Chapter Text
„Oh my Me!“, Lucifer said in a mixture of awe, apprehension and astonishment while he looked at the flaming sword which he had raised as a demonstration of victory. From being in Hell for so long, he had learned one thing after all: the more decisive and clearer the leadership from the start, the less trouble would await him down the road. So why not start with a visible demonstration of triumph and power? Surely, that would hit home the magnitude of the event for all and get through to even the thickest angel’s skull still primed to fight. O.K., Hanjobadiel - currently the picture of confusion - would take a bit longer to process but everybody else seemed to have taken the hint that the battle for succession of the heavenly throne, right now, was over.
Lucifer scanned the faces surrounding him. He caught Amenadiel’s proud older brother nod, Maze’s triumphant and respectful bow and, over Michael’s trembling back, Chloe’s loving but also semi-incredulous and shocked glance. Chloe … he had just almost lost her - barely 2 minutes ago and then he had done it. He had finally been able to say what she wanted to hear from him for so long! Now, she was back on earth where she belonged and she must be absolutely exhausted! He had to get her home to the urchin, so at least THEY could sleep.
Suddenly, Lucifer realised the scope of his responsibilities … flaming sword storage or destruction, angels waiting for instructions, demons to send back, Michael’s route to possible redemption, and suddenly, there they were: the prayers, so many prayers coming at him through the ether - he seriously had to concentrate on how to turn these down or at least learn how to filter out the more interesting ones, involving mainly frustrated housewives imagining him reaching out to them in the fashion of a Michael Angelo painting - stark naked that is - re-enacting the immaculate conception but this time with an actual divine touch. Oh, how naughty! His father had always solemnly talked about what an important chore it was listening to prayers to stay in touch with his creations but Dad had never mentioned that there was some fun involved, too. Maybe he could involve the Detective - they could have a right laugh about them! This is what it must be for actors reading their Twitter thirst tweets.
Lucifer was shaking his head trying to push these particular channels of communication aside when he suddenly heard a young girl’s prayer and he instantly recognised who that was: the urchin. Lucifer was taken aback by how lost, pleading and desperate she sounded, “Dear Lucifer’s Dad. I don’t know if you are still watching what is going on here on earth but things aren’t good. Why did you not watch over my dad and let him get killed? I miss him so much. What will my mum do without him around? No offence to Lucifer but I am just not sure how much she can rely on him to be there for her - just recently, he put her at arm’s length again and it made her so sad. I thought you had my back at that train station! What’s the point of being God if you can’t bring him back?”.
Lucifer’s heart was breaking but at the same time thought that the kid had a point. If he really WAS all the omnis, now, a little “raising-from-the-dead” should just be another Tuesday for him, shouldn’t it? Another point to add to his increasing to do list: rescue Dan, reform and restructure hell. If “Mr Said-Out-Bitch” was anything to go by, there was some redemption to be found in hell, souls just needed the right nudge! And what is it about meeting God or a godlike figure at a train station? Maybe the spawn should scale back on watching all these Harry Potter marathons!
Right, to work it was for him: Starting with the biggest risk - demons on earth! He turned to the ex-inmates of the crashed prison bus and ordered with the greatest authority he could muster, “Demons. We have won the battle and your loyalty will be rewarded for answering to Mazikeen’s call. You will all get key positions when hell is being restructured immanently. Until your promotions, return to hell immediately! My orders still stand: No possessions unless specifically instructed by me!” With that, all the ex-convicts fell to the ground like rag dolls and they were left with a bunch of corpses. Lucifer could see a little of the unease in some of the angels lift immediately.
Next, he addressed the other angels, "Alright then, my darling brothers and sisters! I wish I could say that I am excited to work with all of you again but that would be lying and we know I don’t do that!" and with a side-glance to Michael, "Rest assured, I’d only use fear to reign in hell as it’s the only language demons will understand. Even if you sided with Michael, I shall not hold it against you as I know that fear is a great motivator. I will, however, come down hard on any further plots and unrest. I might also ask the odd little favour from you to ascertain where your future allegiance lies. I am open to reviewing roles and duties in the future but for the moment, tend to your wounds in Heaven if necessary and then go back to your old Dad-assigned roles! All but Amenadiel: Off you pop, now!“.
