Angel of Dreams

by Slaskia

Summary:

It hadn’t even been a day since they freed Alastor’s soul from the clutches of Roo and now Lucifer’s beloved Radio Demon is starting to suffer from constant nightmares. Nightmares all stemmed from the time period from when he was tortured by Roo. The only way to save him, is for Lucifer to learn the true meaning of his former title of Angel of Dreams….

….and he has to learn quickly before Alastor loses his sanity...and becomes lost to him forever.

Chapter 1

Something was wrong.

Lucifer had expected Alastor to be draped over him when he had woken up. Like he had been in the past since they started sleeping together, especially after their first time having sex last night. He had been very cuddly when they fell asleep in each other arms afterward, after all.

But no, he didn’t feel Alastor at his back. No steady rhythmic breathing on his neck either. What he did hear though was the occasional flip of a page, along with the faint sound of something being dragged across paper.

He flipped over and spotted Alastor sitting up in bed, looking intently through that green book he used to keep track of all his deals. Occasionally using his own blood to cross out a name.

Alastor looked focused, but there was something off. A tension in his shoulders. His ears were low, smile tight and fake. A weariness behind his eyes that shouldn’t be there.

“Al?” Lucifer called out softly.

“Oh! Good morning, my love!” Alastor greeted him with a cheerfulness that...didn’t seem right. “Sleep well?”

“Wonderfully,” Lucifer admitted, scooting himself closer to him. “You?”

A flinch. An ear twitch. “Oh, very well,” Alastor replied softly, Lucifer catching a bit of hesitation in his voice. “I-I’m just doing some book keeping...that’s all.”

“At five in the morning?”

“Oh you know how it is,” he said with a weak laugh. “You never know when the motivation will strike!”

“Al….” Lucifer sat up and placed a hand on his arm, feeling and seeing a hard flinch. “What is wrong?”

Those ears dropped fully. His breaths became shaky as tears starting well up in his eyes. Lucifer waited, patiently, his heart aching with worry. Had he hurt him last night without realization? Or done something he was now regretting?

“I...I didn’t get any sleep last night…,” Alastor finally admitted. “At least...not good sleep.”

Lucifer wrapped his arms around him and gave him a comforting hug. “Why? What happened?” He was grateful it had nothing to do with their activities last night, but…

“They are back…,” Alastor whimpered, his hands now on his head, the green book having disappeared back into his magical pocket. “With the deal broken…those memories...they are back….”

Oh shit….

Lucifer remembered now. During the fight with Roo...how it was mentioned part of the deal was to keep memories of torture blocked. Seven years worth of it….

On the one hand, that it took Roo that long to break Alastor was a testament to the Radio Demon’s resistance, but on the other…

Oh Father this was going to be a lot to unpack and help him through….

“They’ve been replaying in my head...every time I close my eyes.,” Alastor sobbed. “And...and it’s just like when it was actually happening! I...I could feel….”

He started rubbing his arms. “Every bite...every cut...the scratching...the pulling...flaying...beating…..”

Lucifer swallowed hard. He was certain he could help him through it, but he could already tell this was going to a much longer, harder process than it was after the Vox incident. Lucifer was resolved to do what he needed to do, whatever it took.

“Talk to me, Al,” he coaxed. “Tell me…”

“I don’t want to even think about it…,” Alastor whimpered, looking away. “I just want to forget again!”

“Burying it...forgetting it...won’t make it go away,” Lucifer told him softly, reaching up to turn his face toward him. “It will only make it come back worse...stronger. You need to work through it...face it….”

“I don’t know if I am strong enough to….”

“I am here, Al….” Lucifer pressed his forehead to his. “I’ll be your strength, your support. The others surely will be as well, if you asked them.”

Alastor didn’t answer right away, the Overlord instead wrapping him in his arms and sobbing. Lucifer held him, rocked him, rubbed his back as he let him let it out.

“It...started after the big fight with Vox and the other Vees,” Alastor finally began after several minutes. “I was forced to leave the city...to find a place to recover enough strength to portal back to Akos…,” His voice cracked.

“If I had known what was going to happen after finding that cave...I would have just summoned Akos instead,” he wailed, gripping him tighter.

Curse of hindsight…. Lucifer said nothing though, just continued to hold him, giving him encouraging nuzzles and reassuring soft kisses on his neck.

“The moment I fell asleep in that cave...I was doomed,” Alastor continued with a shudder. “I woke up in a tunnel network, some where underground. Stripped of my powers...my cane...couldn’t even call for Akos!”

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. Null field? Very powerful suppression magic at the very least if he couldn’t even call for Akos. Then again, this was Roo they were talking about….

“In the tunnels with me...was a hunter with three large hounds.” The fear in Alastor’s voice was palpable. “It was those very things that ended my human life...and now they wanted me to play a ‘game’ in the afterlife. I had to find a way out of the tunnels...while they chased me...hunted me….”

Was there even a way out? He wouldn’t put it past Roo to give him a false sense of hope like that.

“When I was inevitably caught, I...I would be punished….” Alastor continued, his voice trembling. “The punishments varied…but many involved devouring a piece of me while I was conscious. Sa-sometimes...I was forced to get my own flesh….”

Oh Father! Lucifer felt the bile rise up to his throat, his grip around Alastor tightening.

“Once in while, just to...’change things up’….it would be something else chasing me. Like my step-father, or the racist bullies. It would always be the hunter or one of the hounds in the end. The cruelest one though...was when they made me think my mother was trapped down there with me...calling for help. I should have known better! She’s in Heaven! There was no way! But I kept falling for it anyway...and I would have a hound at my throat as my ‘reward’….”

Fucking cruel ass bitch….

Alastor was quiet for a moment before continuing, needing time to compose himself again. Lucifer gave him the time he needed.

“Somewhat regularly after I lost the ‘game’ and lost consciousness, I would wake up in the small cave I found at the start. The exit, however, was barred by roots...offering me only a glimpse sunlight...of freedom! I had no powers...I only had my own two hands, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t break through. I would scream for someone to help me, but there was no one to hear me.” Alastor’s body trembled, Lucifer rubbing his head and back to soothe him.

“There would be food there, beyond the roots, just within reach. It was usually rotten or otherwise disgusting. But I was either too hungry to care...or...compelled to eat it. The amount was…barely enough to keep me alive.”

There were tears in his eyes, Lucifer having to fight to keep himself from breaking down into sobs. So much suffering...such cruelty…but he had to be the strength and support Alastor needed right now.

“Then...one day...after seven years...the roots let me out.” Alastor’s voice was a whisper. “I was but skin and bones...my clothing having rotted away...but I was finally out! There was a woman there...told me her name was Eve...told me she was the one that finally opened the way.”

Oh no…. Lucifer could already tell what was going to happen.

“I was so grateful...I...about to swear undying loyalty to her...but then...she revealed her true nature...revealed that she was the one was responsible for my torment. That…finally fully broke me…and….”

“You signed the deal she offered,” Lucifer finished for him.

“Yes…,” Alastor confirmed. “She would have control over what powers I had and I would be tasked to kill someone of her choosing...the ‘one that caused all of our suffering’ as she put it…in return, the memories of those last seven years would be suppressed...blocked.”

He finally pulled away from him, sitting in front of him, his hands on his thighs as they looked at each other. Alastor looked so tired...and defeated.

“Not much else happened after that...nothing of great import at last,” he said softly. “Just...she fed me proper meals to get my weight back up...gave me new clothing...then I was sent back into the city. When I saw Charlie’s interview on the TV...I felt a ‘nudge’ from her...to go there….”

“The hotel was the lure,” Lucifer grumbled bitterly. “Roo knew that eventually Charlie would seek my help...get me involved with the Hotel. Twisted, sadistic bitch...good damn thing I couldn’t be killed, eh?”

Finally a smile and a light chuckle from Alastor, his ears nearly fully up. “And I am grateful for that,” he said. “Though...I’m surprised you didn’t let other’s know about it before?”

“Funny thing is...if people hear you can’t be killed, you get more people trying to kill you,” Lucifer grumbled, folding his arms. “And damn they were getting creative...and destructive…with their attempts. Eventually Lilith had to create a song to make everyone forget that detail about me, just so I wouldn’t be having to be put myself back together every fucking day.”

“Hearing it like that...I can see how that can be quite annoying…,” Alastor remarked.

“Damn straight…So...uh...how do you feel?”

Alastor was quiet for a moment. “A little better now that I finally got it all out…but…,’ his ears drooped again. “I can feel them Luci...feel those memories behind my eyes, ready to pounce on me when I try to sleep.”

“Well, thankfully Akos has a potion for that,” Lucifer said as he slipped off the bed, coaxing Alastor to follow. “Come on, let’s put on something presentable and get something to eat. Hopefully Akos is sober and no longer a big ball of playdoh….”

While he was hopeful, something nagged at Lucifer that it wasn’t going to be that easy to ensure Alastor got a restful night’s sleep anytime soon….

Chapter 2

With how early it still was, Lucifer wasn’t expecting to see many downstairs just yet. Akos was in the dinning area, surprisingly, though they looked like they should have stayed in bed for a bit longer.

They were oddly slumped over with just their head and neck on the table, their arms hanging by their sides. Their tail wasn’t moving, just laying flat on the ground...like, almost literally flat. In fact, parts of their body looked like they kept trying to shift around on their own and it was taking a bit of effort for Akos to keep themselves in proper ‘shape’.

“Akos...you look like you have one Hell of a hangover,” Alastor quipped.

“Morning to you too...fawn…,” Akos grumbled, lifting up their head slightly. One eye immediately started ‘sliding’ down their neck and with one hand they ‘slid’ it back up to roughly the right place on their head.

“I think you should have stayed in bed for an hour or two more,” Lucifer pointed out.

“Bah...not going back into that bathtub…,” they sneered. “Why was I in a bathtub?”

“Uh..sis...you literally turned into playdoh and it was the safest place for you until you sobered up a bit.”

“Oh….” Akos flopped their head back onto the table. “Logical…remind me not to try drinking again….”

“I don’t think you have to worry about anyone letting you do that again,” Alastor sighed as he sat in the seat across from them. “You were spouting random stuff in abysmal…and we were fortunate those didn’t turn out to be any spells.”

“I see…” Akos hefted a heavy sigh. “I trust you two had a fun night?”

“Well...the first part was enjoyable…,” Alastor muttered, his body becoming tense, his ears dropping.

“He’s going to need that one potion, Sy….” Lucifer told them. “The dream suppression one.”

Akos ears perked up, their eyes narrowing in concern as Lucifer saw the wheels turning in their head. “Ah...those memories. I understand. Just...give me a few hours for me to get more in control over myself before coming for it.”

“Thank you, Akos,” Alastor said gratefully.

Lucifer went into the kitchen and started making breakfast. Something simple, but not sweet. Bacon and eggs with hash browns! When he brought out the plates for himself, Alastor and Akos, he saw that Alastor had his head on the table, buried in his arms. From his breathing rate, it appeared he had fallen asleep, so he put his plate down quietly beside him.

The moment he had given Akos their plate and sat down next to Alastor however…

...Alastor’s ears started to twitch, breaths heavy. His body trembled. Muffled whimpers as his hands clenched, his claws digging into the wood of the table.

Oh no…. Lucifer wasn’t sure if he should wake him, considering he hadn’t gotten any sleep last night. Maybe...just maybe, this won’t be a ‘wake you out of dead sleep’ nightmare?

His hopes were dashed when Alastor jolted awake with a cry, panting heavily as he stared out into space with wide, panicked eyes. Lucifer noted that Akos was watching him with concern.

“I’m right here, Al,” Lucifer told him, carefully putting a hand on his arm. “You’re safe.”

He watched as Alastor took several deep breaths, before uttering a long ‘fuck’ and burying his face in his hands. “Can’t even take a nap!”

“It’s only the first day…,” Lucifer assured him. “I’m sure they will tamper off like the ones you’ve had before involving...Vox.”

“I hope so…,” Alastor grumbled as he pulled his plate in front of him and started eating. It didn’t pass Lucifer’s notice though that he didn’t touch the bacon.

“Not in the mood for bacon?” he asked.

There was a flash of nausea that passed over Alastor’s face. “No…,” he replied simply. “It...it reminds me of…” He put his hand to his mouth.

Lucifer had to fight down a wave of nausea himself when he recalled what one of the torments he went through was. “Right...should have thought of that, I’m sorry.”

“Something tells me I don’t want to know…,” Akos muttered as they used their tail to claim Alastor’s bacon for themselves.

The lack of protest on Alastor’s part over the theft concerned Lucifer, but said nothing. He knew it was the aftereffects of those memories returning. A trauma response. It will fade over time with help and he’ll be not just eating meat again, but swallowing sinners whole again in no time….

Right?

--

They went about their daily routines and duties around the Hotel with no issues, more or less. Lucifer, however, noticed Alastor was having more and more trouble staying awake. Even after drinking a whole pot of coffee!

This...wasn’t normal.

“Al, are you alright?” he asked him when he found him leaning against the wall with a hand on his head.

“No..,” Alastor admitted quietly. “I...I feel like I haven’t slept in three days...when I know that is not the case.”

“Between the fight to break your deal and the party we had after, I can see how it could feel like that,” Lucifer attempted to rationalize.

“But...didn’t Lilith use one of her songs to restore our energy?”

“Aside from the healing factor, that’s only temporary,” Lucifer explained. “Plus she purposely ensured the song didn’t reach either you or Roo...for obvious reasons.”

“Oh...that’s right…,’ Alastor muttered with a heavy sigh. “I really hope I get sleep tonight. I snapped at Niffty earlier, poor girl...and...and I caught myself putting the bleach in the fridge!”

“Why don’t you get that potion from Akos and turn in early, love?” Lucifer suggested.

“But...I’m behind as is in my duties…it’s only...five in the evening!”

“Three…,” Lucifer corrected, his brows creased with increasing worry.

Alastor blinked and shook his head. “Fuck….”

He didn’t need to be convinced after that. Lucifer walked with him to Akos’ room, the Radio Demon constantly pushing off the wall for support. Thankfully Akos was in their room, fully sober and they gladly handed the potion over. At this point, Lucifer teleported themselves to their room.

“You know, we need to decide on ‘proper’ room for us both,” Lucifer pointed out as he helped him undress.

“Indeed,” Alastor agreed. “One thing I will not allow however: ducks.”

“Oh come on!” Lucifer protested. “They are part of my aesthetic!”

“They are a symbol of your depression and I will not allow it in our future room,” Alastor said stiffly.

“Fine!” Lucifer huffed as he playfully pushed the now nude Alastor onto the bed. “Then my condition is no bayou!”

“Now wait a minute!” Alastor protested. “That’s-”

“Do you know how many times I’ve woken up with mosquito bites on me?” Lucifer cut him off with a stern look. “Yeah, they heal up quick, but they still itch like crazy until they do!”

“Grrr...fine!” Alastor took a sip of the potion. Lucifer took a moment to admire his body as he slipped over the covers, tempted to initiate a love making session.

No, it would be better and more enjoyable for him if they wanted until he had a proper nights sleep. So instead he gave him a light kiss on the lips.

“Nighty night, my love,” he told him. “See you in the morning.”

“You better be curled up with me when I wake up,” Alastor teased, to which Lucifer laughed.

“I plan to be,” he assured him, giving him another kiss before leaving the room. He felt confident that by morning, things will be starting to go back to normal for him….

….only it didn’t.

A few hours later, when Lucifer returned to their room to turn in himself, he found Alastor sitting on the bed with his head in his hands, sobbing.

“Al?” Lucifer went to his side immediately, getting a sinking feeling as he sat down next to him on the bed.

“It...it didn’t work…,” Alastor revealed, before sobs. “If anything it made it worse!”

That...shouldn’t be possible….

Chapter 3

Lucifer looked at the potion, picking it up and looking it over, hoping Akos maybe had gave them the wrong one.

No, it was the silvery gold one he had seen Alastor use before for this very purpose. But...just to be sure….

“Be right back…,” he said before teleporting to Akos’ room. Thankfully they were still awake.

“Akos...this is right potion, right?” he asked, holding it out to them.

Akos looked mildly insulted, but also deeply concerned. “Of course it is, brother,” they replied. “Why?”

“It...it….” Lucifer forced himself to take a breath to calm himself. “Al said it didn’t work….”

