speak again. Her steps were soft and calculated with her hands now with two cups, letting in a heavy scent.
''It relaxes the nerves.'' She offered one of the cups to her niece with a smile. Lucifer had no other choice but to take her offer. The teacup was hot against her cold fingers. If she had the strength to react she could have let the cup down and ruined the gorgeous fabric. But she was not strong.
She was to be if she wanted to stay close to her aunt without shedding tears. The tea was hot. It burned her tongue. It was bitter too. But her aunt was right. It did make her headlight, keeping warmth around her cheeks.
Her aunt smiled and finally answered, ''I had a sister once.''
She sat next to her, moving her fingers around the cup. ''She was older than me so I knew her only by one single portrait''
''Why?'' Lucifer asked.
''When I was just an infant, my sister was revealed to be a warlock.'' She let out a heavy breath. ''She murdered my mother and ran far from the palace and none ever saw her again...''
She moved the cup to her lips and took a small sip.
''I heard stories that she was beautiful, dangerous, and insane.'' She moved her hand close to Lucifer's. ''But everyone is telling this to every Royal that turned out to be a warlock.'' She tried to force a laugh.
''At first, I wanted to find out whether it was the truth or a lie. That me and this sister, Guinevere, are related, that we are actually family.''
One more long pause.
''And then I saw her.'' She gasped. ''I saw her killing my father in his sleep. He was kind and she was insane. He was...''
Her breath quickened but she stopped it instantly.
''She looked like me,'' she said. ''If I remember correctly at least.''She explained.'' I burned her portrait afterward. I burned every fallen Royal's portrait. ''
''What happened after?''Lucifer asked curiously and kept drinking the tea.
Boudica's eyes closed for a couple of seconds and then opened gently like two inviting roads in a deep forest awaited Lucifer to walk in.
''I grieved, I mourned.''She informed, moving her fingers close to one another. ''But then I saw everyone, ready to eat the poor little girl alive.'' She looked far beyond. ''Her parents were murdered by her monstrous sister.''Her jaw was suddenly clenched. ''How easy would it be to push her aside now that she is young and weak?''
Her eyes turned to her niece and she smiled. ''And I stormed out of my room with a smile, looking down at every one of them and taking the responsibility of the crown, looking directly at everyone that was thinking would push me away.''
She stood up, picked up the box that was in front of Lucifer, and opened it, showing what she was hiding.
A pair of smaragdine earrings. A green ring. An emerald hairpin. The family jewels, the family symbol. The box moved to her niece and Lucifer tried to hold her breath and stop her tears.
''You will mourn. You will grieve,'' Boudica informed her. ''It is only human for you to do it but then,'' She jerked her head to the door. ''You will get out there with your chin up, showing your pride and no fear.'' She got on her knees, looking at Lucifer in her teary eyes and caressing her left cheek.
''Because you will be a Royal. You will trust none and none will trust you. That means power.''Her thumb was pressed close to her skin.
''Everyone is far from you, on their lines, in their positions.'' A quick smile again. She moved her hand away and looked at her niece's dress, studying how nervous she was looking wearing it.
''You can still wear silver but you will always wear something green.''She looked up and down at her and rested her hand on the top of her shoulder. ''What do you say?''
Lucifer looked down at the box, studying the gems. She took a quick breath and one quick memory of her and her parents together before she shut them down, keeping them locked. If she stayed crying most of the time, she could feel her other relatives taking her head. Everyone was ready to eat her alive. Boudica wanted her to help her. She just had to be by her side and learn everything she could teach. She nodded and reached out to take the box, feeling the familiar weight of the gems in her hands.
She lifted her chin and smiled gently with her fingers twisting her ring finger.
‘’I suppose it’s my time to go outside.’’
+++
I only have one portrait. I wonder if she kept it or burned it.
Hiding bodies was not something she planned to do with her supposed new peaceful future life. She was imagining herself sleeping on comfortable bed sheets that wouldn’t burn her skin every time she was laying down. Eat sweets and sugar without throwing up.
Now she was helping Hephaestus drag Hecca's body close to Lancelot’s.
Her skin was soft, making Lucifer's fingers move deep inside, trying to find something more than thick blood and veins. But bones were not to be found. It was the first time she had touched a dead body. A warlock's body, a demon’s body. Her eyes were now dark red like dahlias with gold liquid getting down her nose and dark cold lips.
Her scent was heavy, rotten flesh and also. Suffocating.
