Chapter Text
Lucifer and Lilith were sitting in the parlor with Sera and Brunnhilde when the communication crystal began glowing. Once activated the projection formed around the image of their daughter.
“Charlie! Are you alright?” Lucifer asked, his concern blatantly clear.
“We’re fine Dad. But the situation with Heaven is less so.” Charlie responded.
“What’s wrong?” Lilith asked.
Charlie didn’t answer as she stepped aside for a new figure to enter the view. A new, and familiar figure.
“Michael.” Lucifer stated.
“Apologies that the circumstances of our reunion are so dire, brother.” Michael replied.
“I doubt we would be meeting otherwise.” Lucifer responded coldly.
“…I deserve that.” Michael admitted.
“Well?” Lucifer prompted.
“Heaven has completely fallen. Worse, our siblings are missing.” Michael stated. “The only ones we know of are you, me, and Uriel. Everyone else…”
“Dwelling on that will not help us.” Lucifer interrupted. The fact that the rest of his siblings were M.I.A. was concerning, but he had learned to survive without them once.
“The main point,” Astra grunted, pushing Michael to the side, “is that this Vault, while it would have been a viable outpost during an invasion from outside our realm, we are facing a threat from within.”
“You need to bring them to Hell.” Lucifer surmised. He thought for a moment. “I know a place. I’m sending you the coordinates.” As he said this, he cut the feed.
Lilith looked over his shoulder to see the coordinates that he was imputing before resting a hand on his. “Luci, are you sure? I doubt-”
“It was created to simulate Heaven in Hell, Lilith. I realize meeting her will be disturbing for them, but she knows secrets that even we don’t. We will not get far without her.” Lucifer stated.
“…As long as you’re doing this for the right reasons.” Lilith replied.
Sera was confused as to where they were headed, as the location seemed quite a distance from Pentagram City and yet Lucifer didn’t attempt to teleport or fly.
Brunnhilde picked up on this question as she pushed Sera’s wheelchair through the wilds beyond the city. “Hey, Lilith? Where exactly are we headed?” Brunnhilde asked.
Lilith looked thoughtful for a second before answering. “Somewhere safe.”
“Could you be any more cryptic?” Brunnhilde asked sarcastically, causing Sera to chuckle. She had missed this.
“Coming from my own experience with Hell, yes, she could be.” Vaggie stated as she walked next to the other two angels.
“…We’re going to meet with someone you may have met before, Sera. Fair warning, it may be…painful.” Lilith answered. Sera and Brunnhilde had no time for more questions as they reached a massive metal compound, so large that Sera wondered how they hadn’t seen it earlier.
Lucifer knocked on a large metal gate, causing an articulated scope with an eye on the end to emerge from a slot in the door.
“LUCI!!” an excited voice cried out. “It’s been ages! How are you doing?!”
“Well enough. I invited a few guests over; I hope you don’t mind?” Lucifer asked.
“If you trust them, that’s enough for me. And is that Lily?!” the scope asked as it turned to Lilith.
“You’re just as excitable as always, aren’t you?” Lilith asked, amusement clear in her voice. “May we come in while we wait for the others?”
The voice didn’t bother answering, retracting the scope, and activating something that caused the gate to slide to either side. Lucifer and Lilith walked in, followed by Sera and Brunnhilde.
From out of the compound, a woman even shorter than Lucifer ran up to the group. Upon getting close enough, she leapt forward to hug Lucifer and Lilith at once.
“It's so great to see you! And who are…?” The woman trailed off as she caught sight of the three angels, immediately losing the excitable grin, replacing it with an expression of calm understanding. “Got it, so it’s one of those problems.”
Now that she was no longer moving so much, nor blocked by Lucifer and Lilith, Sera could get a good look at her. The woman was wearing blood red scrubs and a black lab coat, with an intricate headgear with several different lenses hanging off the top. Dark black hair with streaks of bright red flowed from under the headgear.
“Should I assume the rest of our guests are of the self-righteous variety?” The woman asked.
“Not all of them. Some are our children.” Lucifer said, and just like flipping a switch the woman was back to her initial excitement.