The other Seraphim’s ears went back and frown formed on their face. “That...shouldn’t be possible,” they stated.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Lucifer agreed. “Between this and...and...just how quickly he started showing symptoms of sleep deprivation…something is not right.”

“Before she left...Roo said something about his soul not being the only thing to save,” Akos recalled with a growl.

“Y-your saying this is something that bitch did as a ‘last laugh’...a last ‘fuck you’ to us?” Lucifer said, his voice pitch increasing with panic.

“We should try more methods to get him to sleep properly before jumping to conclusions.” Akos sounded like they were trying to convince themselves as much as him. “I am hoping she just increased the rate of recall on those specific memories and not….” They swallowed, clearly not wanting to voice the worse possible scenario.

To be fair, he didn’t either. “Right...sleep spells...sleeping pills...and so on,” he said. “If I have to I’ll go to Sloth Ring and...and get the really strong stuff from there.”

“Let us hope the solution is a simple one,” Akos said.

Lucifer sure as Hell hoped so.

---

Next day

Lucifer slumped onto the dining room table, utterly exhausted. Beside him Alastor was sitting in the almost exact same position. It’d be cute if it wasn’t for the seriousness of the situation.

All night, he and Alastor tried different things to get the sinner to stay asleep, but to no avail.

Sleeping pills? Even with twice the recommended dose it had no apparent effect.

Sleeping spell? Similar result.

Sedatives. Anesthetics. Nothing worked! The result was always the same! Alastor would fall asleep, but within a minute or two he would have a nightmare that would result in him jolting awake.

This was Roo’s doing. No question. But how to fight it? To stop it? It took a Father damned miracle to free his soul….

“You two look like shit,” Angel remarked as he joined them at the table.

“Thanks for noticing.” Both Lucifer and Alastor said in unison, though Alastor’s speech was noticeably slurred.

“So...too much fun between the sheets last night?”

Lucifer scoffed and rolled his eyes, Alastor muttering an annoyed groan beside him. “If only…,” Lucifer muttered. “Al hasn’t been able to sleep. Well...more accurately: stay asleep due to intense nightmares.”

“Oh shit, that ain’t good,” the spider demon acknowledged. “Sleep deprivation is no joke…any idea what is causin’ it? The nightmares, that is.”

“Nightmares?” Charlie’s voice echoed questionably. “Oh gosh, Dad...Al? What is going on?”

Lucifer managed a weak smile as his daughter rushed over to hug them both.

“Let’s wait...for everyone else...to...to show first before explanning….” Alastor stated, his beloved having propped himself up on his elbows. “Don’t wa-want to repeat it...to-to much….”

“I don’t think they need the whole novel, just the cliff notes,” Lucifer told him, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

“R-right….”

“While we wait I’ll cook some thing up for breakfast,” Angel offered as he standing up. “Since neither of you twoz look like it’d be safe for you be in the kitchen right now.”

“Thanks, Angel,” Lucifer said gratefully.

It wasn’t long before everyone else trickled in and noticed the exhausted state of them both. After everyone ate, they wall went into the lounge so Lucifer could explain what was going on. He and Alastor were on a couch, with Alastor laying down with his head in Lucifer’s lap.

“Alastor has been plagued with constant nightmares,” Lucifer explained simply. “And he hasn’t been able to sleep properly because of them.” He looked down at him: Alastor had fallen asleep, but he was already showing signs of a nightmare taking hold. With a heavy sigh, he stroked his ears before continuing.

“These nightmares are...based on the torture Roo put him through...seven years worth.”

“Dios mio….” Vaggie breathed, a hand over her mouth.

“I’ll...spare you the details of what torture was…,” Lucifer said with a hard swallow, just as Alastor startled awake. His beloved just sighed heavily, too tired now to even shed tears over it. “So far...nothing we’ve tried has helped him….”

“And these are vivid nightmares?” Akos asked.

“Y-yes…,” Alastor muttered in response.

“That’s not normal at all,” Vaggie remarked. “The vivid stuff typically only happens after you’ve been asleep for at least an hour, from what I’ve heard anyway.”

“You are correct, Vaggie,” Akos confirmed. “I did a bit of research on the matter last night. Brother, do you have the energy to assist me with a spell?”

“I-I think so...what kind of spell are we talking about?” Lucifer asked as his sister approached.

“Just a detection spell, but considering whom we suspect is responsible, the extra boost wouldn’t hurt.”

“Alright.” Lucifer clasped a hand with theirs, while Akos put their other hand on Alastor’s head. They muttered something in abysmal, their palm glowing.

“I sense two spells…,” Akos announced. “One is fading...temporary, what is it? Ah...it was a drowsiness spell….”

“That explains his grogginess yesterday,” Lucifer grumbled. “The other?”

Akos’ brows were furrowing in concentration. “This one is more intricate...complex...feels like it’s...wrapped around his soul. Oh no….” Their eyes widened and the pulled away, dread on their face.

“Sis, what is it? What kind of spell is it?” Lucifer demanded, panic in his voice.

“It’s not a spell, brother…,” Akos stated gravely. “But a curse. One that feels like it’s been there since the Deal was struck… safe guard, or a punishment, should the deal be broken.”

“Fuck….can it be broken? Removed?”

“In theory...yes, but I haven’t a clue where to start.” Akos replied softly. “Curses are not like spells...they operate on a different level and usually require precise measures to counter. Typically...it is easiest for the one that placed the curse in the first place to remove it….usually at a high price.”

No...no this can’t be….

“So...what happens if Alastor doesn’t get any sleep,” Charlie was asking.

“To keep it simple...his body will start to break down due to lack of rest...his mind…,” Akos turned their head away. “Essentially…it will fracture...leaving him only a shadow of what he once was.”

No...please…. Lucifer felt a break down coming and he was struggling to keep himself together for Alastor’s sake.

“Shit…,” Husk was saying. “And you said that crap was wrapped around his soul? That means just killing him and having him respawn won’t get rid of it.”

“Unfortunately, you are correct,” Akos confirmed with a heavy sigh.

Lucifer stood up from the couch, his hands on his head, body tense. He could feel it...the breakdown, right behind his eyes.

“Lu-Luci?” Alastor called out to him.

“Dad?” Charlie questioned, concern in her voice.

I...I need to get away…. He can’t let Alastor see him lose it. I...I promised to be his strength...I can’t….

“I-I’ll be right back…,” he said stiffly. Oh Father it was taking every bit of willpower he had to keep the tears from flowing.

“Luci….” Alastor was reaching out to him. “Please...don’t leave me….”

“Al...I….” His heart was breaking as he hugged him. ‘I’ll be back...I...I just need to take a moment to clear my head….”

“You promise?”

“I promise….”

He didn’t want to let him go, but he had to. Lucifer gave him kiss on the forehead before turning and practically running out of the hotel….

Notes:

Yeah...I can imagine Luci getting some hate here....

Chapter 4

Lucifer took flight the moment he was outside, tears streaming down his face as he flew.

It’s not fair! After so long I found someone to fill the hole in my heart!

His flight path took him to his old palace, long abandoned since Lilith left. He landed on one of it’s many balconies. There he took just a few steps in before he collapsed into a bundle of feathers and tears.

All that effort to free him…was it all for nothing?

He could only imagine how pathetic he looked and sounded, on his hands and knees, wings limp around him with a puddle of tears slowly growing on the floor.

“I can’t lose you Al…,” he whimpered and sobbed, his claws digging into the floor. “There must be something...anything get rid of this curse!”

oh but there is….

Lucifer bolted upright, eyes wide at the voice. His despair replaced by anger for the moment.

“You.” He spoke the word like a curse, the fire of anger building in his belly. “You dare to show yourself here Roo? Get lost.”

if i did that you won’t have your cure, now would you?

Lucifer growled and looked around, trying to find what Roo was manifesting herself as. He couldn’t find anything, nothing obvious at least.

“Any ‘cure’ from you is poison,” he stated stiffly.

perhaps...but what choice do you have? There was a giggle on the air that hit him from every direction at once.

He then felt something like breeze caress his face and he slapped at it out of reflex only to feel nothing.

you want to save him, right? Roo purred, her tone almost teasing.

Yes, he did want to save him...but….

or does your affection for him only extend to his body and not his mind?

“Fuck you…,” Lucifer stood up, his fists clenched, insulted they would make such an accusation. “I love all of him! Not just his body!”

is that so? There was another giggle, again heard seemly from everywhere.

Something brushed past his wings. He spun around only to see nothing once more. Damn bitch was really just a breeze on the wind wasn’t she?

then you would do anything to save him, right?

Lucifer stiffened and said nothing.

you would...wouldn’t you? She pressed in a whisper, sounding like she was right next to his ear. or would you throw him way like she did when you became too...inconvenient for her?

Lucifer started to shake, tears flowing anew down his face as he clenched his teeth. He shouldn’t...he knew he shouldn’t….

I promised I wouldn’t be your Lilith, Al….

“What do you want?” he asked, hating himself for considering to say those words, let along actually saying them.

There was cruel, yet almost playful laugh. what else? your soul.

A golden contract manifested on the railing of the balcony.

sign this...and i will remove the curse. Roo purred, her voice trailing toward the contract. your lover will be free and you...you are not to interfere with any of my plans afterward...agreed?

He shouldn’t. He really shouldn’t.

But...it’s not like it wasn’t something he hadn’t done before right? All those years being a shut in his workshop...ignoring everything? Doing nothing but making silly ducks….

He took a step toward it, but then hesitated. “You would allow us to be together...right?” he asked.

of course. A laugh. it would be pointless otherwise, no?

Lucifer took another step. Alastor wouldn’t want this...he knew it. But...he wanted all of Alastor with him...otherwise what would be the point?

He took two more steps and snatched the quill that was hovering there.

I’m sorry Al…I…love you...I do this because I love you more than anything….

He started to reach out to sign the contract.

Green magic suddenly lashed out from his palm, destroying the quill. In his mind, a memory echoed….

“I declare what I want from you is that you never sell your soul for the purpose of saving or protecting me.”

Al… How could he had forgotten the deal he had made with him? His hand hovered there in the air, as tears flowed down his face.

what? Another quill appeared but that one was destroyed as well by the green magic. how can this be?

More quills appeared. Again and again they were destroyed, Roo sounding more and more confused and frustrated.

By then Lucifer had recovered from the shock, his hand lowering as he actually read the contract...and he saw….

...the fine print.

^{You will also be my puppet for said plans as needed.}

“I admit...you almost got me…,” Lucifer growled, rage building up within him. “But did you think I wouldn’t notice that fine print!? You fucking bitch!” He hurled a fireball at the contract, incinerating it.

You Fool! Roo screeched. Fine! Go AHead...Try To Break My Curse On Your Own!

Lucifer felt himself being buffeted by a cold wind as Roo continued her tantrum. I Shall Enjoy WatchIng You SufFer As You Watch As He WithErs AWay In Both Mind And Body!

Her last words were growled into his ear. You Will Come CrawLing Back To Me, BeggIng Me To ReLease The Curse! You Will See!

“Not a chance bitch!” Lucifer cried as Roo’s presence disappeared.

Oh Al…. Lucifer gripped the railing, lowering his head, anger replaced by despair once more. You saved my soul...but at what cost?

His body started to tremble.

There has to be a way. There has to be! That fucking bitch….

The air around him started to grow hotter, a rolling inferno starting to build within in.

We broke your deal…

He started to pant heavily, his demonic form manifesting, but something even deeper stirred and came to the surface like a volcano. The fingers of his hands and the spade of his tail turned red hot. Under his hands, the railing began to soften, then began to melt. The tears he was shedding turned to steam.

We will find a way to break this curse too.

The flame between his horns shifted colors, turning yellow. A smell of burning rubber wafted up to his nose as his boots disintegrated and the edges of his pants started to char. On his wings the trailing edge of his fathers began to blacken.

I promise you that, Roo. We beat you once...we will do so again!

The build up within him was overwhelming.

I will not let you win!

He threw back his head and screamed, fire erupting all around him as he let it all out.

Notes:

Fun fact...I originally intended for Roo to offer Lucifer a deal during 'Turning Point', but forgot while writing it (in all fairness there was a lot going on in that story and I was having to keep all the pieces 'straight'). However, her doing the offer here feels more right and impactful...so...happy forgetfulness?

(oh and yes, you can punch Luci in the face...for more than one reason now XD...well...once he calms down: you'll get burned if you try to get close to him right now....)

Chapter 5

Zestial was assisting Carmilla with some paperwork when they both felt a tremor hit the building.

“What was that?” Carmilla asked. Zestial looked out the window in time to see Lucifer fly by, his four eyes widening in shock at his appearance. Clothing charred...every wing beat expelling flames: he could feel the heat through the glass, said glass having started to distort from the intensity.

“That...my friend, was our King,” he stated, a hint of fear in his voice. “And in a state I have never seen him in before in all my years. He appeared...beyond angry”

Carmilla’s eyes widened in concern. “I pity the fool that earned his ire….”

Zestial nodded in agreement.

--

Vee Tower

Vox was looking over the progress reports for new product lines. He was particularly focused on the update for the ‘portable null zone’ emitters he had the research time focus most on. According to this, they should be ready for field testing soon.

He smiled and chuckled. Let’s see Alastor and his pet serphim bitch deal with-

A sudden tremor hit the building, objects falling off and the windows of his office cracking.

What the actual fuck? Vox looked out the window to catch a glimpse of Lucifer’s state of being.

“Oh...fucking Hell…,” he breathed, taking a few steps back from the window. “Who the fuck was stupid enough to piss him off?”

--

Meanwhile…

Roughly a moment after Lucifer left the Hotel

There had been a stunned moment of silence, the only sound being Alastor’s distressed whimpering as he stared at the doors Lucifer had just ran through. Akos had quickly took the spot Lucifer once sat in on the couch and Alastor gratefully curled up against them, though they could tell he wanted Lucifer the most.

“I can’t believe he actually did that…,” Angel was saying.

“Caretakers need moments to themselves in times of stress,” Akos told him, to everyone really. They understood why Lucifer had to leave...but disapproved of the...abruptness of it.

“Still no excuse,” Vaggie was saying, her arms folded.

“Dad still struggles with his own issues, Vaggie,” Charlie stated, joining them on the couch and was rubbing Alastor’s back.

“I still don’t like how he reacted.” The former exorcist sighed before saying. “Alright, since Lucifer went and fucked off to who knows where, let’s try to figure out if there’s anything we can do.” She looked at Akos.

“You said curses require precision to remove?”

“That is correct.”

“So...what are the steps needed?”

“As I alluded to before, I don’t even know were to start,” Akos admitted with a sigh. “Just knowing it exists and who placed it is not enough like it would be with a spell. With a spell, you just need to know the intent of it to know how to counter,. On the other hand, a curse...it’s not just the intent, but the actual words, along with any objects used to place it that need to be uncovered.”

Akos put out a hand and cast an illusion of an object: a bunch of sticks tied together into a specific pattern. “The trickiest part of them is discovering them. Once that is done, it’s simply a matter of destroying it.” They clenched their fist over the illusion, dispelling it.

“The words of the incantation, like spells, can be either spoken, written or carved. However every part of it needs to be know to craft a curse breaker.”

“And since this is Roo, that information may be impossible to find out,” Charlie said sadly. “Especially if the incantation was simply spoken.”

“I fear you may be correct….”

“Words….,” Alastor was muttering. “Words...the tunnels...I...remember seeing...glyphs...runes...on the walls?”

“Are you able to describe any of them?” Akos asked hopefully. If he could recall any of them...it would be a start.

Unfortunately, the exhausted Overlord shook his head. “I didn’t...pay much...attention to them...after the first...ch-chase….”

“Can you try to focus on them next time you are...dreaming?” Akos requested.

“Don’t know...but...I’ll try….” Alastor then closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep. They waited in silence, seeing Alastor start to twitch as a nightmare took hold. He was curling up, his eyes squeezed tightly as he clearly tried to keep himself from waking up, but wake up he did.

“Alastor….” Akos held him as he panted, his eyes wide. “Were you able to focus on them?”

“Yes...but…,’ Alastor’s ears lowered. “Thinking about them now...they are all blurry….”

“Fuck...she thought that angle,” Akos growled.

“At least know these runes exist, right?” Charlie stated, trying to sound hopeful. “Maybe what we need to do is find-”

The ground shook, interrupting her.

“What was that?” Angel asked.

Akos felt every hair on their body start to stand on end as their magic senses went off.