I want to throw up. Lucifer thought.
‘’I will throw up’’ Hephaestus gagged, pouting their lips, making their cheeks blow.
Lucifer held her laugh and looked down at their mechanic leg which was almost ruined, ready to break as it made loud sounds.
Earlier on, she had found Mordred on the ground, grunting in pain as they tried to help him stand up by grabbing his shoulder.
Lucifer tried to ignore his painful tired gaze as he explained what had happened. Lancelot passed. And the Hecca too, with Hephaestus striking the final blow by creating steel from nothing. When Lucifer asked them how they did it they just shrugged.
It just happened. They explained. Lucifer was unsatisfied but the girl was far more pissed.
Of course, it just happened. She threw her hands in the air, giving up.
‘’You don’t know how you did it?’’ Lucifer asked them, panting as they left the body with ease.
‘’I told you ‘’They reminded her. ‘’I just saw Mordred in danger and I…’’
Lucifer’s eyes zoomed to their nervous tapping on their pants as she slowly understood what they meant.
‘’I see’’ She tried to smile. ‘’It’s emotion, correct?’’
Their eyes snapped. ‘’What do you mean?’’ Hephaestus asked.
‘’You are with him correct?’’ Lucifer elbowed into the air.
Hephaestus choked and began coughing‘’With him? ‘’
Both of them let the body down, right next to Lancelot with her hand, touching their neck, one last time.
‘’Oh, no no no no no’’Hephaestus laughed, turning their head left and right fast. ‘’I am done with soldiers.'' They looked down with a frown.
‘’But he is not a soldier,’’ Lucifer sighed, looking left and right. ‘’I thought that he is-’’
‘’Taking orders to serve a greater cause it’s pretty much a soldier’’ Hephaestus explained. ‘’I just don’t like the idea of fight’’
''Why?'' She asked.
‘’Because in war there are no winners?’’ They replied with a question, clicking their tongue.’’They are the ones who are serving who are losing their minds to war, forget that they are human, forget that their enemy is human that’’ They stopped talking, shutting their eyes fast before they smiled. ‘’Anyways,’’ they cleared their throat. ‘’It’s not like that.’’
Lucifer shook her head, pretending to believe their words.
‘’Ukko is not like this’’ Lucifer added. He never was. At least he did not show something like this to her.
Hephaestus shrugged.
When Mordred returned with Ukko and the girl following, carrying branches and logs, Hephaestus grinned, lifting their hand to wave to all three of them.
‘’Yes, we are here’’ Mordred grunted, letting the logs down slowly, one by one. Lucifer tried to see the look in his eyes behind the now white mask he was wearing.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Ukko walked in front of him, looking at Lucifer with a forced smile as he let the branches slowly down.
And then the girl threw the rest of the logs with no effort to feel sincere.
Lucifer was sure that she wouldn’t even care about the lives that were now lost.
‘’That was easy’’She said with a grin, cleaning her hands with each other.
Lucifer rolled her eyes and took a few steps back. So did the rest. They all now could look at the mountain of leaves, branches and logs that were hiding two bodies.
Two dead bodies.
I am hiding dead bodies.
‘’This is…’’ Ukko shook his head.
''Terrible'' Mordred crossed his arms around his body.
‘’It is not that bad'' Hephaestus lied.
‘’No, it is terrible.'' The girl agreed with Mordred.
Lucifer remained silent as the only thing she could think about was.
I am hiding dead bodies.
‘’We can burn them,'' Ukko suggested.
I am hiding dead bodies.
Hephaestus took a small step back but none seemed to notice it except Lucifer.
‘’The smoke will send everyone after us’’Mordred explained.
I am hiding dead bodies.
‘’Burry them?’’ The girl lifted her finger. ‘’Or throw them into a river’’
I am hiding dead bodies.
‘’We don’t have a shovel,’’ Hephaestus answered. ‘’And the river is far from here’’
I am hiding dead bodies.
‘’And also we already did so much work’’ Ukko whined.
Lucifer’s stomach tied in a knot was the key for her to run away from the conversation. She couldn’t listen to the rest talking about hidden corpses as if it were nothing. Her hands had touched a rotten corpse and she felt the flesh decaying slowly, the bones now dusting inside her blood.
As she finally stopped running, she could let her hands rest on her knees as she tried to take a deep breath, to think.