“YOU. HAD. KIDS?! PLURAL?! AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?! HOW MANY BIRTHDAYS DID I MISS?” the woman shouted, dragging Lucifer into one of the buildings.
Vaggie, Sera, and Brunnhilde simply stood in shock for a minute.
“Yo, Miss Lilith? You said we may have met her before?” Brunnhilde asked.
“I’m pretty sure I would have remembered someone like that.” Sera argued.
Lilith sighed. “You haven’t met her like that, but I am confident you have met her, Sera. Brunnhilde, I think you may have been too young.”
“Who the Hell is she?! And no more riddles!” Brunnhilde exclaimed.
“She is my sister.” Lilith said as she followed the trail Lucifer left. “Her name… is Eve.”
Charlie was confused. She had been warned repeatedly by her parents to stay out of the wilds beyond Pentagram City, and had been told even more often to never enter the area that the coordinates her father had given them led.
When she mentioned this to Astra and Emily, she was greeted with a blank stare and immense curiosity.
“Did your parents ever tell you why you shouldn’t go there?” Emily asked. Uriel and Michael were trailing closely behind them, but were far enough away for a private conversation.
“No, just that I would learn when I was ready.” Charlie answered.
“Maybe it has something to do with that.” Astra stated, pointing to a massive compound that seemed to materialize in front of them.
“Charlie?” Michael spoke up.
“Yes, that is the place we were told to go.” Charlie responded.
The group walked up to the gate, which opened immediately as if expecting them. As they walked through, Charlie was tackled by something too fast to see.
“Charlie!” Astra shouted as she drew her swords.
“How’s my favorite niece doing?!” The excitable ball of energy shouted.
Charlie finally managed to stand up and get a look at her assailant. “Aunt Eve?!”
“Aunt?” Emily questioned.
“Eve?!” Michael and Uriel stated at the same time.
“Surprise!!” Eve said excitedly.
Turning around, Eve took a look at Astra and Emily. “You’re Astra, I take it?” Astra nodded as she sheathed her swords, apparently satisfied that there was no threat.
“Uh, Hi, I’m-” Emily started.
“Emily, right? Luci and Lily have told me about you.” Eve said as she walked up to the angel, her smile disappearing behind a blank expression. Emily closed her eyes as she braced herself, only to be surprised when Eve hugged her as well.
“Thank you for standing by Charlie.” Eve said as she released Emily.
“Question, is she always like this?” Astra asked.
“As long as I’ve known her.” Charlie responded.
“Greetings Lady-” Uriel tried before being brushed aside.
“Charlie, please tell the Archangels I don’t want to speak to them.” Eve stated loudly.
“Sister, I thought we agreed to put our feelings aside for now.” Lilith said as she walked up to the group, followed closely by Vaggie.
“Doesn’t mean I need to hide my dislike of them.” Eve countered.
“Aunt Eve, what are you doing out here?” Charlie asked
“I live out here, this is my lab after all. Come on in, I’ll show you around.” Eve responded, ignoring the shocked expression that appeared on Charlie’s face.
The group walked through the gates to find Lucifer, Sera, Brunnhilde, and surprisingly enough, Alastor waiting for them. Michael and Uriel went over to their brother, hoping that he would be less hostile towards them.
“...Michael. Uriel.” Lucifer stated unfeelingly.
“Brother, we-” Uriel started before the King of Hell pulled them in for a hug. In their surprise, it took them a moment to return it.
After the trio separated, tears in the eyes of each, Michael spoke. “We...I thought-”
“I have mixed feelings about the matter. On the one hand, I am still pissed off about our last meeting. On the other...” Lucifer waved to the Furies. “My daughters are willing to give you a chance. Don’t waste this one.” Michael and Uriel nodded.
Back over with the Furies, Eve was going through the purpose of this compound.
“I run a LOT of dangerous experiments, so your parents and I decided a while back to make sure if any of them got loose, it wouldn’t affect others much. Course this was actually after Lucifer built this place.” Eve explained.
“If that wasn’t the original purpose, what was?” Emily asked.
Eve’s smile didn’t change, but they could all feel the sorrow behind her next words. “Lucifer never intended to hurt anyone, but there is no denying that his actions did have unintended consequences. When death came for me and Adam, we were brought before the Angelic council. Adam was the devout fanatic who listened to everything they said as gospel.”