“Someone..very powerful...and very angry is approaching....,” they stated, their ears pinning back against their head. “Charlie...I think it’s your father….”

“Oh...no….” Charlie was covering her mouth.

They felt the heat before Lucifer arrived, before the doors were nearly blasted off their hinges. He was in his demonic form, but it was...different.

The fingers on his hands and the spade of his tail were glowing like a rod of metal being taking out of a furnace. His boots were gone, the lower parts of his pants charred and blackened. The edges of his wings were blackened and the skin around the base of his horns were ashen. Lastly, the fire between those horns were burning a hotter yellow color than the usual red-orange. His expression was of determination tightly wrapped in boiling fury.

Akos stood up, their lips pulled back in a grimace, the others starting to step back due to the rolling heat coming off him. The air was shimmering with said heat, the furniture and carpet starting to smolder from his very proximity.

“Luci….” Alastor had gotten to his feet and started for him, but Akos held him back.

He hadn’t said anything and it wasn’t certain he was actually seeing them. Lucifer then put his hands on his head and started to pant heavily, his expression turning to confusion and uncertainty. The heat around him increasing.

“Oh shit...if we don’t calm him down he’s going to set the place on fire!” Angel pointed out.

“Thanks Captain Obvious!” Vaggie growled with a roll of her eyes.

“Dad!” Charlie called out, the princess running toward him, but she was forced back by the heat. “Dad! Stop! You’re starting to burn everything!”

“Luci…,” Alastor was reaching out for him, starting toward him again.

“No, Alastor,” Akos chided him. “If even Charlie can’t get near him, you’d get burned to a crisp!”

“I don’t care…,” Alastor whined. “He needs me.” Before they could stop him, he dissolved shadow.

“Alastor, no!” Akos cried, horrified when they saw him materialized right next to the raging Lucifer.

Almost immediately, Alastor’s clothing started to char as he wrapped his arms around Lucifer.

“Luci…,” he was saying, somehow not in any pain as his clothing disintegrated off him. “You promised you would come back...please come back to me….”

“A..Al?” Lucifer’s eyes widened, the heat starting to abate.

“H-how is he not being turned into cooked venison?” Husk asked.

“I...don’t know….” Akos admitted, just as confused by what they were witnessing.

“I’m here, Luci…,” Alastor had continued, by now his clothing having been completely turned to ash. “Come back...please...before you burn the hotel down….”

“Alastor….” With a sob, Lucifer wrapped his arms around Alastor. Within seconds, his demonic form dropped, the heat disappearing completely. Lucifer was back to normal, the only evidence of his rage was about a ten foot diameter of smoking and charred lobby around him.

“Al..I’m sorry…,” Lucifer sobbed against his chest. “I promised...I had promised you I would be your strength...but I am weak! I don’t know what to do!”

“Luci...it’s OK….” Alastor was nuzzling him.

“No it’s not!” Lucifer clung to him harder. “Roo...she found me...she offered me…a deal….”

“No…” Charlie gasped, as other’s looked on with horrified expressions, Akos included.

“And I was going to accept it...but….,” Lucifer whined.

“Our deal...stopped it,” Alastor finished for him.

“Wait...you mean the deal you two made before?” Vaggie spoke up. “Alastor’s part was that you didn’t sell your soul?”

“Specifically not with the intent to save or protect him,” Lucifer confirmed.”

“You knew someone would try to use you against him,” Akos stated, to which Alastor nodded.

“But now...we have to save you again the hard way…,” Lucifer whimpered, pulling away a bit from Alastor, but not letting go. “Where do we even start?”

“Alastor stated he remembers seeing runes in his nightmares,” Akos informed him. “But he cannot recall them clearly.”

“So...perhaps a mind reading spell?” Vaggie offered. “See if a third party can make them out?”

“Too risky,” Akos muttered. “At least for me to do it. Last time I tried that the poor sinner’s couldn’t remember who they were.”

Their eyes widened in realization. What Pelet kept reminding him about….

“Wait...Lucifer...I think you can do it,” they declared.

“What?” Lucifer looked at them confused. “No..I don’t do mind reading spells either.”

“No you idiot!” Akos snapped. “Your former title! The Angel of Dreams!”

Lucifer’s eyes widened briefly, but shook his head. “That’s...not me anymore….”

“Just because you lost the title, doesn’t mean you don’t still have the ability!”

“Sy...those dreams are what caused me to Fall...how do you think it will-”

“I’m talking about the literal definition of dreams!”

“I’m still not following….”

Akos wanted to hit him with a clue-by-four.

“Wait...Akos are you saying Short King here may have the ability to enter people’s dreams?” Angel asked.

Oh thank the cosmos! “Yes! Exactly!”

“But...I’ve never done such a-” Lucifer started to protest but stopped short, a look of realization on his face. He pulled away from Alastor completely a hand on his head. “Oh...shit...that wasn’t a hangover illusion?”

“Darling?” Alastor queried.

“Al...remember when we first had drinks together? Got ourselves plastered and I had to help you to your room?”

“You two got drunk together? Man I wish I could have seen that!” Angel quipped and everyone groaned.

“Vaguely? I seem to...remember...a party of imps in my head the morn-ing after….”

“I was massaging your ears...and you said I zoned out?”

“I think I recall something like that….”

“I...didn’t zone out...I...I think I went into your head...I heard your thoughts,” Lucifer explained. “I...I thought I had just imagined it...that it was due to the hangover…but now….”

“You...what? I really hope I wasn’t thinking of anything...uncouth….” Alastor was blushing a little.

“No, Al...you weren’t,” Lucifer assured him with a chuckle.

“Do you remember how you did that?” Akos asked, daring to hope.

“Not exactly, but...if we replicate what we did...minus the hangover part….” Lucifer started to pull Alastor toward a couch.

“Hold on, Short King,” Angel said with a raised hand. “While I have been enjoying the view of Smile’s nice fluffy naked ass, I don’t think the rest of us are ready for a Full Monty from Al.”

For the first time, everyone actually noticed Alastor was completely naked. Several either covered their eyes or turned around.

“Why didn’t you mention anything sooner!?” Alatsor and Lucifer screamed, both pairs of hands covering Alastor’s exposed ass.

Angel just shrugged, a smug look on his face.

Notes:

Hope ya enjoyed the tension breaker here...was kind of needed, no?

And yes...that little 'what the fuck' moment waaay...back in the 'Hangover' Chap of 'Idiot's in Love' finally has relevance. ;)

I almost took out the little cameo of Zestial and Carmilla...but I left it in so it was more clear that when Lucifer gets really pissed...everyone in Hell (or at least the Pride Ring) notices....

Chapter 6

Lucifer had quickly conjured some pants onto Alastor, all while giving Angel the stink eye, whom still had that smirk on his face.

After that he led him to the couch and had him sit on it. Lucifer took a moment recall what exactly he did that one morning before taking Alastor’s head into his hands and starting the massage at his temples. Unlike last time where Alastor tried to resist leaning into him, the sinner didn’t hesitate to lean forward and plant his face into his chest, his arms hanging limply by his sides. His tail was already wagging.

“OK...that looks adorable,” Angel was commenting.

“I have to agree…,” Vaggie remarked. Charlie was just making squealing noises.

“Please be quiet, let him focus,” Akos chided.

OK...what was next? Oh, right, I moved toward his ears…. Lucifer slowly moved his fingers toward said ears in a circular motion, eventually beginning to rub said ears themselves. Alastor breathed out content sigh as he leaned even more heavily into him. Moment’s later, the sinner was softly snoring.

He’s asleep...what did I do next? What was it? Lucifer thought back hard, trying to remember. I remember looking down at his cute wagging tail...oh yeah!

He lowered his head until his forehead touched Alastor’s head. Nothing happened and he started to panic.

Had he been wrong? Was it really just an hallucination back then?

Please…if my old title really does still have any weight…. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, focrcing himself to relax. To just….

He felt the pull. The lobby disappeared. Replaced by...by….

Oh Father!

--

Akos could feel the tension, the anticipation in the room as Lucifer repeated the steps he took. At first nothing seemed to happen, but then…

Lucifer went completely still, the pupils of his eyes turning into pinpricks. Charlie started walking toward him, concern on her face, but Akos held out a hand for her to stay back.

Alastor was starting to twitch, the signs of a nightmare taking hold. Lucifer’s body had become tense, his demon tail manifesting and curling about his leg while tears were starting to spill from his eyes.

“What...what is he seeing?” Charlie whispered, her hands to her mouth.

“Nothin’ good, obviously…,” Angel muttered, concern on his face.

Lucifer started to tremble, his breathing becoming heavy, as was Alastor’s.

“No...no…,” Lucifer was muttering, before he suddenly pulled away with a cry. He staggered back, nearly falling over, but Akos had moved quickly to catch him. The shorter angel cling to them, eyes wide as he panted. On the couch, Alastor, awake now, was watching with a tired, but sympathetic look on his face.

“Dad...what happened? What did you see?” Charlie asked, his daughter now by his side.

“Give him a moment to process,” Akos advised, rubbing his shoulders.

After a moment the Fallen Angel’s breathing normalized, but it took him a moment more before he started to speak.

“A crevice...we...he...was trapped in a crevice...a crack in the wall from the tunnels. There was...a massive hound at the opening, growling...biting, clawing at the rock, trying to get to us...him. No powers...helpless...trapped….”

Lucifer sat on the floor and looked at his hands.

“Th-that wasn’t...what hurt me the most…,” he sobbed. “Charlie...Sis...he was praying! He was calling out to Father...asking for forgiveness for everything he had done! Saying he would do anything to atone for his sins if he could be free from this torment! And...and I could feel it...I could feel that he meant every word.”

“Oh Dios….” Vaggie breathed, a hand to her mouth.

“Oh Alastor….” Charlie moved over to him to hug him. Alastor leaned into the embrace.

“And...you heard what the...hun-hunter said in response...right?” Alastor said softly, tears in his eyes.

“Y-yes…,” Lucifer whined. “He said Father couldn’t hear you there...then planted explosives and...and...I couldn’t stay any longer…I’m sorry.”

“It’s OK...it ended sh-shortly after that anyway,” Alastor sighed, moving off the couch to sit by Lucifer and lean into him, before wrapping him into his long arms, Lucifer responding in kind.

“That doesn’t make any sense…,” Vaggie stated. “Pelet said that while Father is silent, He is always listening.”

“The idea that there are circumstances where even He cannot hear someone’s heartfelt plea is disturbing,” Akos grumbled with a frown. “Though I suppose with Roo involved...it is possible.” They breathed a heavy sigh.

“But that is not important right now….” They looked at Lucifer. “Did...you see any runes?”

Lucifer shook his head regretfully. “I may have seen a glimpse of one beyond the opening in the crevice but…,” he breathed a heavy sigh. “I-I’’ll have to go back in….”

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Alastor told him, holding him tighter. “That one was...tame...compared to….”

“Al, we need to know what those runes are if we are to break this curse,” Lucifer insisted.

“I...Alright…,” Alastor sighed. “But the moment things get bad...please...get out….”

“I...I will, I promise.”

The pair positioned themselves so that they were kneeling and facing each other. Once more Lucifer took Alastor’s head into his hands and started massaging. Alastor, like before, leaned forward, this time his forehead touching Lucifer’s as he placed his hands on the angel’s shoulder’s, his eyes closing.

This time, once Alastor was clearly asleep, Lucifer seemed to enter his dream more quickly, once more going still, his pupils turning into pinpicks….

--

This time he wasn’t in some crack in a wall, but a proper tunnel.

Like the first time, he was experiencing this through Alastor’s eyes, seeing, hearing and feeling everything as he did in that moment. From the confusion he could feel from Alastor, this must be the very first incident.

He could see the red runes on the wall, but the moment Alastor realized he couldn’t understand them, he had ignored them. Instead starting to search for his missing cane.

Dammit...no...I need to read those! But he had no control over what Alastor did...this was his memory, his dream...after all.

Then...Alastor...pulled away from him?

How?

Lucifer looked down, seeing his own hands, then back up to see Alastor starting to run. He was no longer able to feel what he felt, but he could tell he was starting to panic.

Wait...why was Alastor half naked?

No, more importantly should he follow him or...

The runes, I need to study the runes.

He looked up at the red glowing runs, immediately recognizing them as some form of Enochian, but he couldn’t decipher them. Likely a dialect specific to Roo herself.

The bitch.

Lucifer studied them a while, hoping he can remember them when he leaves this dream, before taking a moment to explore the tunnels.

Odd...for a memory, it felt like he shouldn’t be able to traverse more than what Alastor experienced? He could hear growling and laughter echoing in the distance, suggesting that this dream was soon to end. If he was to find anything else, he had to do so quickly before Alastor woke up.

These tunnels though...and no logic to them, like they constantly shifted.

Wait...what was that noise? A hum? Vibration? It felt wrong.

Lucifer sought out the source, eventually finding it in a large crack in the wall. He looked in to see a...it was dark, he couldn’t make it out very well at first. A branch? With a flower? No...it was a fruit. Similar to the one he gave Eve.

Oh you twisted bitch… Lucifer growled. Was this the source? Or at least what was fueling this nightmare?

Purely on reflex, he reached into the crack, grabbed the offending plant by the stem and yanked it out.

At once the humming sound stopped, the tunnels around him wavered, then disappeared, plunging him into darkness.

He pulled out of Alastor’s head at that point, seeing no point in staying in. Whatever he did apparently ended the dream, hopefully before anything bad happened to Alastor.

When the lobby came back into focus, he found Alastor was leaning very heavily on him, snoring lightly. Was...was he truly asleep? Did...did he….

No...it couldn’t have been that simple, right?

He quickly relayed what he experienced to the others, but...frustratingly he could only remember the runes being some form of Enochian, everything else in his mind about them was...blurry….

All the while, Alastor was showing no sign of waking up like before. Lucifer started to worry he had broken something in his head….

Akos, apparently sharing his concern, used a couple of spells on Alastor, whom they had moved to the couch so he was comfortable.

“It appears he is just asleep, brother,” his sister announced, much to his relief. “What you did apparently disrupted the curse...but unfortunately, I can still sense it. If I had to guess, a new nightmare will take hold when the sleep cycle starts over, in less than two hours.

“So a reprieve...that’s all this was,” Lucifer muttered, feeling both relieved he was getting some sleep, but disappointed this wasn’t over.

“It’s better than nothing,” Vaggie pointed out. “Should buy us...and him...time for us to figure something else out.”

“There must be another way to find out what those runes say,” Charlie sighed, before her eyes lit up. “Wait...maybe if we find the actual tunnels?”

“Al did mention going into a cave before this all started,” Lucifer recalled. “If we find that cave….”

“We may find both the runes and any objects used in constructing the curse,” Akos finished. “Did he mention where it was?”

“Only that it was outside the city,” Lucifer replied, before looking at the slumbering Alastor. “I really don’t want to wake him up...but I feel like we can’t wait for him to wake up on his own either….”

“There is no harm in doing a quick search now before he awakens: perhaps we’ll get lucky,” Akos pointed out. “And since there are four of us with wings….”

Husk’s eyes widened and started to back away with his hands up. “Oh hell no...I hate flying!”

“Sorry, Husk...but we need all the eyes we can get in the sky,” Vaggie told him sternly.

“Aw...fuck….” Husk grumbled, looking defeated.

Notes:

The short 'A bad place to rest' is referenced for the second dream Luci dives into, for reference....

Chapter 7

They organized themselves into two pairs: Akos and Vaggie would start at the southside of the city, while he and Husk would take the north. Both parties would search in a clockwise pattern. Lucifer instructed Charlie and the others to watch over Alastor while they were away and to call him the moment Alastor woke up.

When they were as ready as they could be, Akos and Lucifer opened portals to their respective assigned areas and went through.

“Do we even know what we are looking for besides a cave, Boss?” Husk was asking after a moment.

“Not really,” Lucifer confessed as he scanned the ground below. “Considering her aesthetic? It will probably have a bunch of black roots around it.”

“If she hadn’t dismantled the location herself by now.”

Lucifer winced at the possibility. “Remember, Roo is limited on what they can do on their own,” he reminded him. “She requires vessels...hosts do to any real heavy lifting.”

“Right...and she probably needs a contract of some sort to really make them do serious shit,” Husk mused.

“Al didn’t say anything about her making him destroy the cave or anything after the contract was signed, so there’s a good chance it does actually still exist.”

“Unless she made him forget like she did the memories of torture….”