I don’t want this. I don’t want my life to be like this. She said, thinking about the blood in her hands, the lives that were lost because of her. How many more times did she have to run to find a sanctuary, and then people would die for her and run again?
What are you doing? A voice echoed in her head. Gentle and curious. Lucifer looked up, to find a girl around her age, standing up with a curious smile and eyes shut down. Her curly dark hair was down to the waist belt of her white silk dress. Her dark skin bathed perfectly in sunlight. And her arms were filled with deep swollen scars. As if someone had held her tight as they moved the dagger to her shaking skin.
‘’Who are you?’’ Lucifer asked, panting and looking back, cowardly to see if anyone could come to see her.
What do you want? The voice asked.’
Lucifer stood up straight and patted her dress, fixing it shortly as her eyes did not escape from the woman right in front of her.
‘’I want to know what is going on,’’ Lucifer said. ‘’Like, who are you and why are you in my head and..’’She lowered her eyes, watching her naked feet touching the grass and her dress swifting with the wind, only to find the sunlight revealing how faded the colors she had were, making what she was hiding with her body and dress visible enough for Lucifer to take one more step back.
I am going insane. PERFECT
As much as she wanted to ask her more questions, she could already listen to her weak voice getting out. At that moment, she couldn't show either fear or weakness. She fixed her posture as she moved her hands together, playing with her fingers as her eyes stayed steady, cold, and stiff.
The woman lifted her chin and smiled.
Follow.
The wind changed harshly, as the light attacked Lucifer’s eyes. Shut her eyes for a couple of seconds till she smelled a familiar scent. Camelias.
Her lashes parted once more and she finally found the familiar pinkish light in the area she was standing by.
Her room. Her quarters were bathed in the morning sun as the soft wind blew the curtains inside the room.
Lucifer moved around the familiar floor as she let her fingers search the books that were down on her small desk. Lessons from history and religion. Strategic and politics. This is all that Lucifer had been taught too. But the piano lessons were a gift from her aunt.
Lucifer’s father loved music. This was something for her to keep as a memory of him.
The songs that she played were his own. His own art, his own creations.
Even now, her fingers traced to the keys, wishing that she could play again to the instrument. But she couldn’t make noise. Not now. And it was killing her that she couldn't run to her sheets and jump into her bed like a child. It was killing her that she could not take a bath with rose milk and honey and let her body relax. It was killing her that she couldn’t sleep and all of this could have been just a nightmare dream. That the iron was just iron, that the magic was not her problem and the only thing she had to care about would be if she had a suitable suitor next to her and was at her aunt’s side.
Focus. She thought and maintained her stable breath, holding her tears.
She was clearly in her room. And based on the blood close to the balcony, none came after she left. Hestia was not there after all. Not anymore.
Lucifer wished that her aunt would pay a visit at least. But everything remained just as she had left it.
Walking now to her bookshelf, she found the last gift her mother gave her. A snake made of pink crystal. She touched it, feeling the cold stone around her fingers which made her almost smile.
But now that she was back there, she wished to visit her aunt. She wished to see her hair, her eyes, her face when she would see her niece back in her own palace.
‘’I want to see her'' She said out loud in a whisper.
Not yet. The voice cut her small dream as the woman who stood now at the left side of Lucifer’s hands slipped from the shock, letting the snake fall from her grasp. But she caught it immediately by kneeling with her left hand.
‘’Stop doing that'' She whispered with a hiss, scolding the woman.
When she let the snake back on the shelf, the room shifted, becoming darker. The scent of camellias was now the heavy scent of candles. The cold wind was no wind anymore but a heated fireplace. And the snake became a heavy old book.
Lucifer rolled her eyes and grunted tiredly.
‘’Where am I?''She turned to the side of the woman but she was now absent.
Lucifer lowered her head, disappointed, and now searched the newly found room she had entered. Unlike the previous one, this one was completely unfamiliar to her. The fireplace was keeping warmth against the cold metallic walls. There were paintings on each wall. Each was an event but all of them were peculiar to her. One showed two empty cold thrones.
Another showed a sky, painted red with every creature on the ground reaching their hands up to touch the white rain. Another was a portrait of a small girl. But her face was smudged, erased. The only thing visible was her long silk dark hair and red dress.
There were plenty of smudged paintings but the thing that made Lucifer concussed were the tears she was shedding.
There was a table in the center of the room. Chemicals in strange-shaped bottles, books notes, and candles, all filled every inch of it.
The light of the fire was not enough for Lucifer to see what the books were writing.