“Basically, he was the world's first kiss-***.” Astra deadpanned.
Eve nodded. “I was the one who asked questions, who wondered if the way things were being done was the only way to do things. I wasn’t a dreamer like Lucifer, more of an explorer. He saw the world for what it could be, I wanted to see all that it was. But the Council didn’t think I should be allowed to do that. Honestly, I think those old farts considered curiosity the original sin.”
“...They tell the story of how Lilith and Lucifer got exiled, but I just realized Heaven never really discusses your fate.” Emily realized.
“Not surprised. Their first woman ran off with the Devil, and the second accepted his gift. Anyway, when Adam was given the free pass to Heaven, they decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. They sent me down to Hell.” Eve continued. Emily covered her mouth in horror while Charlie merely grimaced, having heard this story before.
“When I got down here, it was Lilith, Lucifer… and Cain and Abel. Abel was actually the first winner, but he chose to come with me rather than stay with his father. Lucifer was very apologetic for his role in my fate, which is how I ended up with this place.” Eve said as she opened the door to the inner compound, revealing a sprawling garden full of plants, trees, and animals that looked like the ones from Earth and Heaven.
“What is-?” Emily started.
“Lucifer wanted to call it New Eden, but I prefer Elysium.” Eve interjected. The three Furies looked on with wonder at their surroundings.
“Lucifer created this place as a means to repay the debt he felt he owed me. Honestly, I only come in here to think. I appreciate the gesture, but...” Eve trailed off.
“After the fruit, she viewed Eden as more of a prison that prevented her from seeing the world.” Charlie explained. Astra smiled in sympathy.
“It pretty much stayed a sanctuary until... the first extermination.” Eve got an angry look at this, which caused the three to back up a bit. Noticing this, Eve turned down the murderous intent before continuing. “So just so you know, the first few exterminations happened without Lucifer or Lilith’s permission or knowledge, and they weren’t the big events they are now. They were essentially targeted executions conducted in secret.”
“What?!” Emily shouted, shocked.
Charlie was also perturbed, as Eve had never told her this before. ‘Wait, Cain and Abel... I’ve never met them. Did they...?’
“Yeah. First time Adam came down here, he came looking for me. He found me, Cain, Abel, and one of my daughters, Azura. We weren’t having a perfect life down here, but between Lilith and Lucifer’s actions, it was tolerable. Adam was enraged that we had made a life without him though. When he found us, we thought he was here for more... peaceful purposes. Cain and Abel went to hug him and...” Eve trailed off again.
“He cut them down, didn’t he?” Astra asked. Eve just nodded. Emily stood in horror, while Charlie was feeling... something different. Astra put her hand on her shoulder, making her recognize the heat rising off of her. She quickly calmed down.
“I managed to get Azura out of there, and she’s living with Satan as his adopted daughter.” Eve continued.
“Wait, Zee is your daughter?” Charlie asked. Azura had been Charlie’s best friend when she was in her teenage years, but they had lost contact as Charlie grew older.
Eve laughed. “Satan choosing to adopt her was probably the first time I fell for him.”
“Fell for him?” Emily asked.
“First time?” Astra questioned.
“Yeah, we have an on-off relationship. Better than anything I had with Adam.” Eve pointed out. She started walking towards the exit. “I’d love to catch up, but I have something I need to show you all. Let’s head to the main lab.”
When the Furies arrived at the main lab, they found the others already waiting for them, alongside two massive metal tubes connected to various computers.
“Alright, everybody here? Anyone who isn’t, please make a loud noise.” Eve joked, getting a few chuckles. Walking up to the tubes, she began pressing buttons on the keyboard.
“For those of you who either don’t know or didn’t pay attention, the exorcists, Adam’s frontline suicide troops, are all supposed to be created from Lilith’s essence.” Eve explained as the first tube opened to reveal an exorcist corpse. “I have found a few interesting things about them in my analysis. First off, they are pretty much just adrenaline junkie versions of sinners and winners. No special powers or the like.”
“If they were created from Lilith, why would they be so weak?” Sera asked.
“Near as I can tell, the person who did this was trying to use angelic recreation methods on an Archdemon.” Eve answered.