Lucifer hoped that wasn’t the case. Even if it was, Alastor’s brand of destruction wasn’t exactly clean so there would be a good chance of some evidence being left behind.

Still...the thought of Roo destroying any and of all evidence of the curse….

No, he had to think positive. For Alastor’s sake…

...as well as his own.

--

Almost two hours later….

“Ugh...my wings…,” Husk griped as they landed, the cat having insisted on another break to rest his wings.

“You should fly more often to build up your stamina,” Lucifer advised him.

“Says ‘mister seraphim whom can last forever’,” the cat growled.

Lucifer rolled his eyes as he scoffed. “I am not without my limits,” he grumbled when he felt his phone buzz. It was Charlie.

He immediately answered the call, knowing what it was about.. “I’m here Charlie.”

//Dad, he’s awake\\ his daughter confirmed on the other end.

Akos was right on how long we had…. “How is he?”

//He’s more...coherent? But not happy that you’re not here.\\

Lucifer had to chuckle: who would’ve thought the mighty Radio Demon would be clingy? Though he supposed he couldn’t blame him right now….

“Can you ask him about the cave? Where he found it? Any details, to be honest. So far we’ve found nothing.” It was safe to assume Akos and Vaggie hadn’t found anything either.

“Unless you count a bunch of rocks and sand as ‘something’,” Husk grumbled.

It sounded like Charlie was starting to ask Alastor about the cave, but then there was a sound of a struggle.

//Whoa! Easy Al!\\

//Just give me that blasted thing!\\ Alastor’s voice was heard.

//OK, OK! No no, you don’t hold it like that! Here!\\

Lucifer had to stifle a giggle as Alastor’s voice now came over the speaker.

//Can...can you hear me, Luci?\\

“I can, Al. How are you feeling?” Lucifer replied.

“Oh shit...he’s actually using a hellphone?” Husk remarked, his eyes wide.

//Better…,\\ Alastor replied before adding with a snarl. //What do you think you are doing out there without me?\\

“Al, considering what we are looking for, we can’t take the chance of Roo ensnaring you again,” Lucifer told him flatly. “Plus I wasn’t about to wake you up from the first actual proper sleep you’ve had in two days!”

Alastor was growling, but that was followed by a resigned sigh. //Fine...you have a point. That cave...the area was it was in was thick with large black roots. Almost resembled brambles if I recall right.\\

So his assumption was correct on that front. “Do you remember how far from the city? Or what direction?”

//I...I don’t remember for certain,\\ Alastor replied with a grumble. //I had to use what magic I had left to teleport away in a hurry...didn’t exactly have time to really focus on a direction other than ‘out of the city’. I know I walked a far distance before started seeing the roots...and the cave itself was almost completely hidden by them.\\

“Right, so better to look for a mass of roots than an actual cave at first.”

//There...was a path through them...\\ Alastor added, though he didn’t sound too certain. //I remember...felt like I was being...guided...led...down it.\\

That bit was concerning. “One last thing, Al,” he said. “After you signed that deal...did she make you do anything to the location? To cover her tracks?”

//No...I do not recall such a thing.\\ There was a note of worry in his tone. //I hope not….\\

“Same here. I’ll pass this info on and keep searching for a bit longer. Thanks, love.”

//Please...be careful, Luci….\\

“I...we will, Al. I love you.”

//I love you too...please, make sure you come back to me….\\

“Don’t worry, I will.”

There was the sound of the phone being passed back. //Dad, it’s me again,\\ Charlie said. //I hope that helps you find something...anything….\\

“Same here Char-Char. Make sure Al eats something, alright? Avoid meat right now though.”

//I will, Dad. Be careful out there.\\

“We will. Be back soon, baby girl.” Lucifer sighed heavily as ended the call, then quickly dialed up Vaggie.

//Lucifer, I was just about call,\\ Vaggie answered. //We found a potential location...and I don’t like the feel of it.\\

“Is it thick with black roots...with a feeling of being called in?” Lucifer asked.

//Yes...\\ Vaggie replied after a second pause. //How did you?\\

“I just spoke with Alastor and got more details about it,” he told her. “Don’t go any closer, Husk and I will be right there.”

//Roger that.\\

“They are on the other fucking side...you expect me to-” Husk started to gripe before Lucifer opened a portal “Oh...right….”

The portal didn’t take them exactly where they need to go, but it was close enough for it to be a short flight to their location: Akos had helpfully sent up a magic flare to guide them.

It was true to what Alastor had described. Very large, twisting black roots covered the location. Vaggie was right as well about how the place felt. Lucifer felt like something was trying to crawl under his skin, could almost hear a whisper in his mind. A nudge...a pull...trying to get him to go a certain direction. In that direction...was a path, twisting and winding deeper into the bramble of chaotic roots.

This hadn’t been constructed just to trap Alastor...but any traveler unlucky enough to find it. He had to suppress the urge to destroy the place right away.

“I don’t like this place…,” Husk was muttering, the cat shifting uneasily back and forth on his feet. “It’s...it’s….” The cat demon started walking toward the path, but Akos pulled him back.

“Vaggie...take Husk back home,” Akos growled, opening a portal. “Update the others what we’ve found.”

“Are you two sure you’ll be safe?” Vaggie asked as she guided Husk toward the portal.

“No...but we have no choice,” Lucifer growled gritting his teeth.

Vaggie nodded, then she and Husk passed through the portal, it closing right after.

Where those whispers were getting louder? He could almost make them out….

No...don’t pay attention to them. It’s a trap.

He shook his head and rubbed his face, banishing those whispers from his mind.

“Brother?” Akos queried, their hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine...let’s get in, find what we need, then get out as quickly as we can,” he said, his expression grim yet determined. Then blow it the fuck up.

He could feel that fire in him. A fire of the same intensity as he let out before and nearly burned down the hotel with. It was simmering, wanting to be let out once more, wanting to burn this whole area to ash in righteous fury.

Not yet. They had something else to do first. He breathed out, aware of the curl of smoke that came out, before starting down the path. Akos right beside him.

^{Safety ahead. Come rest your weary body and soul.}

Lucifer growled deeply, ignoring the whispers, his body tensing. Beside him he could see Akos was getting more anxious, their skin seeming to ripple with discomfort. The deeper they went, the stronger the feeling became, the more clearly the whispers could be heard….

~Just a bit further now...~ They were saying. ~Then you can rest…so weary you are…~

Tired...he did feel tired. All the stress over worrying about Alastor…his earlier explosion of power…the emotional melt down before that….

~Come traveler...rest your weary head...a safe place to sleep is just ahead….~

His eyes started to droop, his limbs felt heavy. He wanted to take a nap. Akos...was growling?

~Just a little more...just around the bend...a refuge for your weary soul...~

So...tired….

Something grabbed him and pulled him back, making him yelp. He barely recognized Akos against him as their staff appeared.

“Lloig nnn'drn! (Mind shield!),” they cried and at once the whispers faded away to almost nothing, his mind became clear and the exhaustion that was draining him disappeared.

“Fuck...thanks, sis…,” he breathed, rubbed his head.

“This place is insidious…,” Akos growled. “If it nearly got us...Alastor stood no chance at all….”

“Yeah, agreed.”

They hastened their pace and found the cave entrance. Alastor was right: the cave itself was nearly completely covered by roots. There was no way they would have spotted it from the sky.

He could feel a...tension in the air...like the place didn’t like they weren’t currently being affected by it’s magic. If they were going to find anything, they needed to do so quickly. Lucifer started to duck into the cave, but Akos stopped him and pulled him back.

Instead, they turned around and slipped their tail in. He couldn’t see much, but he safely assumed they were using their tail to safely thoroughly explore the entrance area.

“I sense heavy enchantment in there,” they said, their eyes narrowed in concentration. “This cave is shallow as well...I feel no way from him to be easily transported to a tunnel network, at least by physical means.”

“Which means magic had to have been involved,” Lucifer remarked.

“Agreed...wait...what is this?”

There was a sound of them sweeping their tail across the cave floor, bringing whatever it was outside. Lucifer’s eyes widened when he saw what it was….

It was a large piece of Alastor’s overcoat, faded and rotting away….

He picked it up, feeling it between his fingers, his body trembling a bit. If there had been any doubt that this was the place, it was gone now.

“I think there’s more...hold on,” Akos stated as they sent their tail in again. After several passes, they brought out more pieces of clothing, or what was left of them. All Alastor’s.

But...it was too much. Surely, from what he had told him, most of his clothing would have been lost in the tunnels, right? The hunter didn’t seem like the type to give him new clothing each time….

It didn’t make any sense. Unless….

Did...what happened to him actually happen in reality?

“We need to find those runes...you said there was an enchantment, right?”

“Yes,” Akos confirmed. “Multiple, if I sensed correctly. But without going inside...I won’t be able to tell.”

“Yeah...fuck that...this cave screams more ‘trap’ than the path here…,” Lucifer growled, looking at the roots covering the cave entrance. “How much you want to bet any runes are hidden behind these?”

“It would be logical...yes.”

“Then Let’s Get Rid Of Them!” Lucifer shifted to his demonic form and blasted the roots with hellfire. There was a sound almost like a scream as the roots burned away, exposing the rock face behind them. Carved upon them…

...glowing red runes.

Notes:

This fic is turning out to be much longer than I thought it would be...>.< Guess that's appropriate, considering it's the last one in this story arc/series.

Chapter 8

Thank the Cosmos… Akos breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the runes. Beside them, Lucifer as staring at them intently.

“Yeah...these were the ones I saw, fairly certain of it,” he stated, a bit of relief in his tone.

“I’ll begin copying them down,” Akos said, conjuring sheets of magical paper. “Unfortunately this will take a few, as I need to copy each one separately and note the sequence...and there are fifteen of them.”

“Hmm...I’m going to guess it’s to avoid making a portable version of whatever this sequence does…”

“Precisely.” They held up a sheet to the first rune, then said. “Thulx (copy).”

There was a flash and the rune was transcribed onto the paper. They then noted it as the first in the sequence with a quick scratch of a claw on the page. Before they could do the same for second, they started hearing groaning and creaking from the roots around them. The air around them became thick with magic, said magic tainted with anger.

“Sy...the roots are moving…,” Lucifer was warning with a growl. “Keep copying! I’ll keep them away from you!”

Akos nodded and proceeded with copying the second rune, having sensed that Lucifer had summoned his spear.

Then the third...and forth. Behind them they could hear Lucifer slashing and burning advancing roots

Fifth and sixth.

“Shit...they are getting faster!” Lucifer warned. “And there’s more of them!”

“I’m going as fast as I can!” Akos assured them.

Seventh. Eighth.

“Let me go you stupid...overgrown...weed!” Lucifer growled before adding. “I’m fine, keep going!”

Ninth. Tenth…just five more.

“Fuck! Sy...just a heads up...” Lucifer’s voice went very demonic. “But It’s ABout To Get Very Hot Here!”

Akos paused just long enough to cast a shield spell around themselves. There was a roar of rage behind them, then a flash of heat striking their shield. The sound of crackling, hissing burning root filled the air as they copied the Twelfth Rune.

Followed by the thirteenth and fourteenth….

“Last one, brother!” they announced, hearing a grunt of acknowledgment from Lucifer.

The ground cracked beside them, fresh roots springing up and ensnaring their arms and legs. With the papers in their hands, they couldn’t risk using a fire spell, but they had other means.

“N’ghaor! (decay!)” they hissed at the one wrapped around the arm holding the blank page, the root immediately withering and dying. Before another could spring up, they put the paper in position and shouted the copy spell.

“I’m finished, brother!” they announced as put the filled sheets safely into their magic pocket. After Lucifer cut off the other roots restraining them, they gathered a ball of chaotic energy.

“Agnlftutuun, sghansx tathungt! (Explosion, twenty seconds!)” They then threw the energy ball into the cave. “Let’s go!”

Akos quickly took to air, Lucifer following. Roots were also following, trying one last ditch effort to stop them, but couldn’t grow fast enough catch them before the timer ran out and the magic bomb exploded.

The cave and the roots around it exploded into a chaotic fire, bits of molten rock and burning root flying everywhere. A fire started to spread through the root ‘forest’.

“Shall we help ensure that fire gets all of it?” Akos asked.

“Gladly,” Lucifer growled and they both shape shifted into dragons. “Let’s EnSure This Place NeVer Traps AnyOne EvEr AGain!”

They then proceeded to burn the whole forest to ash….

--

Meanwhile...

Hotel

Alastor was sitting at one of the dinning room table, waiting for whatever Charlie was fixing for him to eat. He’d rather not, despite how hungry he was, mainly because he was too worried about Lucifer and Akos. Especially after what Vaggie and Husk reported to them when they returned.

I could have avoided that whole deal thing if I had just gone a different direction. Then again, whose to say Roo didn’t have similar sets up elsewhere in Hell?

A clunk of a bowl in front of him drew his attention and he briefly felt his hunger spike in anticipation.

That was...until he saw what was in the bowl.

“What is this...abomination?” Alastor growled as he poked what Charlie claimed was ‘food’. A bunch of lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and onions covered in some kind of white sauce.

“It’s a salad,” Charlie said sheepishly. “I can’t cook very well and Dad said no meat so….”

“Told ya it would have better for me to whip up a plate of spaghetti, Charlie,” Angel remarked.

“Yes...that sounds a lot more...palatable...then...then this...rabbit food,” Alastor growled, pushing the bowl away.

“You’re a deer,” Husk stated. “Deer eat plants so….”

“I am a demon with deer features not a literal deer asshole!” Alastor snapped, to which Husk just shrugged.

“Well he’s certainly feeling better...though leaning a bit too much toward the irritated side to be considered normal,” Vaggie quipped.

“You’d be ‘irritated’ too if you were stuck here, helpless, while your beloved was out there risking their lives,” Alastor huffed. He hated not being out there...helping with this issue. Hated that they were right that he would likely be sucked right back into Roo’s clutches if he had gone with them. Fuck, Vaggie flat out told everyone that Husk had started to be affected by that place…

Alastor caught sight of a light grey hand reaching over and pulling the ‘salad’ away. He glanced over to see Selene had joined him at the table and was now happily eating the salad.

“Well, at least it’s not going to waste,” Charlie sighed. “Angel, perhaps you should go make that spaghetti…”

“I am not eating anything until Luci is home safe…,” Alastor decided, even if thought of Angel’s cooking made his mouth water. That spider demon was an annoying pervert, but he was a pretty good cook….

“But Dad said to make sure you-”

“Don’t. Fucking. Care.” He crossed his arms on the table and rested his chin upon them.

“Sir?” Selene spoke up, drawing his attention “I don’t mean to pry...but...that scar...how’d you get it?”

“Which one?” Alastor asked, noticing that young doe had already finished that salad: did she even chew before swallowing?

“Uh...I only see one...the one on your chest.”

Alastor sat up and looked at himself, a bit alarmed. Sure enough, the only scar on his body that he could see now was the big one he got from Adam.

“What the…,” he said, confused. “What happened to them? Granted, I don’t miss them but….”

“You mean you had more than that ugly ass big one you got from Adam, Smiles?” Angel asked.

“Yes...a bunch of smaller ones all over my arms and chest...they...they were...remnants from my living days….”

“If I had to guess, Telum Paternus got rid of those when Pelet used it to heal your eyes,” Vaggie suggested.

“But why just those and not this one?” Alastor gestured to the large scar, to which Vaggie just shrugged.

“Lucky...I wish I could get rid of mine,” Selene muttered sadly, before lifting up her shirt and turning around to show them a series of scars on her back. Some he recognized as being from a belt or whip. Other’s looked like burns of some kind….

“Darling...who did that to you?” Alastor asked, his ears back, as she put her shirt back down.

“Parents...Owners…mostly parents…,” Selene replied softly. “They didn’t like me...called me a ‘child of sin’….”

Alastor’s ears drooped fully, his body stiffening. A memory flooded back to him, an old one from his early life….

~~

“You’re a worthless, weak piece of shit,” his step-father was growling at him, one strong hand holding him up partly up by his shirt.

“Da...I’m sorry!” Alastor whimpered. “I didn’t mean to-”

“I ain’t your ‘da’!” the man snapped, slapping him across the face. “To think a piece of half-white trash like you thinks me as your ‘da’ disgusts me!”

Alastor whimpered as he was thrown hard to the floor.

“If it wasn’t for your mother, I’d thrown your weakling ass to the gators long ago!”