So she cleaned her free hand into a fist, feeling a sudden warmth around the palm with light crafting inside of it. As the shape of an orb finally came to life, Lucifer could let it float free and she let her eyes rest on the open books.
Calculations and numbers. The weight of chemicals and organs was written messily on the pages. Each of the pages had a name and a title.
One of them had a specific name, still fresh, unlike the ink that was completely dry on the rest of the pages.
Experiment Apophis.
Lucifer read about the calculations of the chemicals the one who wrote it was about to use. The meters of metal, the amount of electricity, and then finally, it was appointed perfectly a dark dagger with a silver grip.
Is that... Lucifer's eyes snapped and moved up to the next book.
This one was open to another page which was almost crisped from the fire.
Experiment Phoenix.
This made her eyes zoom into the pages even deeper. She knew what a Phoenix holder could do. Not by her aunt’s lessons. Not by Ukko’s whining about what he had learned at school. But by Hestia.
The first few days she was working, Lucifer wanted to test her patience. She was complaining that she wished to be entertained over and over again.
Hestia held her chin up and smiled as she sat next to her bed, in a wooden chair, and played with her thumbs.
Once, when the mortals kept stealing the gift of spirits, there were also the firstborn creatures, the ones who came from the deepest parts of the earth to tear down everything they could see fit. Even the Made Ones tried to fight against them but they vanished before they finished their job.
Just like true mortals, those creatures found the thieves a threat to them. A threat that could steal even their own incantation that they were born with.
Back then, there were no small spells. There were just seven. Blood, light, Nature, Earth, Water, Fire, and Sky. Powerful types of magic for everyone to command only one of them.
One of the creatures who could command fire was a giant bird. Phoenix is what the scared mortals call him.
The bird was flying with fire, moving until the sun was falling, watching the only one who could control the fire yet.
It was a young one at first. The bird was waiting for the right time, under the shadows of the mountains, for him to take the thief’s life.
But day by day, the bird was getting impressed by the thief’s actions. The thief was not stealing, was not commanding armies to fight mortals or creatures like the bird but no. The thief was running from golden guards, hiding in alleys of villages or deep caves in the forests. But not fighting. The thief used the fire for warmth and protection.
And the bird did not stop looking at the thief till the fire finally faded.
There was a golden sword from an ancient soldier in the thief’s stomach. The bird moved finally to the ground. So were the rest of the fire creatures. They all moved close to the thief, making a crowd all over the dead body.
The bird could see that it was no soldier, not a brute. It was a woman with gray long hair, dressed in rugs. Her eyes were dark like coal and her limbs and face were burned by her fire.
It seemed that the thief’s body was not strong enough for power like this.
Every creature celebrated around the body, thanking the mortal who did it. And when everyone left, the bird was alone, without the company of watching someone, using fire.
He knew that there would have been more. But how long till his fire would fade too? How long till every creature would turn against his ideals of thieves?
So he turned to the creatures of blood. And they gladly agreed to help as how playful they were to use their magic on someone, especially on fire.
That the woman with gray hair would be the first and final thief of fire. That the next would be the one who killed her, as a punishment for his body to decay from the fire that he wanted to turn down. And it could happen again and again till the last holder of fire would disappear. And as long as that, the phoenix would be the fire. The soul will always watch the one who carries it.
But, the blood creatures warned him. Magic comes with a price either energy, life, or something far more dangerous. The bird was aware of it. But he wanted revenge for the woman, he wanted the soldier to pay, he wanted the fire to grow from her soul and his, he wanted everything and nothing.
And so the first Phoenix holder began from the bird’s and woman’s ashes, moving the guard's body. His three sons saw him in flames and killed him with three knives. Then the sons had the fire. The fire kept passing to the killer, to a soldier, to a fighter to a killer.
‘’What was the price?’’ Lucifer asked her, now curious. ‘’If it worked just like it was supposed to, what was the price?’’
Hestia smiled stood up from her seat and walked away.
''Sometimes it is better for history to stay hidden.''
‘’I don’t understand’’ A voice echoed behind the closed iron doors. Loud footsteps kept approaching. Lucifer counted five. Five feet. No. Four feet and one cane.
With the command of her hand, the light vanished. Lucifer held the book tight and hid down on the table, knees touching her torso, letting a part of her shoes out of her hiding spot.
She was ready to move them.
The door opened loudly as a lever was pulled.