There was a great whooshing and the stadium suddenly felt empty in the middle of the most glorious sunset imaginable. The orange rays were gently covering the grass when Lucifer addressed Michael, „So, twin!“ - Lucifer practically spat out the word with notable distaste. „Your cut off wings will remain that for the time being. You have broken almost EVERY single one of Father’s laws … lied, conspired to kill a human, you had a child’s father murdered, you yourself killed a human, you plotted to send innocent people to hell and for what reasons? Jealousy, power hunger and self-hatred” - at the latter part, Michael raised an astonished eyebrow ready to protest but thought better of it. His back was in absolute agony and he suddenly realised how damaged Lucifer must have been to voluntarily do that to himself over and over again. “I should use the Flaming Sword to put you out of your misery but trust me, fratricide doesn’t do anyone’s souls any favours - I learnt that the hard way. So, as of now, your status is “fallen” but everybody can be redeemed, even you! You have a huge amount to learn if you want to get back into heaven and earn your rightful place in the heavenly host. Your “training” will start in hell.”
Michael winced at that, “Brother, you can’t honestly throw me into a hell-loop! I am better off dead!” Lucifer’s reply was to cut him short, “You will not be a prisoner in hell but I feel that it could teach you a good deal of empathy for the suffering of humanity. Your expertise in fear might actually come in handy for the job I have in mind for you. You will be Maze’s subordinate, and by that I mean general dog’s body, when she reigns as new Queen of Hell and she will have a lot to do when reforming the structure of hell according to my wishes.” - at that both Michael’s and Eve’s jaws dropped to the floor, while Maze licked her lips in a lecherous smile, winked at Michael and threw him a pretend kiss!
Michael displayed the first signs of outrage and just could not curtail his protestations anymore, “You seriously expect me to be handmaiden to a filthy demon? As far as demons go, Maze is vaguely alright, no offence, but they are still far inferior to us. Are you out of your mind?”. Lucifer reacted, “And there is the hubris which hell should hopefully cure. You will address Mazikeen as “my queen” and as far as maids go, she is more than welcome to make you work in whatever outfit she sees fit.” Mazikeen smirked at the image of Michael in a French maid’s outfit and retorted, “Any more of that angelic ego and heavenly superiority complex and you will start out cleaning the demon’s latrines. Trust me, if cleaning out the Augean stables is considered a Herculean task, you won’t know what has hit you with the stench in there!”
By now Michael’s initial rage had turned into a plea, “But, but having no wings in hell will leave me vulnerable to all sorts of attacks!”. Maze at this joked, “Guess, you’ll have to rely on me to protect your cute little assets, won’t you?”. Lucifer added, “While Mazikeen has got a point and learning how to trust and collaborate with others without plotting to kill or injure anyone might be a valuable experience for you, the wings, only restricted to hell, can be your first reward to work towards! Get Daniel out of hell and I shall give you your wings back. After all, he is in there due to your expert string pulling and he does NOT deserve this!”
For a second, Michael was speechless, Chloe raised an eyebrow in a mixture of horror and scepticism but there was a shadow of understanding dawning on Mazikeen’s face.
Michael was stammering, “You GOT to be kidding me. No soul has ever made it out of its hell-loop before and you know that! You are basically condemning me to eternal hell!”. Lucifer just responded with a smug “Wrong!” and a grin on his face. Now THAT really peaked Mazikeen’s interest who had never heard of anybody getting out of hell either. Lucifer continued, “During my little stint in Heaven - courtesy of you - I bumped into Mr-Said-Out-Bitch or, as Chloe might be more familiar with, Lee Garner. After I walked him through his different hell loops, worked through his guilt with him, he confronted the root of his guilt, a door opened and, hey presto, Heaven was on the other side.”