~~

“Alastor!”

Charlie’s voice snapped him back to the present and he gasped, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“You zoned out there,” the princess was asking. “You alright?”

I-I’m fine, darling,” Alastor sighed, wiping away the tear before looking at Selene. “I’m...sorry you had parents that hated you...it’s feeling I know all too well: no child should have to live with parental figures that doesn’t love them.”

“Oh Al….” Charlie was saying, her hand on his shoulder. Selene’s ears had lowered, the doe looking uncertain on how to react to his sympathy.

“Ahh…that was satisfying,” Lucifer’s voice announced from the lobby. They all turned to see Lucifer and Akos entering the lounge area. Lucifer did indeed have a satisfied expression, but then he slumped over, his face now reading exhaustion. “But...I am now so fucking exhausted!”.

“Luci…,” Alastor immediately got out of his chair and ran for him, scooping up the King into a hug. “You’re back...your safe….”

“Aw, Al, I missed you too,” Lucifer said as they nuzzled each other, Lucifer’s arms and legs wrapping around Alastor.

“What am I? Chopped liver?” Akos rumbled with a teasing smile.

“I’m glad you’re back safe too, Akos,” Alastor quickly added, before he noticed the heavy scent of ash and smoke on Lucifer. “You...smell like you’ve been walking through a wildfire.”

“Things got a bit...heated, in there,” Akos stated, before holding up a small bundle of paper: Alastor could see the runes marked on them. “But we got what we hoped to find.”

“Then we had fun burning the place to the ground,” Lucifer said with pride, before going limp in his arms. “I need a nap….”

“So you found the runes? That’s great!” Charlie exclaimed. “What do they say?”

“I need to decipher them,” Akos told her. “They are in an Enochian dialect I don’t understand.”

“Roo’s dialect…,” Lucifer muttered, sounding like he was about to fall asleep in Alastor’s arms. “Don’t know it either….”

“I’ll do what I can to translate, but I may have to ask for...higher help.” Akos face twisted into a grimace.

“Sera may be more willing now to assist than she would have been before,” Vaggie pointed out.

“Still, I’d rather not risk them unless I have no other choice,” Akos sighed, before looking at Alastor. “Why don’t you two rest for a bit while I work on this. Perhaps since that cave is no more, your nightmares will be less...intense.”

“Only one way to find out for cert-” Alastor stopped when he realized he was starting to feel wetness on his shoulder. He dropped Lucifer on reflex, making a sound of disgust.

“Ow! What was that for, Al?” Lucifer grumbled, having landed on his ass.

“You were drooling on me!” Alastor hissed.

Lucifer blinked and looked sheepish, one hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh...sorry….”

Notes:

Another fun fact: the disappearance of Al's scars I originally intended to be first noticed in 'Night of Firsts', just before Al and Luci had sex...but I forgot. Oh well, became another tool to reveal more of Selene's backstory.

Yes...I also headcanoned that Al is not a salad person (on the fly, admittedly, due to blanking out on what Charlie could fix him that didn't have meat in it).

Chapter 9

Akos Pocket Dimension

Akos growled in frustration. Two hours, and they had yet to make any headway in the translation. They were starting to suspect this was a completely different language from Enochian but made just similar enough to throw them off. Roo would do something like that, wouldn’t they?

I may not have the time to keep beating my head on this...time for a second opinion…. Akos reached down into their core and drew the angelic runes in the air to ‘request’ a visit with Sera: she had given them the runes needed shortly after they broke Alastor’s deal.

Admitted, Akos still haven’t fully forgiven her for their role in all the Heavenly bullshit, but she was the Eldest Seraphim. If any of them knew how to even start with this translation, it would be her.

While they waited, Akos made fresh copies of the runes for them to work with, while ensuring the originals were carefully stored away. Shortly thereafter, a Heavenly portal opened and Sera stepped through.

“Akos...what do you-” Sera began, then her eyes widened when she saw the room in it’s default void state and exclaimed. “Oh my Father what is this!?”

“My apologies,” Akos had to suppress an amused smirk as they snapped their fingers and the room turned into an aesthetic similar to that of Heaven. “Better?”

“Much…,” Sera sighed, looking relived. “Now, what do you need?”

“I’m trying a break a curse from Roo,” Akos explained, before going into more detail to give the Elder Seraphim context.

“Lucifer and I were able to recover these runes before we destroyed the site,” they finished gesturing to the sheets of paper with the runes spread out on the table. “To keep Roo from using it to entrap anyone else. It appears to be Enochian, but...I’m starting to have my doubts.”

“No...it is…,” Sera assured them, having moved up to the table to studied the runes. “Just a very old version from a time when Father and Roo were on more...amicable terms.”

Akos couldn’t help but snort. “I have a feeling that period didn’t last long,” they remarked as they folded their arms.

“It did not...Roo got impatient and started messing with things before Father wanted them too, at least, from what I understand. It was why Roo became locked away….” Sera elaborated. “Still, my memory is rusty...and I don’t know if the texts with proper translations still exist.”

Akos didn’t doubt for one second Roo would take any opportunity to destroy any records that could be used against her while she currently had ‘access’ to Heaven.

“If you can decipher a few...I should be able to force the rest with chaos magic.”

Sera visibly twitched at the mention of chaos magic, leading Akos to roll their eyes.

“I should be able to,” Sera confessed. After a moment she gestured to the thirteenth rune. “This one is ‘Will’.”

Akos quickly wrote that down on that paper.

“This one...is ‘Endless’.” Sera was pointing at the ninth rune, and Akos noted that down as well.

“’Dream’.” The seventh rune. Another note.

“I am uncertain of the rest,” Sera confessed. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, it should be enough.” The runes she was able to translate, along with the physical evidence they saw at the site itself, suggested certain implications. Pelet constantly reminding Lucifer about his old title may have much more weight to it than they thought.

Akos made a copy of the papers with known translations, just to be safe, before summoning their staff. Sera had stepped away, looking a mix of worried, yet slightly intrigued.

“L' mgah'n'ghft ya mgepogor meanings ot cahff runes mgep ya, (Reveal to me the ancient meanings of these runes before me.)” they chanted, a washing the papers with their colorful magic. After a few seconds, translations appeared on the papers that had none before.

“Yes...yes, this looks right…,” Sera stated, looking impressed...and relieved. “You couldn’t do it like this before?”

“I tried, but chaos, by it’s nature is finicky, it needed a ‘guide’ of sorts,” Akos muttered, before rearranging the papers to the order they were found on the cave, but made sure at least one paper was off center to keep the sequence from becoming active.

“’Those that sleep this place shall dream near endless torment until their will is broken.’” Akos read the phrase out loud. “This means….”

“Alastor’s torment was all done in his mind...through a vivid lucid dream,” Sera finished, looking horrified.

“This easily explains why it was so easy for Roo to ensure he had these constant nightmares,” Akos growled. “Lucifer really will need to lean into his old title if we are to truly break this.”

“From what you told me of his first forays into his dreams, that...’fruit’ was likely just an..emitter of sort. He should be able to find the main source through said emitters.”

“Agreed. Lucifer will have his work cut out for him.”

“I don’t know if it will be needed, but I can start drafting up some possible anti-curse chants, just in case,” Sera offered. “While you inform those two of our progress.”

“Hopefully those two love birds are awake, but not involved in...certain activities….” Akos didn’t relish the idea of accidentally walking in on naughtiness again as they summoned a portal to the outside of Alastor’s room.

“Wait...this room will stay like this while your gone, right?” Sera asked, looking at the walls anxiously.

“They should...unless….” With a smirk, Akos snapped their fingers and the walls reverted to their default ‘void’ appearance.

Sera’s face immediately blanched. “You did that on purpose!” Akos heard her say as they walked through the portal, chuckling.

--

Meanwhile…

Alastor’s Room

Lucifer yawned widely as he stretched. That was a good nap. One made even better since he was laying on top of Alastor. With a happy hum, he nuzzled his face into Alastor’s chest fluff.

The rumble of Alastor chuckling drew his attention to beloveds face. Alastor was looking at him with amusement, with only a slight hint of tiredness in his eyes. A great improvement from before.

“Sleep well?” he asked him.

“I think so,” Alastor replied. “The nightmares were still...there...but...uh...it’s hard to describe….”

“Oh?” Lucifer raised a brow as they both sat up, Lucifer now straddling his lap with his arms lightly draped over his shoulders.

“They didn’t seem as vivid...and more...ah...distorted?” Alastor explained, scratching his head with a half shrug. “Either way, it’s clear destroying that place disrupted the curse, but I think that disruption may only be temporary….”

“They were starting to get worse again?” A nod. “So the bitch wove some adaptability into the curse.”

“Possibly...though curses can’t ‘adapt’, at least in my experience.”

“Oh really?”

“Hmm...when I was alive Voodoo was a dying religion due to oppression, so my exposure to it was limited,” Alastor explained. “Curses were usually applied by using a gris-gris or charm, but it’s effectiveness was limited based on the recipient’s belief and whether or not poisons were used. In our case, however, actual magic is involved...not to mention this from Roo.”

“Interesting,” Lucifer admitted. “Though I wouldn’t count out the ‘belief’ part of it in this case: every little bit helps, right?”

Alastor chucked, a soft smile on his face. “Indeed.” He agreed, before he leaned in and initiating a kiss.

Lucifer melted into it, wrapping his arms around his neck and he felt Alastor wrap his around his back. Before they could go any further, however, there was a knock on the door.

Typicall! They both sighed with disappointing before Lucifer called out. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, brother,” Akos’ voice was heard through the door. “Are you two decent?”

They both looked down at their naked bodies and blushed faintly. “Give us a moment!”

After magicking some clothing onto themselves, Lucifer opened the door for Akos. “I’m hoping you have some good news regarding those runes…,” he said as they walked in.

“It took a bit of assistance from Sera, but yes...I have the translation,” Akos announced, before reciting it. “Those that sleep this place shall dream near endless torment until their will is broken.”

It only took Lucifer a second to process that meaning. Looking back at Alastor and seeing how his ears had dropped and eyes widened in shock, he likely caught it as well.

“Are you telling me,” Alastor started. “That all that shit only happened in my head?”

“Just the stuff that happened in the tunnels,” Lucifer clarified. “The parts where you said you were trapped in that cave and given food? That was no doubt real.”

“Still...it’s...a bit of weight off me knowing I wasn’t actually…,” Alastor visibly shuttered.

“Regardless, you will still have some trauma from it,” Akos warned. “You believed it happened and thus your body will respond accordingly.”

“Ugh...I hope it fades quickly,” Alastor growled, rubbing his head. “I already miss eating meat….”

“Once we break the curse completely that should help,” Lucifer told him. “So what’s the next step, Sy?”

“You, brother, will need to go into his dreams more,” Akos replied. “That fruit you found, Sera believes was an emitter...one that would have been connected to the main source of the curse that is still within him.”

“So...find the source and destroy that?”

Akos nodded. “Sera is drafting up some anti-curse chants as we speak to use against it if needed.”

“Finding the source may take a few attempts,” Lucifer muttered. “Al said the dreams felt disrupted since the cave was destroyed, though he suspects it’s stabilizing again.”

“How much time you’ll have will vary as well,” Alastor pointed out. “I was...caught...in some chases faster than others.”

“Shiiit...that’s right. If we can extend the time that would help….wait….” Lucifer’s eyes widened in realization. “These were vivid lucid dreams...perhaps...one moment….”

Lucifer took out his hellphone and started looking up lucid dreaming. He quickly found what he was looking for. “Ah ha! Yes! I was right!” he said excitedly.

“Luce?” Alastor was looking at him curiously.

“You daydream right?” A nod. “You know how you can control your daydreams? Lucid dreaming is the same concept, but while your asleep!”

Alastor ears were perked: he looked very interested. “You’re suggesting I can take control over these...nightmares?”

“It will probably be trickier in this case, but it’s worth a try!” Lucifer told him. “If you can control at last part of it, you can even help me search for the source.”

“Well then...let’s get started!” Alastor sounded eager, then his stomach rumbled loudly. “Uh...after I eat something…”

Lucifer folded his arms and glared at him. “You refused to eat after I told Charlie to ensure you ate something?”

“I was too worried about you to eat!,” Alastor muttered, his arms folded with a sulky expression on his face. “And I wasn’t about to eat a fucking salad!”

“Then I’m making you pancakes….”

“That’s fine….”

“With chocolate chips mixed in.” Lucifer then leaned close menacingly. “And you will eat them….”

“Noooooo!”

Notes:

Fun facts I discovered while doing a bit of research for this chapter (I wanted to double check on how curses work in Voodoo, specially the Louisiana version)

First, Voodoo was pretty much eradicated from the area where Alastor lived by the 1940s. This means the chances of Alastor actually 'learning' Voodoo were quite low, since he died in the early 1930's (there's always the chance there were secret practicing going on, however).

Second Voodoo dolls don't actually exist in Voodoo, despite their name: it actually derived from a European tradition involving poppets. So eh...Al having the stitches invoking the idea of Voodoo dolls is a bit...iffy.

Third, Voodoo was interwoven/practiced along side Catholic traditions, so there's a good chance Al would have had a strong Catholic background as well (though he certainly didn't obey the ten commandments with his serial killing ways....XD).

Chapter 10

Lucifer had made good on his threat, much to Alastor’s clear dismay. The sinner made a good show of trying to resist, acting like a bratty stubborn kid not wanting to eat his vegetables, but his hunger won out in the end. Still, Lucifer was slightly disappointed as he watched Alastor how opted to just swallow each pancake whole. That just...defeated the whole purpose of punishing him for not eating before!

Still, he ate, so Lucifer supposed he couldn’t complain too much….

By the time they had finished eating, Sera and Akos were done coming up with the anti-curse chant.

“You look a bit freaked out, Sera,” Lucifer remarked as he was handed a slip of paper with the chant.

“Our darling sister insisted on keeping their abode in the...’creepy’ aesthetic,” the Elder Seraphim grumbled, glaring at Akos, whom had this shit-eating grin on their face.

Lucifer and Alastor both chuckled with amusement.

“Ah, that. I freaked out too the first time, but got used to it,” Alastor remarked with a smirk. “Had to, considering I lived there for some time….”

“I suppose it would take a certain...mentality to get used to kind of thing,” Sera muttered.

Alastor’s eyes had narrowed, his smile tight: he looked like he wasn’t sure if that had been a compliment or not.

“Regardless, I need to return to Heaven,” Sera stated. “I hope you succeed in breaking this curse.”

“So do we,” Lucifer said, sighing. “Thank you for your help, Sera.”

“You’re welcome. Until next time.” Sera opened a portal back to Heave and stepped through.

“So, Al...shall we see if we can find and break this curse?” Lucifer asked.

“Ab-so-lutely!” Alastor said eagerly.

---

Alastor’s room

Alastor was sitting up in the bed, Lucifer sitting between his legs and leaning back against him as he looked at his hellphone. Lucifer had wanted to double check on what was needed to be done to induce lucid dreaming, but what Alastor was reading over his shoulder didn’t inspire much confidence.

“Months of practice?” Alastor grumbled. “We don’t have months.”

“I know, love,” Lucifer agreed. “But considering what I’ve been able to do so far, we may able to ‘cheat’ a bit. Also, the whole keeping a dream journal part we can safely skip since you already remember what all those dreams are.”

“And I certainly do not want any physical record of what I was put through…,” Alastor sighed. “We were fortunate to learn it was all happening, mostly, in my head to begin with….”

“I agree.” Lucifer was tapping his chin in thought. “OK, the first thing we need to accomplish here is to get your dream self to realize you are dreaming.”

“Oh that will be so easy while I am running away screaming in terror.” Alastor couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“I know.” Lucifer said with a sigh, as he twisted around so that he was now facing him, his phone being placed on the nightstand. “So it is realistic to expect the first attempt to not succeed, likely the first several won’t, to be honest.”

“Oh joy….” The idea that it may take more time than he expected to even get to the point of expelling that stupid curse was not appealing.

“Remember, things can happen in dreams that don’t happen in reality,” Lucifer told him, his arms now draped over his shoulders. “That is key.”

“I don’t know...everything that happened in those nightmares seemed quite realistic….,” Alastor sighed.

“If nothing else, look and listen for me,” Lucifer stated, then added with a smirk. “After all, I shouldn’t be there...and I’ll be trying to get through to you.”

“That, sounds reasonable.”