‘’You have all the science you need, why do you need them?'' The man’s voice was eager and tired of asking many questions. And the other voice was smooth, familiar to Lucifer’s ears.
''Because the plan won’t work without them’’ The scientist calculated each of the words he was bursting out of.
Lucifer covered her mouth so that no one would hear her heavy breathing and she let her wonder. Hephaestus knew his name. Ma’at. She wanted to ask how they knew him. She did ask and there was no answer. Just like everyone else, Hephaestus was a liar.
The man with no cane moved to Lucifer’s side and stood there still. But for her, it was too late to move her feet even closer to her body. She just hoped that the man wouldn’t notice her.
‘’Leviathan has not responded,’’ The man announced steadily to the scientist. ‘’The rest are either''
''Leviathan'' The scientist’s voice was slow as the sound of turning pages of books was guiding his mind to other interests of his. ‘’Is dead’’ He finally finished his sentence.
‘’How do you know it?’’ The man asked, shocked.
‘’They were flawless until envy showed up.'' He said as if the person he was referring to was just a tool.
‘’You knew and you sent them..’’
‘’I wanted to study the newest assets,'' he explained with a humming tone. Now a sound of match snapped from above.’’See how the project works on a warlock’s body’’
‘’Is that the reason you send people to kill them?’’The man’s voice became distant.
‘’If the thieves are alive, it must be working'' The scientist did not hide his enthusiasm.
Lucifer’s eyes flinched, watching the man take a step back.
Something fell from the table, close to her feet. It was an old, heavy book. The man’s legs shrank as he kneeled.
He will see. He will see me. She cried and tried to give all the strength to her free hand.
His face was covered with a dark leather mask so Lucifer could not see his true face.
Please don’t speak. Don’t speak.
He waited for a couple of seconds to study her and then moved his index finger close to his covered mouth, ordering Lucifer to keep silent.
Her heart skipped a bit and she shook her head, thanking him.
‘’What is it?’’ The scientist asked.
‘’The book’’The man replied, standing straight.
‘’What else do you need?'' The man asked, hiding his anger tight.
‘’Announce to the inventors of Aztlan to keep moving forward with the new parts...'' he said slowly. ‘’More phosphorus dust and far more mercury.’’He then made a long pause, letting the man bow and walk away slowly. Soon the scientist’s steps faded far too.
Took a few seconds before she let out her breath of rest.
‘’You can come out now’’ The scientist announces to her as if he knew she was already there. No. His tone was calm, and calculated without any emotion. He was expecting her to be there.
Lucifer held her breath once more as she stood up, letting none drag her out. She found his presence back where he was standing before. Calm and strict. Persistent, with his face covered by the helm of his. And yet Lucifer could see every emotion he was expressing. He was surprised as he was studying her.
‘’How did you find this place?’’ The man asked, lowering his head to an iron syringe close to him, filled with an iron blue liquid.
I don’t know where I am to begin with. Lucifer thought and played with her ring finger, fixing her composure.
‘’I would like to ask you the same thing’’ She said strictly.
The scientist held the syringe with his hand tight and placed the needle on the opposite wrist of his, pressing it to his exposed skin. There was no reaction as the liquid went inside of him. No pain, nothing.
‘’ The Spirit blood is everywhere’’He explained. ‘’Even inside your head. With the right cogs to add, your mind and soul can even see it and where it is.’’
‘’I see’’ Lucifer nodded with a brief grin.
He is talking nonsense.
The man let the syringe down as he lifted his head once more.
‘’Will you call my aunt?’’ Lucifer held her panic, her weakness. She had to stand at her height so the scientist wanted to see her weak. Want to see her human?
The man kept his distance as he disagreed with a slight tilt of his head.
‘’But you will tell me,’’ Lucifer took a step front and played with her fingers more.’’What are you planning with the dagger, correct?’’
The man seemed bored of her question as he kept looking at the books open wide in front of him. Lucifer bit her lip and flipped her hair back as she tried to find more answers.
‘’You send people to take one of us alive’’She spoke again, roughly. ‘’Why?’’
The man kept his silence. Lucifer’s eyebrows twitched and slammed her hands to the desk from anger.
This time, the man looked up, amused.
‘’You will find out soon’’He finally said. ‘’Or maybe not,’’
‘’What do you mean?’’ Her breath was cut in half.
‘’You don’t seem like a valuable asset’’ He explained, closing the book with silence.''The Ruler thinks though that you must be found alive...''