Michael entertained the thought for one moment and then uttered a resigned, “This is insane! You want me to get the Douche, Mr-I-wallow-in-my-own-guilt-and-positively-get-off-on-it, out of hell by holding his hand, helping him manage his own fear in the process of it as prize for my wings? That imbecile only has about three brain cells. He will never get it!”
Lucifer could see Chloe balling her hands into fists on the side lines, so he quickly tried to calm the situation before she got involved and this time might kill him for real with Amenadiel’s necklace still in her fists. “Now, now, watch your mouth! I admit that Sir Douche is no Einstein but neither was Lee Garner - far from! You can do it with Mazikeen’s help controlling the demons at your disposal. Don’t forget, the quicker you get this done, the quicker you will be able to rise again.
Now, Amenadiel will fly you to hell. Feel free to make a quick detour via the Penthouse to grab one or two bottles of my finest vodka before your descent. You will need it down there and I seem to remember that was your poison. Let no one say I am not without compassion! And before you fall into a sea of self-pity, endless whining and a fit of scheming rage afterwards, remember: I am not throwing you down there into a lake of fire to burn for a few hundred years over and over again, forbidding your family to come and visit you or leave you to establish your own kingdom through thousands of years of battling.
Amenadiel will drop you in my castle, you can make yourself at home and heal your back in relative security in my guest quarters. You will get your own guards and you can move about freely in hell. One thing though: Wait for Mazikeen’s and my return before you commence working with Daniel and tell Lycan, leader of the demons here in the battle and distant on and off ally of Mazikeen, to see to it that Daniel’s hell-loop is not stocked with torture demons and to make him as comfortable as possible in his L.A.loop. No additional torture of Daniel Espinoza than what he himself imagines! With any luck, he will just sit about on his own for a while after these orders have been carried out.
One last thing, Mazikeen meant the cleaning of the Augean stables quite literally earlier but there is a metaphorical sense, too. Do not conspire with the riffraff in hell to get to me or to my loved ones or to overthrow me - I shall know instantly and smite you out of existence! Work hard and do good, however, and I will allow you to rise to great responsibility in hell and once you have won my trust again, I might permit you to walk the earth again, if you are very fortunate, even at the same time as the Detective IF you are fast and prove your unquestionable commitment to me and the new cause.”
With that, Amenadiel scooped up Michael and disappeared quickly into the distance with his dark grey wings glittering briefly in the warm evening sun. Lucifer turned his more thoughtful attention to Mazikeen, “Maze, I … can’t thank you enough for your loyalty!” He looked back and forth between her and Eve. “I see that your situation has slightly changed since we last talked about your Queen of Hell aspirations. I would understand if that was not an option anymore and I don’t want to cause discord between the two of you. Why don’t you sleep over it - even for a couple of nights? We will talk some more when you are ready. Till then, good night! Nice to see you again, Eve.”
When Lucifer turned, he saw his Detective on the phone calling into the LAPD. “Yes, this is Chloe Decker here at the Los Angeles Memorial Stadium. Me and my partner were following a lead about the missing bodies of the prison bus from the morgue when we found them here in the stadium. I think somebody had a very bizarre sense of the macabre dumping them in such a public spot. No suspects yet other than it looking like a very odd prank! You might want to call a few hearses to retrieve the twenty bodies!”
In the distance, Lucifer could hear Maze’s motorcycle roar up and slowly disappear. He studied the evening light making Chloe’s hair appear like liquid gold. None of the angels here earlier could hold a candle to her in beauty, kindness, strength or bravery. And he had finally told her! He, Lucifer Morningstar, LOVED Chloe Jane Decker! With an almost idiotic grin, did he reach out his hand for her which Chloe promptly took. “Let’s get you out of here, Detective, and home to the urchin!”. Flying was an option but he figured a pensive ride in his Corvette would give them both time to get their thoughts in order and start to come to terms with all the monumental events of the evening. Their footsteps echoed hauntingly across the dead-silent stadium as they finally headed home!