Lucifer’s hands slid down to his chest, Alastor feeling the pressure of Lucifer coaxing him to lay down. He did so, his beloved now hovering over him on his hands and knees. Alastor reached up and lightly stroked Lucifer’s spine, sending a shiver down his back.

“Enough of that, you naughty deer,” Lucifer said with a chuckle, reaching back with one hand to stop his hand from repeating the motion. “We have work to do.”

“Well the chosen positioning doesn’t help matters now does it?” Alastor teased with a grin, Lucifer having laid down on top of him.

Lucifer was giggling, a faint blush on his cheeks. “I know, but this is the most comfortable position I could think of for this.”

The angel then gripped his head with his hands, pulling himself up enough so his head was right above his.

“To speed things up a bit, I’ll use a sleep spell on you, alright?” he warned him.

“Understood.” It had taken him a bit longer to fall asleep when they took a nap earlier...well, the normal amount of time compared to the curse induced sleepiness from before.

“Remember….”

“Look for illogical stuff in the dream...or look or listen for you,” Alastor stated. If nothing else, this was how he wanted to both fall asleep and wake up: with Lucifer’s handsome face looking into his eyes.

“Ask yourself if you are dreaming as well,” Lucifer said softly. “Ready?”

“As can be.”

“Alright, here we go.”

Lucifer cast the sleep spell and Alastor went to sleep immediately…

---

Elsewhere

Something was off...something was wrong. Something was missing that shouldn’t be! Roo snarled in frustration that she couldn’t immediately tell what. Curse these chains Father put upon them!

She sent out a piece of herself, like a breeze on the wind, to a number of locations. Checking wards, traps and so on, of places she used to influence...to control...the events of Hell. Nothing was amiss in Pentagram City itself.

With a rare feeling of concern gripping her, she quickly moved outside of the city, checking a particular spot. That concern turned to dismay when she reached the location….

No….

Her lovely forest...the cave...all of which took many decades to build up and construct in the early days of Hell when she was at her weakest. What had been an essential tool to ensnare the unwary. A source of building power in the early days…a means to collect vessels in the current….

...was burned to the ground. Destroyed!

Who would dare!?

Her essence moved over the ashes and rubble, searching for signs. She didn’t have to search long. The stench of the Morningstar was everywhere...along with that blasted corrupted Seraphim!

How, how did they learn of this place?

Fuck. Alastor, of course. She hadn’t bothered to erase the Overlord’s memory of this place and now….

...now they may have what they need to break her curse.

Roo hissed in rage and flew toward the Hotel. Continuing Alastor’s torment held little purpose aside from revenge and causing Lucifer distress, but if they were that close to breaking the curse, she won’t even have that! This won’t do at all!

She easily slipped thorough the Hotel’s pathetic wards and found Alastor in his room. Lucifer was there as well, which was not surprising, considering, but their positioning was...interesting.

They were both laying in bed, but on top of the sheets with all their clothes on save for shoes. Lucifer was on top of Alastor, his hands on the Radio Demon’s head and their foreheads pressed together. Alastor was clearly asleep, while Lucifer’s eyes were open and...zoned out.

What was he….

SHIT! How could she have forgotten that detail!? Lucifer was the Angel of Dreams...if anyone could undo the curse tangled deep with in Alastor’s consciousness….

Roo snarled and thought a moment, before spying a slip of paper on the nightstand. She didn’t need to read the Enochian upon it to know what it was: an anti-curse chant. They were closer to breaking it than she thought.

Actually…this...could be an opportunity. An opportunity to break the Morningstar’s spirit. Changing the script would be easy enough, but chances are Lucifer had already memorized it. No, she needed to do something else.

Ah...she had an idea. Make a minor adjustment to the curse itself, one that….

Yeesss...that should work perfectly….

Roo reached down and touched Alastor’s head, carefully, lightly, so as to not draw either of their attention, both consciously and other wise. She slipped though Alastor’s thoughts and memories, finding the cord of the curse attached to his soul. Just a little tweak...one that won’t stop them from breaking the curse, but one that would cause quite a...heavy consequence once it was….

Her deed done, she released the piece of her essence and returned to her current preferred vessel, a wide, satisfied smile on her face.

Notes:

It's looking like this will be a total 13 chapters...my longest fic yet in this IP. Light at the end of the tunnel folks! And it's not a train!

Chapter 11

Few days later….

They were making progress, Lucifer was sure of it, though Alastor was visibly becoming frustrated….

...and desperate. Lucifer had to force Alastor to only accept a three attempts a night, for the sake of both their sleep schedules.

A couple of things were certain at least. First, Alastor was getting a lot more sleep, which he needed anyway. Second, Lucifer had found a few ‘emitters’ during their attempts to invoke controlled lucid dreaming and he was able to figure out how to at least start to trace them back to the main source.

It looked like it was...quite deep.

One thing at a time. Lucifer sipped his tea, watching Alastor quickly eat his dinner. It was Angel’s spaghetti...and Lucifer could tell there was a bit of meat in the sauce. Either Alastor was getting over his meat aversion or just didn’t notice: he hoped it was more the former than the latter.

“Slow down, Al,” Lucifer teased before taking a bite from his own plate. “At least taste the food.”

“Yeah, Smiles,” Angel remarked poking him in the shoulder, prompting a snarl from him. “Some chefs would consider it an insult devour it like that. You’re lucky I ain’t so sensitive….”

“Say the one that flipped the fuck out when Charlie broke the noodles in half that one time,” Alastor remarked.

“Because doing that is a great insult to Italians everywhere!” Angel huffed, folding both pairs of arms. “You don’t break them when dry...and you don’t cut them when cooked!”

“Oh come on, Angel...some cutting is needed to ensure you have some control over the bite size,” Lucifer teased before picking up his knife and smirked at him.

“Don’t you dare!”

“I thought you weren’t ‘sensitive’ about this?” Lucifer said mockingly as he slowly...ever so slowly...dragged his knife across his portion of spaghetti, cutting it neatly in half. Angel’s face was twisting into horror the whole time and Alastor burst out laughing.

“You are a heathen Short King!” Angel wailed. “No wonder you are in Hell!”

Lucifer joined Alastor in his laughter.

---

Later…

...the baying and howling was in every passage he passed. How could that be possible? There were only three hounds right?

How did they and the hunter himself just...kept up with him no matter how far he got. Always just around the corner. It didn’t make sense!

It was like…

Alastor stopped, planting his hands on the wall. Something...something was nagging at him. What was it? It was important!

Wait. He had been running. Why wasn’t he breathing hard? Why didn’t his legs and lungs burn? The sounds of the hounds...they weren’t getting closer. It was like...a script...a play….

It wasn’t real.

He remembered now. Someone...someone important to him told him something. Something he had to...invoke? What was it?

Ah...yes...it was….

“Am I dreaming?” he spoke aloud.

The space around him seemed to ripple, the howls of the hounds now sounded more muted. Everything felt...safer….

A voice...a presence. Soft. Faint. He could barely hear it, feeling it. He looked, thought he saw a glimmer...a light.

That’s right...someone else was supposed to meet him in his dreams. Someone he loved.

“Hello?” he called out.

That glimmer...that shape, became more defined, brighter. Becoming a six-winged angel before his eyes. Who was this?

He took a step back, the stranger before him looking surprised at his reaction.

This wasn’t Lucifer...the wings were wrong! They were supposed to be blood red not…

Wait….

That brief flash, a vision of what Lucifer looked like before he had fallen. Wings...the color of a sunrise….

“Luci….” Alastor breathed a sigh of relief, scooping him up into his arms.

“You did it, Al!” Lucifer said with glee, his arms around him.

“About fucking time,” Alastor said, looking around after putting Lucifer down. “What now?”

“Next step is for you to learn how to-” Lucifer started to say when the walls appeared to shiver, a groan...a low moan of anger heard reverberating through the walls. The howls of the hounds became clear again and closer.

“Uh...learn how to control things in your dreams,” Lucifer finished.

“How do I do that?”

“Um...um…first thing? Dreams can’t hurt you unless you allow it!”

He said that just as a hound came tearing around a corner and started charging at them. Lucifer was between them.

No, he can’t let that beast touch him!

Despite knowing deep inside that Lucifer couldn’t be killed, dream or otherwise. Despite knowing what Lucifer had just told him, he still surged forward with a growl. The hound lunged toward him and Alastor pivoted, grabbing the beast by the scruff before slamming it into the wall.

A yelp of surprise, perhaps pain, was heard from the hound and it struggled in his grip, trying to turn it’s head so it could snap at his arm. Some how, Alastor kept a hold of it a he reached with his free hand and stabbed his claws into the beast’s eyes.

Now there was a howl of pain, the hound now whining and trying to get away. Alastor threw it away from him and Lucifer, watched it scramble away, bumping into the walls in it’s (literally) blind rush to flee.

Alastor then looked at his hands, shock setting in on what he just accomplished. “Did...I...really just do that?” he asked, looking back at Lucifer.

“Not...what I was expecting at all...but…,” Lucifer said a bit sheepishly. “I’ll still give an A+ for first time controlling the dream!”

“That was...incredible...I felt like I had strength I couldn’t possibly have had while awake,” Alastor breathed. “What else can I do?”

“It’s your dream, Al,” Lucifer said cheekily. “The sky is the limit.”

Alastor grinned. “Then let’s see if I can go beyond the sky!”

--

Alastor proved to be a fast learner, much to Lucifer’s delight.

The next hound that came at him, Alastor flayed it’s hide off with nothing but his claws. A bit disturbing, Lucifer had to admit, but was true to Alastor’s tendencies.

What happened to the third hound was much more to Lucifer’s tastes. Alastor just...turned it into a duck. So cute! He wished he could have taken it out of the dream and into the real world with him!

As for the hunter….

Alastor seemed conflicted on what to do with him, just stood there for a few moments, his hand cupped to his chin, while the hunter futilely shot at him with his rifle. The bullets either missing or bouncing off of him. Finally Alastor snapped his fingers and the hunter turned into Adam.

“Time for some payback you bitch,” Alastor growled as he then proceeded to rip ‘Adam’ apart.

He then revived him and did the same thing twice more.

“Satisfied?” Lucifer asked when he finally stopped.

“Eh...not nearly as satisfying as doing it in reality, but this will suffice,” Alastor said with a shrug, wiping the blood off of himself. “Considered turning that asshole into Vox, but….he’s still ‘available’ to beat up in reality so, Adam it was.”

“Fair enough,” Lucifer laughed before he asked. “So, what do you plan on trying to do next?”

“Now that I got some revenge off my chest, maybe something cliché...like flying?” Alastor stated. “Though these tunnels aren’t really suited for that….”

“You don’t need wings to fly in a dream, Al,” Lucifer told him.

“True...guess I could try-” He was interrupted by another ripple in the environment. There was no groan or moan of anger this time, just a gradual fading of the world around them.

“Looks like time is up,” Lucifer remarked. “Dreams only last for so long after all...your mind wants to go to the next stage of sleep.”

“Aw...but I was just starting to have fun!” Alastor groaned.

“You know what to do now, Al,” Lucifer assured him. “Just do it again in the next dream when it comes.”

“Will you be with me?”

“I need sleep myself, love,” Lucifer said regretfully. “I have to be awake to join you in these. I trust you to be able to practice making a mess of your nightmares without me?”

“I did it once...I can do it again,” Alastor said with a broad grin.

“See you in the morning then, my love.”

Lucifer pulled out of his mind and looked upon Alastor’s peacefully sleeping face.

We are nearly there…. Lucifer tucked his head under Alastor’s chin and closed his eyes, a smile on his face.

Perhaps tomorrow, they can finally track down and destroy the source of the curse and free Alastor from Roo for good this time.

Notes:

Admittedly I don't know for certain if cutting cooked spaghetti is as much of an offense as breaking dry noodles it Italians, but it was still funny having Luci taunt Angel like this XD

Chapter 12

Next day

Lucifer could see Alastor was in a very good mood. He walked like he was on air, a soft, happy tune hummed from his throat as he went about the day. Very playful and teasing as well, both physically and verbally.

Lucifer had been caught in a quick dance with him more than once. Whispers of suggestive things in his ear, making him blush. Taunting hip sways and light caresses….

….shit...Lucifer was certain they were need to have some sex before doing any dream work tonight! He was half tempted to pull him into an empty room for a quickie more than once….

Thankfully (or frustratingly?) Alastor calmed down by dinner time, the excited anticipation tempering into an anxious resolve.

“How is it going?” Akos was asking as they ate. “From how Alastor’s been acting most of the day, it appears you have made progress.”

“We finally achieved lucid dreaming and control last night,” Lucifer informed them.

“I got some much...much needed revenge on the monsters that tormented me,” Alastor said with sinister glee. “Practiced some other things as well.”

“Like what?” Angel asked. “Flying? Having sex with hotties?”

Alastor developed such a deep red blush at the second one. “Wait...that can happen?” he asked, his eyes shifting toward Lucifer.

“Seriously? You’ve never had a wet dream before?” Angel teased. “Wow, you really were a virgin in all sense of the word.”

Alastor’s ears were pinned back. “M-my sex-life...is...is not a topic of discussion!” he blubbered out, Angel just giggling and Lucifer had to suppress his own chuckle for the sake of his beloved’s dignity.

“We are hoping to go after the curse itself, tonight,” Lucifer announced. “I’m not holding out hope for a first time success though.”

“A reasonable mindset,” Akos remarked. “Who knows what defenses the curse itself will have in the dreamscape.”

“One thing I did notice while practicing on my own,” Alastor stated. “Was that ‘erasing’ my tormentors appeared to end the dream sooner.”

That made an odd sort of sense. The whole purpose of the nightmare was for torture, so Alastor ‘eliminating’ the entities directly responsible for said torture would force a reset, so-to-speak.

“So either ignore or contain them somehow when we start our search,” Lucifer decided. Though, containing them may trigger the same response, he realized. Guess they’ll find out either way.

---

That night, Alastor did get a bit...handsy as they readied themselves for the first true push. As much as Lucifer wanted to, he knew they shouldn’t: sex wasn’t exactly a non-draining activity after all.

“Let’s save it for when we succeed,” he told him after breaking a rather passionate kiss with him. Alastor was whining in disappointment. “We don’t know how taxing this will be, so it’s best to save our energy.”

“I suppose you have a point…,” Alastor said with a sigh, before admitting. “I’m just...nervous.”

“As am I,” Lucifer admitted himself. “But we are together...and we will break this curse...we will win.”

“We better,” Alastor growled. “I’m tired of Roo hanging over me like an unholy boogeyman.”

“So am I. Are you ready?”

“I am, my love.”

Lucifer cast the sleep spell, putting Alastor to sleep. Moment’s later, he joined him in his dream….

---

Alastor was already...restraining...a hound when he felt Lucifer arrive.

“You got that thing really hog tied there, Al,” the Fallen Angel remarked. “Looks almost ready to put on a spit.”

Alastor laughed as he finished the last restraint on the struggling, snarling beast, then ‘completed’ the task by putting a muzzle on it. “So, if I recall, we find an emitter first, then follow it’s signal to the source?” he asked.

“Correct. I don’t know if it will feel the same to you, but to me I heard...felt a humming sound,” Lucifer explained. “The ones I’ve found so far were hidden in cracks or little nooks in the walls, easy to miss if you’re not looking for them.”

Or too busy running for your life…. “Let’s stick together then until we find one, to play it safe.” While Alastor knew splitting up would make the process faster, they had no means to communicating with each other when separate. It would be just their luck, one finds what they were looking for, only for the other to fail to find them before their ‘time’ ran out.

“I agree,” Lucifer remarked. “How fast have you gotten yourself to move?”

“Fairly,” Alastor replied, before focusing a moment before starting to float off the ground. “I found flying to be most efficient.”

Lucifer’s eyes widened. “And you gave yourself wings?”

Alastor looked back at the glowing red apparitions. “Purely aesthetic reasons: I just found it...odd to be floating around without some logical reason for the flight.”

Lucifer was smirking with amusement. “Says someone whose main power involves literally manipulating shadows.”

“Things that can only be achieved with magic are exceptions,” Alastor said stiffly.

“Uh huh...right...come on, we are wasting time.”

Lucifer started to take off down a tunnel and Alastor followed behind him. They kept a fast pace, Alastor finding it thrilling to not only move through these tunnels at a speed that could be considered very dangerous, but doing so with Lucifer? Ah, if only he didn’t have his phobia of falling...and the means to fly in reality: he could really get used to this.