My aunt? She wants me back. A smile appeared on her face with hope jumping in her soul. As she realized what happened, she stopped it immediately.
‘’But if you tell me where you are, I might spare you.’’His voice was soothing, always calm.
‘’I am here,’’ Lucifer explained, returning herself to her strict posture.
‘’Not, here.’’He grunted, tired. ‘’There.’’ He took a deep breath and took his cane, walking closer to her with a shadow casting out to his free hand, exposing a dark old blade.
That’s…
There was a whisper out of it, coming closer to her as the man kept approaching.
‘’Live one more day and tell me where the rest of them are.’’ He made a long pause. ‘’You have one close to you correct?’’
Lucifer's eyes snapped wide. Ukko.She thought, showing the man her flaw. She cared for someone.
‘’Maybe I will let the assets spare him’’He moved his fingers close to his possible chin. ‘’If you agree to this of course’’
‘’You want me to lie?’’ Lucifer clenched her finger. ‘’To betray them?’’
‘’Sooner or later one of you will.’’ He tutored her, moving the blade far, making it vanish.
‘’Better for you to do the act.’’
Better for me? Lucifer panicked and looked down at the iron floor. Better for her would have been if she was born a mortal. Better for her would have been if she had stayed inside with Ukko, letting herself rest inside her dream. Better for her would have been if she hadn’t been born at all.
‘’What do you want’’The woman stood now in front of her, mouth and eye subpoenaed with her stained red hands touching Lucifer’s face tight. There were no teeth or a tongue. Maybe not even the skin. It was pitch black, just like her empty eyes. And the woman was smiling with insanity at Lucifer.
''What..?'' Lucifer almost cried with her eyes darting left and right. Once to the scientist, once to the woman.
No fear. Sooner or later one of you will.
‘’I will follow,’’ Lucifer spoke calmly. ‘’Just show me'' She frowned and looked down. Show me the truth.
And the girl let her hands move far from Lucifer's skin.
With a snap of her fingers, Lucifer was inside a forest similar to the one she was in before. But this time, everything was bathed in red, even the grass. Even the dark cloudy sky.
Lucifer looked up as her ears were cursed with a piece of horrific music from above. Around the clouds, it seemed that something was moving, something dark, that was traveling to the covered skies.
The air dry, burning Lucifer's lungs and her eyes to shed tears. Someone’s skin was touching Lucifer;’s leg, wrapping it tight, clenching their fingers deep into her skin. A giant weight pushed her head to the ground, making her look at what it was now down below.
There were bodies. Fallen bodies that Lucifer had lost count of as each of their flesh was the same. Rotten. One of them was holding a wooden toy tight to its small hand. And every gaze was facing her. Everyone was watching her.
And the horrific sound became clear that it was none other than the screams of the fallen victims, synced together.
DIEVAS A voice yelled inside her head. You need to leave. Her mother’s voice called. You are not safe.
Do you think that you can trust the ones you are getting close to?
Lucifer found the strength to look up and someone was standing in front of her. His face was solid and rotten, in the color of pale purple. His teeth decayed and his eyes pale like the moon. Worms moved from each of the holes in his skull to his cheeks and his voice tried to escape from his wounded throat, only to call a name.
‘’Lucifer’’
‘’GET AWAY FROM ME’’ Lucifer yelled and slapped the corpse’s face. But it did not move. She tried to push him and kick him as she kept yelling. This time, the corpse found her shoulders, and then he searched her face.
‘’Lucifer’’ Ukko’s voice broke in the distance.
‘’Get away from me’’’Lucifer’s heart raced as she left yelling with her eyes shut down, smelling the rotten flesh of the man. Without realizing it, she moved her hands up, and touched the rotten flesh, trying to push him far from her.
''Lucifer'' Ukko yelled again.
‘’Princess, snap out of it, you are killing him’’ The girl’s voice shouted from the right side behind Lucifer.
She finally opened her eyes, finding Hephaestus and Mordred standing in front of her, almost ready to come to help her. But Mordred's hands were too close to his pistols.
She looked down once again to see what she was doing. The corpse was now Ukko, down on the ground with his face trying to heal from a rough burn. As if light had attacked his flesh and melted off. But his gaze did not move far from her. His eyes held an intense emotion that she could not name. It seemed to be calling out to her, begging for help. But all she could do was stand there in shock, unable to break the trance that had taken her.
No human.
What have I done?