The angel suddenly stopped, Alastor having to swerve to avoid crashing into him. Lucifer was looking up intently, into a crack along the ceiling. “Do you feel...hear anything odd?” he asked him.

Alastor floated up closer, his ears twitching as he focused. At first he didn’t hear, or feel, anything amiss, but then….

...radio static? It wasn’t from him, that was for certain. He looked deep into the crack and saw the black root with ti’s fruit hanging from it’s end, confirming they had found an emitter.

“Sneaky,” Alastor growled. “To me it sounds like radio static, which I wouldn’t have paid no mind about. No wonder I didn’t find any on my own before.”

“Figures she would use your own aesthetic to help keep them hidden from you,” Lucifer muttered with a shake of his head. “Now to trace the ‘signal’ to it’s source….”

Lucifer took on a look of concentration, one hand gesturing in the area, tracing the root’s path. “This way.”

Alastor nodded and followed, their pace slower this time. They had to deal with a hound as they followed the path, but that had been only a minor distraction. For a few moments they were able to follow signal fairly easily, the tunnels appearing to...cooperate with their efforts. This bothered Alastor for some reason. Was it just luck? Or something else?

Eventually though, they wound up at a dead end, the tunnel ending in a natural looking rock face. Lucifer had Alastor stay put while he did a quick search for a path, but came back after only a couple of minutes.

“There ‘might’ be an actual path, but I don’t know how much time we have left,” Lucifer announced, a hint of worry in his tone. “Have you tried affecting environments yet?”

“You can’t?” Alastor queried with a raised brow.

“I’ve tried, but apparently I can only affect things that don’t actually belong,” Lucifer explained. “Like those emitters. Could be I just haven’t figured out how to do so in other people’s dreams yet.”

“But we don’t have time for you to experiment…,” Alastor sighed. “Alright, guess it is as good time as any for me to see if I can.”

Alastor stared at the rock face, trying think of the best way to visualize this. Once he got an idea, he planted a hand on the rock, then simply pushed. There was some noticeable resistance, but eventually the wall moved away, extending the path by about ten feet.

“I hope it’s not too much further away...as that took a bit of effort,” Alastor remarked.

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell,” Lucifer sighed as they went down the extended tunnel, Alastor then repeating what he did in the direction Lucifer indicated. “I don’t even know what the source will look like.”

“Knowing Roo...likely some kind of black plant.”

“Pfft...yeah...likely a replica of the Tree of Knowledge….” There was clear bitterness in his beloved’s tone.

Progress was slow. Too slow for Alastor’s liking. Just how far was this blasted thing? He was starting to feel...not quite exhaustion, but a sense that he was reaching his limit for this session.

“I sense something big…,” Lucifer announced. “Just ahead.”

“How far?” Alastor asked.

“Uh...fifty feet or so?”

“OK then….” Alastor took a moment, dug deep, then gave a big ‘push’. The tunnel extended forward as usual, then outward, revealing a large chasm in front of them. On the other side….

...was a large tree with many fruits hanging from it’s branches.

“Son of a bitch,” Lucifer growled. “She did make it look like the Tree of Knowledge. Should be a simple matter of just flying over there.”

Alastor agreed, Lucifer already starting to fly over. He started to follow, but he made the mistake of glancing down.

Nothing...there was nothing…beneath his feet. Just a black void….

Immediately he froze, a whine escaping his lips. For the moment, he forgot he was in a dream….that he was in control of what happened.

That’s all it took.

He started to fall.

And he screamed.

Notes:

fun fact: I was in a VR puzzle game in a place called Area 15 (it's kind of a theme park place, most famously known for having the Omega Mart in it) and we had to cross a chasm with only a few platforms. One of my team (nephew) went ahead easily to get a plank to lay across the widest gap. My brother crossed over easy...but the moment I had stepped foot on that plank...despite knowing this was all a game, that there wasn’t a void around me and that there was actual solid floor there, my body went ‘nope’ and completely froze. I had to be coaxed across by the attendant...rather embarrassing….

Chapter 13

Alastor jolted awake, his breaths coming in heavy.

Fuck…. He gripped his head, as Lucifer stirred on top of him.

“Al, what happened?” the angel was asking.

“I-I...looked down...my phobia….” Alastor panted. “I...I forgot...that….”

“It’s OK.” He felt Lucifer embrace him. “We made great progress this time...and we know what the source looks like now. Should be easier to reach it next session.”

“If there’s a chasm next time….” Alastor shuddered.

“I’ll be right with you,” Lucifer reminded him, coaxing his hands off his head so he could see him. “I can help you across...oooor...you can just make a bridge.”

“True...true…,” Alastor sighed. “Give me a few moments to calm down….”

There was a sly smile on Lucifer’s face before he then started to pepper his face with kisses. Alastor caught one of those kisses with his mouth and they kissed passionately for a moment. He felt a familiar heat building in his gut.

“Calmed down enough now?” Lucifer asked teasingly.

“In one way, yes...but in another…,” Alastor purred, nipping at Lucifer’s neck.

“OK OK! I brought this one on myself,” Lucifer laughed, before they proceeded to have sex. Unfortunately, they over did it a bit, thus were forced to just sleep the rest of the night and wait until the next day to try again.

--

Next day

Alastor’s mood was again different, Lucifer noticed. Not giddy, nor depressed like had been in the past, but more...nervous, anxious, with a touch of impatience. The latter one becoming more evident as the day wore on, before finally reaching a breaking point shortly after dinner.

They were sitting in a chair, Lucifer on Alastor’s lap, as they watched the others play some kind board game. A game Alastor had politely declined on joining in on: he seemed to get more amusement from watching the others argue over whom owned what property and getting taxed. Lucifer had to admit, it was a bit amusing….

“Aw come on! You got Broadwalk and Park Place, again?” Angel was complaining once a fresh game started. “How do you get such lucky rolls, kid?”

Selene just had this devilish grin on her face as she placed some green little houses on the spot.

“At least you’re not constantly stuck with Baltic and Mediterranean Avenue,” Akos was grumbling.

“If she were old enough, she’d likely make a killing in poker,” Husk grumbled. “With the luck she has….”

“Not thinking of making her an apprentice, are you Husk?” Vaggie was asking with a warning tilt in her voice.

“As tempting as that sounds, I got standards,” Husk said with a shake of his head. “Plus, Al back there would likely skin me alive if even thinking it, deal or no deal.”

Lucifer was expecting Alastor to make a comment, but looking up at his face he could see the Radio Demon’s mind was elsewhere.

“Al? You alright?” he asked.

Alastor visibly jumped, then sighed. “I’m fine,” he said. “I’m just...thinking about what we may have to face tonight and if we will have enough time to accomplish the final step.”

“We know what we are looking for now,” Lucifer assured him. “That alone will speed things up.”

“I hope so….” There was a pause before Alastor asked. “Think we can do a quick session right now, here?”

“You sure?” Lucifer queried. “It’s not as comfortable doing a dream dive in a chair….”

“Just one attempt,” Alastor told him as Lucifer shifted himself so he was facing him in the chair. “I...just want to see if we can get this over with.”

“Alright, Al. Let’s see what we can do.” He gave him a quick kiss and couple of ear rubs before casting the sleep spell.

--

Moments later

Progress did go smoother and quicker the next time, much to Lucifer’s delight. Now that Alastor knew what to look and listen for, they found the emitter and started following it’s trail within a minute of starting. What threw them off, however, was that they tunnel Alastor ‘excavated’ last time was still there.

That...shouldn’t be? It certainly didn’t feel right. Looking at Alastor, he saw a similar look of worry on his face. Still, they had no choice if they were to end the curse, so they went down the path, arriving at the chasm within moments.

...and seeing the mockery of the Tree of Knowledge on the other side.

Alastor was hesitating, his body trembling, as he looked at he chasm stretched out before them. Lucifer gripped his hand, to ground him, to remind him.

“This is a dream, remember,” he told him. “I can help you fly across...or you can make a bridge.”

“Right...Right…,” Alastor was saying, his voice tense. He had closed his eyes, then reached out with his free hand. There was rumbling beneath Lucifer’s feet as a rocky bridge formed, bridging the gap between them and the cursed tree.

“Much better,” Alastor had sighed once he had opened his eyes. He then started running across the bridge, apparently feeling safer just running in this case as Lucifer flew right beside him.

So close...Lucifer started mentally reciting the chant he was given in preparation in anticipation.

“Where are you going, chocolate-boy?” a voice taunted from the void.

“Want some mud to make yourself darker, whitey?” another voice echoed. Alastor was gripping his ears, his pace slowing.

“Ignore it!” Lucifer encouraged him. “Keep going!” He knew he could go on ahead, but he needed Alastor to keep the dream running at the very least!

“Here’s some rocks to scrub the dirt off ya!” Rocks...some as big as their heads, flew toward them. Alastor screeched and stopped cold, crouching down and covering his head.

“Alastor!” Lucifer immediately went to his side, wrapping him with his arms and wings. “It’s a dream! They can’t hurt you!”

“Slaver blood don’t belong with us.”

“Boy with slave blood in him got no worth.”

“Stop it...stop it, please!” Alastor was whimpering. Around them the dream was starting to falter, to break.

Shit… Lucifer grabbed Alastor by the head and forced him to look at him. “Al...look at me...focus on me and nothing else!”

“Lu-ci?” Alastor whined, tears streaming down his face.

“They were wrong to call you those things,” he told him. “You’re not worthless...you’re not ugly or dirty. I don’t care what you were in life, or what you have done in the past. I love you, Alastor...I love you for who you are now...nothing else matters!”

“Lucifer...it hurts….”

“I know it hurts...the things done to us in the past...unjust or other wise...it almost always hurts. But the past...just like a dream...can only hurt us if we let it.” Lucifer pressed his forehead against his. “You are strong, Al...you have shouldered things most souls would crumble under. This...should be nothing to you.”

Alastor had closed his eyes, the dream stabilizing around them. When he opened them again he had a look of determination on his face.

“Ha ha, look at the dirt boy try to play!”

“Shut the fuck up!” Alastor screamed into the chasm as he rose to his feet. “You are nothing to me but a memory! A piece of dirt to be swept up and tossed into the trash where it belongs!”

The voices coming from the chasm went quiet.

“You did it Al,’ Lucifer said, hugging him.

Alastor hugged him back, but his focus was solely on that damn tree. “Let’s get this over with,” he said as he broke into a light jog, Lucifer flying beside him.

They didn’t have any more resistance, any more attempts to stop them as they finished crossing to the other side. The tree wasn’t really all that big, only a couple feet taller than Alastor, but he could feel the power of curse coursing through it. A pulse of red energy visibly rippled through it every few seconds, said pulses briefly illuminating runes etched into it’s bark.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes, a frown forming on his face. Were the runes on this thing that were different on this thing? Or was he misremembering what he saw on the cave entrance and tunnel walls? Perhaps the fact he could only see the damn things for a less than a second each pulse was throwing him off?

“What’s wrong?” Alastor asked, his tone tense.

“Something...doesn’t seem right,” Lucifer admitted. “But I can’t quite put my finger on what.”

“It’s likely another stalling tactic by the curse,” Alastor remarked. “To make us waste time.”

“You’re probably right.” Lucifer gritted his teeth and rubbed the back of his head. “But I want to be certain we are not-”

There was a creaking sound, followed by the ominous sound of cracking and rumbling stone. They both looked around them, to see the walls shifting and moving, the entire cave appeared to be closing in upon them. The ground beneath their feet also started to shake, multiple black roots sprung up and started reaching for their way.

“I don’t think we have time!” Alastor told him as he ripped apart a root that got too close. “Use the anti-curse chant!”

Lucifer swallowed hard, put out his hands and said the words:

“Lujinu, shu siercu if shos siels nojhsmaurus, O ulphul shuu! (Begone, the source of this souls nightmares, I expel thee!”

The power flowed from his hands and hit the tree dead on. At once the tree began to constrict onto itself, the red power within turning white hot. One by one the rune’s lit up in full and disappeared.

But...there were more than fifteen….

There were four more in normal Enochian and these lit up all at once, enabling Lucifer to read them clearly.

‘Curses end brings death’

No! Lucifer rushed toward Alastor as he heard Roo’s laughter...and the tree itself exploded.

He was basically right next to him, but he may as well have been on the other side of the chasm. As the room went briefly white, then he saw Alastor get stuck full on by flying debris, his scream of pain tearing through his soul. He thought he saw a flash of gold around Alastor before everything went black….

Notes:

Now we know what Roo did to the curse...*whimpers* don't kill me....

Just a note: there's no indication in canon that Al's a descendent of either a slave or a slave owner, so the taunts of that nature are purely assumptions by his tormentors. That said, I did actually try to see if there was any list of what actual racist statements would have been in the 20s (to be as historically accurate if anything else), but couldn't find anything.

Music I listened to while writing the second dream dive.
Most Emotional Music: YOUR LEGACY WILL LAST FOREVER – Black Coyote

Chapter 14

Hotel 

Akos had noticed those two were doing a dream dive, so had told the other’s to try to keep it quiet. Some how the game became even more intense when everyone could only complain in harsh whispers.

There was sudden gasp from Charlie, but before anyone could ask what was wrong a cry from Lucifer erupted behind them. Akos, and everyone else, looked toward him just in time to see the Fallen Angel fall off Alastor’s lap and landed on the floor with a grunt.

“Whoa...something must have happened in there…,” Angel was remarking. “Ya alright, Short King?”

“Something’s wrong…,” Charlie was saying, a hand to her chest. “I...the deal I had with Alastor...it’s gone….”

Akos’ ears pinned back and their lips pulled tight when they heard that. Studying Alastor, they saw just how unnaturally...still...he was. Lucifer was frantic, the Fallen Angel already on his feet, completely ignoring Angel’s question as he started shaking Alastor.

“Al...Al...wake up!” he was crying, only for there to be no response of any kind, Alastor’s body just...flopped as he shook him. Everyone was still as he put his head against the sinner’s chest. “No...nono no no….please! You can’t be dead! Please! Don’t leave me!”

“No….,” Charlie gasped, her hands to her mouth.

No...not my little fawn….

It was Vaggie whom reacted first, The former exocist rushing over to Alastor and placed some fingers on his neck. “No pulse…,” she said grimly, before adding with a growl. “Madre hijo de puta! Not on my watch! Angel, Husk get over here!”

“Righto!” Angel said as they complied.

Vaggie and Husk then pulled Alastor out of the chair and laid him down on his back on the floor. Angel was trying to pull Lucifer away, as he was only getting in the way. However even with all three pairs of his arms out, he was struggling to keep hold of the frantic King.

“Lucifer...you need to give them space!” Angel was trying to explain to him as Vaggie started going chest compressions, while Husk was doing the mouth to mouth side of things.

“Please! I can’t!” Lucifer was whining, easily fighting him off, his cheeks fully stained with tears. “I need to be...”

“Brother come here,” Akos said sternly, burying their own distress for the moment as they used their tail to snag the panicking fallen seraphim and pulled him into their arms.

“Let me go!. I need to with him!” Lucifer wailed, but unlike Angel, he was unable to break free from Akos’ grip.

“You’d only be in the way in trying to revive him, brother,” Akos told him calmly. “Breathe...let them work...just breathe….”

It took a moment before Lucifer stopped struggling. For a moment after he just stared, tears still falling, with longing, desperate eyes, before curled up against their body. His small body was racked with tremors has he sobbed.

“Dad….” Charlie was next to them now, a hand on his shoulder, tears rimming her eyes. “Wh-what happened?”

“More runes…,” Lucifer choked out. “On...on the source...said ‘curses end bring death’.”

Shit…. That Lucifer was able to translate it himself suggested Roo added those after the fact...specifically for him to find.

“I...I only saw them after I said the anti-curse chant….” Lucifer sobbed. “But...but I had felt something was wrong...I should’ve...shouldn’t have….”

“Stop….,” Akos growled. “Roo is to blame for this...not you. We already know how crafty she is.”

“But….”

“Blaming yourself will not bring him back any faster,” they stressed.

But would he come back? Did Roo ensure a second death here? There was a simple way to find out. Scanning the room, they quickly spotted Niffty. The tiny cyclops was watching the scene with a wide eye, her body frozen in disbelief.

Niffty.” Akos called out, the little demon looking her way. “Do you still sense your contact with Alastor?”

Niffty was quiet a moment before she nodded.

That was a relief. “Then...he’s not permanently dead,” they stated for everyone to hear, recalling how the different types of deals work when it came to death. “If we can’t revive his body here...then he should-”

“We have a pulse,” Vaggie announced.

Not even Akos could hold Lucifer back after hearing that...

---

Meanwhile

Limbo

Everything around him was black, empty. This didn’t feel same as it was a dreams, this felt...different…

...similar to like...like…

The brief moment between when he died in life and first spawned in Hell.

No...I can’t be….

He knew sinners would respawn after death, but he had never died in the afterlife before. How long did it take before his soul returned to a fresh body? If he was stuck here in limbo…then...then….

Lucifer was alone. Likely freaking the fuck out. He had to be with him!

Alastor looked frantically around, looking for some way back, but he saw nothing. Heard nothing that would guide him in the right direction!

There must be some clue!

“Alastor.”

He stilled at the familiar voice. So long had it been since he heard it...not since...he was alive. He turned around and saw her.

There she was. His mother. Just as she was in life. Well, with the exception of a pair of wings and a halo. The area behind here was bright light, almost like a tunnel.

“Ma?” Alastor didn’t want to believe he was seeing this. Was she really here with him?

“Come here, my boy,” his mother was saying, her arms open wide. Alastor didn’t hesitate, he went into her open arms.

She was real. She was real! This was no illusion, no trick!

“I missed ya so much ma…” he sobbed, is distress over being dead momentarily forgotten.

“I missed you to, Alastor.” He felt her stroke his head, just like she used to in life.

If she was here...did this mean he...?

No...he can’t! He promised Lucifer he wouldn’t leave him for Heaven!

But...ma….

“It’s OK, Alastor,” his mother told him, her hands cupping his face as she gently directed him to look at her. “I’m not here to take you with me. I was asked to intercept you.”

“What?” Alastor looked at her confused.

“Though it pains me that our reunion will be so short,” she was saying. “You need to go back. You have a job to do, a promise to keep, right?”

“Y-yes, ma.” He did, he did indeed.

“Now go help that sweet girl back there...and to that handsome man of a father of hers.” She gave him a wink. His mother then made a show of fanning herself. “You know how to pick ‘em, boy...whoo….”

“Ma!” If he could blush in this state, he would have.

She laughed. A laugh that sent joy through his soul. “Don’t worry, my son, I won’t steal him from you. You’re father...your real one, wouldn’t approve.”

“Huh….” Alastor’s eyes widened. “M-my...biological father…?”

“He’s in Heaven with me,” she told him, with a broad smile. “I want to tell you all about him, but we don’t have time.”

“O-oh….” One of the biggest mysteries of his life involved his real father. To hear he was in Heaven….

“Oh my boy.” His mother was holding him at arms length, looking him over. “You are such a beautiful angel.”

He turned his head away with a grimace. “I’m no angel, ma...I was in Hell for a reason….”

She was chuckling, a hand to his face now. “But you are an angel, you just can’t see it yet. Now go on, he is waiting for you.”

Alastor could hear a voice in the distance now. Someone calling his name.

Disparate. Pleading.

Luci….

“We will see each other again, my son,” his mother said. “For now though, we must part.”

A part of him wanted to stay with her, but another part was stronger. A strength that only grew the more he heard Lucifer’s voice in the distance.

“I love you ma!” he said, giving his mother one last hug before turning away.

“I love you too, Alastor. Now go on already!”

“Yes, ma!”

He left his mother’s arms and moved/ran/flew in the direction of Lucifer’s voice. The closer he got, the clearer...the stronger Lucifer’s voice became. Along with it a pull, a pull to return to his body.

I’m coming home Luci! Wait for me!

---

Hotel

His body was alive, but Akos had told him Alastor’s soul was elsewhere, possibly lost, or otherwise occupied. This...Lucifer confirmed himself as he held his beloved’s body in his arms, rocking it, feeling the faintest of tethers between his soul and body.

Talk to him, Akos had told him. Guide him back.

So Lucifer did. He told him, reminded him, of the times they had, even that stupid chaotic fight they had when they first met. How much he loved him, how much he meant to him. Little by little, he felt that tether strengthen, becoming shorter...he could feel his soul coming closer.

Around him everyone watched and waited, held breathes and silent prayers abound.

Then….

A hand twitched.

“Al?” Lucifer breathed, stroking his face.

“Wh-why...does my mouth taste like alcohol...and my chest feel like I was given a hug by Satan?” Alastor grumbled with a cough, his eyes fluttering open.

“Al!” Lucifer hugged him tightly, fresh tears beading his eyes. Around them everyone was sighing with relief. “Thank Father!”

“Ow, ow ow!” Alastor whined. “Not so hard!”

“Sorry, sorry…,” Lucifer laughed, before starting a healing spell to heal any cracked ribs. “I...I ‘m just...so happy I...we...didn’t lose you for good….”

“Oh…right….” Alastor sat up, a sad, yet...happy expression on his face, a tear rolling down his cheek.

“Al?”

“Ma...I saw my Ma…,” he said softly, as more tears joined the first. “She...told me I had to go back…that she couldn’t take me with her yet.”

“’Yet’” Vaggie echoed, her eye wide. “Hold on...are you telling me….”

“I’m ‘technically’ redeemed?” Alastor said with a chuckle. “I think so.”

“But...why are you still here?” Charlie asked, looking confused. “Why send you back if that was the case?”

“Oh my darling demonbelle,” Alastor purred, with a wide smile. “I did promise Luci that I wouldn’t accept redemption until my beloved is allowed back into Heaven. Ma said I still had a job to do...and well...even if hadn’t made such a promise...I would have listened to Ma.”

“I wouldn’t be able to handle a long distance relationship anyway,” Lucifer remarked softly, embracing him again, lighter this time. Alastor returning the embrace as Lucifer slipped into his lap.

“So, Smiles,” Angel spoke up. “If you’re redeemed...does that mean you’re getting a fancy halo and wings?”

“Oh please,” Alastor was rolling his eyes. “I’m down here, aren’t I? I never actually respawned in Heaven, so as far as I am concerned, I am still a sinner.”

“Not to me, Al,” Lucifer said, his face but an itch from his. “Not to me….”

You are so much more… Lucifer initiated a deep passionate kiss. There’s no more obstacles...no more excuses...it’s time.

Notes:

Did ya really think I'd kill Al off for good? Hell nah.

Here's some more music I was listening to...specifically for the Limbo part WHEN EVERYTHING IS LOST, YOU'LL RISE AGAIN: Emotional Epic Orchestral Music Mix

See ya tomorrow for the epilogue!

Chapter 15

A few days later…

The shifting of the bed woke him.

Alastor blinked sleepily as he looked up to see Lucifer getting out of bed.

Leaving him alone in bed at this hour? This would not do! He quickly reached out and snatched his beloved by the waist.

“And where do you think you are going, darling?” he purred playfully, pulling Lucifer back onto the bed.

“Oh darn, couldn’t quite sneak away,” Lucifer had laughed as Alastor wrapped him in his arms.

“Sneak off to do what, exactly, hmmm?” Alastor queried as he nuzzled his neck.

“Sorry can’t say, that’s a secret.” There was a big ass grin on the King’s face.

Alastor rolled his yes. “Thinking of more ways to spoil me?”

The last few days had been pampering him a lot. Lots of massages, ear rubs, and so on. He couldn’t blame him, really. After all he did...actually die...and was ‘technically’ redeemed, but apparently Father himself decided he was still needed in Hell. Not that Alastor was complaining: he would have found Heaven boring anyway.

“Mmaaaayyyybeee…,” Lucifer had teased, before wiggling out of his grip. “Go ahead and sleep a bit longer, love. I’ll see you at breakfast.”

“What, no breakfast in bed this time?” Alastor pouted, though he was only pretending to be disappointed.

“Not today, Al,” Lucifer laughed, giving him a quick kiss before he slipping off the bed once more. “It will be a...special breakfast though.”

Alastor ‘hmmmed’ intriguingly, a smile on his face as he watched Lucifer put on some clothing and leave the room. Now he’s got him very curious. He was half tempted to send his shadow to spy, but restrained himself. His shadow was still being...trained...since Alastor having to recreate it after the original was destroyed during the fight to free his soul from Roo. Thus, he didn’t want to risk said new shadow from disrupting whatever Lucifer was planning.

It was clear Lucifer was building up to something and from the sound of things, the crescendo was about to occur. Oh whatever could it be? He had his suspicions and a part of him was tempted to ‘beat him to the punch’, as they say. But ah...Lucifer had done a good job of distracting him with his pampering, so he couldn’t come up with a proper plan himself.

Sly devil.

Alastor flipped back onto his back and sighed, his thoughts wandering. Truth be told, the pampering hadn’t been the only thing keeping him from plotting. The...aftereffects of what happened had been...annoying, at the very least.

It had been nice to sleep through the night once more and without the aid of a sleep spell or potion. However, while the torture he was put through had been only a dream, the inflicted trauma was still quite real.

For instance, once he going to check on a lighting problem in one of the hotel wings, but the corridor had been just narrow enough...the lightening just dim enough...to invoke a memory of those damn tunnels! Thank Father Husk had been with him! The Bartender had been able to talk him back and prevent a full blown panic attack.

Then there was the hellhound incident the other night. A trio of drunken hellhounds had decided to do a howling contest right next to the Hotel. Had woken him up out of dead sleep and in his freak out had buried himself in his wardrobe. It wasn’t until after Lucifer had chased them off (apparently with a comically large spray bottle filled with vinegar) that his partner had been able to coax him out of there and back into bed, where he clung to Lucifer for the rest of the night.

Worse though, was his struggles in getting to eat meat again. He’s been making some progress...he found he could eat a limited amount of ground meat. However, proper slabs of raw meat...let alone sinner body parts? His stomach still ties itself into knots at the mere thought. He knew Rosie would be horrified to learn about this.

Oh he had a lot to unpack with her in general when he got to see her again. He was certain she would gladly assist in getting him to eat proper meat again.

He must have dozed off, as when he looked at the clock again it was almost breakfast time.

After stretching, he got out of bed and headed into the bathroom to freshen up a little. His ears twitched at the memory of what Vaggie and Husk told him what they had to do ‘bring him back’. He hadn’t been certain what was more insulting: that Husk was technically ‘kissing’ him or that the cat had the galls to say his mouth tasted terrible!

Pfft! Lucifer voiced no such complaints when they kissed. And who was Husk to talk when his own breath constantly stank of alcohol? Hypocrite.

He caught a glance of his reflection in the mirror. Leaning in close, he noticed the for first time that his eyes were slightly different. The irises were still gold, but they were more a...tarnished color, like some magic had been spent? Lucifer had mentioned seeing a golden flash when he...was killed...in the dream world.

The gold irises were claimed to be a ‘side effect’ from being healed by the Telum Paternus...but now he knew it had to be more than that. That ‘side effect’ he suspected was the only reason he wasn’t double dead. Just how far ahead was Father planning?

Not that he was complaining, of course. He was quite happy to be alive and not...no longer existing...thank you very much!

When he was done in the bathroom, he put on his usual black pants and a white casual shirt before leaving the room. Alastor considered teleporting down to the lobby, but decided against it: he’ll give his beloved as much time he needed to get his ‘surprise’ ready. So he started down the hallway toward the elevator...nah, he’ll take the stairs.

He was only half way there when he sensed a presence behind him. Before he could turn around though, something was slipped over his eyes, blinding him.

“What the!” he cried, before a familiar voice over his head shushed him.

“Easy, little fawn, it’s just me,” Akos assured him, their tone playful. “Can have you seeing what is in store you for prematurely.”

“Ok...how many of you are involved in this surprise?” Alastor asked, his suspicions increasing even more.

“Just me, at least, in terms of who’s fully in the know,” the Lost Seraphim purred before he heard them snap their fingers and the familiar sensation of a teleport occurring.

“Oh...Short King’s got something big planned if they got him blindfolded.” He heard Angel remark, telling him they had teleported to the dining area. Sounded like he was about say something else, but there was a faint slapping sound, likely of someone putting a hand over his mouth.

“Silencio,” Vaggie was grumbling. Selene was heard giggling. Thought he heard Charlie starting to squeal? Did she know fully what was going on despite Akos’ claims?

Akos was guiding him forward and around something, likely the main table, before coaxing him to sit down. He thought he could smell something...earthy...planty? Must be very close by if he could smell it over the scent of cooking eggs and hash browns. Thought he caught a whiff of pancake batter as well?

“Lucifer, he is here,” Akos announced, before the blindfold came off.

Alastor blinked a couple of times to adjust his sight to see he was at the head of the table. On either side of him on the table were a couple of short vases full of roses. Between the vases he could see everyone looking at him with soft smiles.

Made him feel a bit subconscious, if he was to be honest.

Now, was there more to this or was this more pampering?

“Morning, darling,” Lucifer announced cheerfully as his beloved appeared from the kitchen and set a plate of hash browns and an omelet in front of him, then giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Before he could say anything, he had disappeared back into the kitchen, a certain gleam in his eye.

Oh there was definitely more to this.

With nothing to do but wait and eat, he started to eat. The moment he dug into he omelet he realized there was meat in it. Sinner meat...but...so far his stomach was behaving. Thank goodness! Elated he devoured the omelet without much thought.

“You can thank Rosie for the suggestion on how help you eat your...preferred meat again,” Charlie remarked with a smile.

Ah, so either her or Lucifer made a visit. He was grateful either way.

Alastor had just polished off the hash browns when Lucifer returned with a covered plate, smoothly replacing his empty one with it. “And now for a special second course,” he was saying, Alastor catching a hint of anxiety in his voice as he removed the cover with a flourish.

It was a single large pancake.

Covered in chocolate chips.

One of Alastor’s ears began to twitch with agitation. Was this a joke? All this build up for-

Then he noticed the chips were...not placed randomly. They formed letters….

Alastor snapped his head toward Lucifer, him was still by his side, but now he was on one knee, holding up...holding up….

He looked back at the plate and read the words carefully.

‘Will you marry me?’

He looked back at Lucifer again, his eyes focused on the little box with the ring set inside it. The ring was rose gold, carved resemble a snake weaving between the tines on a crown of antlers.

Alastor looked back at the pancake again, then back at the ring and Lucifer, whom was looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

This...this he was suspecting, though not in such a...childish...way. Yet his brain still locked up all the same. Seconds felt like minutes as he struggled to form a coherent thought.

“Hah!” Husk said triumphantly. “Called it! For once you owe me Angel!”

“Aw dammit….” Angel grumbled.

As childish as their betting game was, it did help snap his mind out of it’s state of shock.

“Y-you know you technically already asked this,” Alastor began with a small, teasing smile. “And I gave you my answer then”

“I know,” Lucifer giggled nervously. “But I wanted to ask again…more...formally?”

“This is ‘formal’?” He pointed at the pancake, to which Lucifer just gave a sheepish grin and shrug.

“Well?” Lucifer pressed after a moment. “What do you say?”

Alastor chuckled as he gave his answer. The one he was always going to give.

“Yes.”

Notes:

Annnd that's a wrap for this series. I may eventually post another short or two and definitely going to be updating 'Protege' more, but as far as the main story stuff, this series is done.

Gonna be focusing on filling out 'Protege' and 'Hazbin sillies' (the latter I have not only been neglecting but gonna change the title slightly) for a bit while I plot out sequel series (which will be 'Wings of Redemption' rather than 'Evolution' as I mentioned earlier).

...

...ha ha...me? 'plot out'? Gods...Im always a been more of a pantser...(I'm definitely not the type that writes out whole elaborate outlines of plot...)

An-y-way, I'll also going to be working on more artwork (ideas...so many ideas) and updating my WorldAnvil stuff (I really need to update the headcanon article....) as well.

I'll shut up now. See you soon!

Notes:

Just a heads up, but this one may not be updated everyday, in part because I want to try to post a couple of smaller, background type stories before I officially close this series (don't panic there will be a sequel series following right after!)...but also because I want to include artwork for one of the chapters of this story like I did with 'Turning Point', though that will depend on if my art muse cooperates.

We shall see.

Oh, lastly...I don't mind folks doing fanart of my work at all, just be sure to tell me about it and give proper credits for the inspiration (and to not use AI to make it.)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 35 of Wings of Chaos
• Part 21 of Golden Eyes