“Archdemon?” all the angels but Lucifer echoed.
“I was under the impression that Lilith was a Sinner.” Uriel stated.
“No, the actual status of first Sinner belonged to Cain. Technically, since he is gone I got the mantle, but that’s neither here nor there. When you sent Lilith down here, you did it before she died. As a result of the inter realm distortion, or whatever quantum mysteries lie between the realms, Lilith became the first and only Archdemon in existence. Theoretically, it could be repeated if another human were cast down from Heaven while still living, but…” Eve trailed off as she finally noticed the expression of the others in the room. “Right, I’m getting off track. The point is, angelic methods wouldn’t work at peak efficiency on someone like Lilith, nor would my methods work at their peak efficiency on a true angel.”
“Do the exorcists-?” Sera began.
“Have souls? Nope.” Eve answered. “I should clarify this now, there is no way to create an artificial soul. The best a person can make are pale facsimiles. Whenever an exorcist dies, it is like breaking a computer. Expensive and a pain to deal with, but without any moral dilemma. Of course, that is what angels prefer, right? Simple, black and white terms?” Eve grumbled.
“Sister?” Lilith chided.
“Right, sorry. Back to the point, based on everything I have learned from what Lucifer and Lilith told me, as well as the exorcist corpse, I can say with certainty that our ultimate enemy is not from this dimension, which makes stopping them all the more difficult.” Eve explained.
“Do we at least know which dimension they are from?” Michael asked.
“Their interdimensional frequency matches Astra. That, plus all the other clues we’ve been given have led us to conclude-.” Eve explained.
“They’re from my world being led by my mother Anaphiel and the Deceiver, Tenebrae.” Astra simplified.
“...way to spoil the reveal.” Eve pouted, though her initial expression soon returned. “Anyway, thanks to that, we have the dimensional coordinates to their home territory, and thanks to Charlie and Astra, we know how to get there.”
Everyone turned to the sisters from different worlds.
After a moment Charlie snapped her fingers. “The other Adam’s Halo!”
“Right on the money.” Eve confirmed, pressing a button on the console to reveal the Halo contained within another tube. “A thorough analysis of the Halo has revealed that the actual coordinates of their Hell match ours, from which we can infer that their Earth and Heaven follow the same rules. The only difference between a portal that travels within a certain dimension and a portal that carries across dimensions is vibrational frequency.”
“Much as I appreciate the lecture, can we move on to the part about us winning the war?” Astra interrupted.
“...Okay, fine. Here's what I have figured out.” Eve stated, summoning a red hologram of Earth, being orbited by Heaven and Hell. The hologram split into two, the second one appearing orange. “So, we know where our enemy is. Thanks to what Uriel told us about the events at Vigridr, we know the composition of at least part of their army. We also know that they have a beach head in our Heaven, which puts us at a disadvantage.” At this the red Heaven turned orange. “We need the resources of Heaven to mount any expeditions into the other world though. Therefore...”
“Before we can end the threat, we must take back Heaven.” Michael concluded.
“How? Thanks to Adam’s propaganda, Hell is seen as the ultimate enemy of Heaven. We’ll be seen as the monstrous aggressors, not liberators.” Astra reminded. “Even with the Archangels, their reputation can only do so much.”
Before anyone could respond, a bright light came from within Uriel’s cloak. Pulling it out, she revealed a mirror.
“What is-?” Emily started.
“That’s a Holy mirror. An early communication device in Heaven.” Brunnhilde answered.
“...I only gave the frequency for this to one person outside my siblings.” Uriel stated. Waving her hand, the mirror image disappeared to reveal Saint Peter.
“Lady Uriel! Thank goodness you’re alive!” Peter exclaimed.
“Peter?! What is-?” Uriel began to ask before being interrupted.
“Adam has declared martial law over Heaven, claiming that Hell murdered the Archangels and is preparing for an invasion. I know you gave me this frequency only for emergencies. Does this apply?” Peter asked, though his smile told everyone he already knew the answer.
Uriel smiled. “Yes. Adam attacked me and Azrael and is working with the forces we were trying to fight back.”
“And I take it that most of what we’ve heard about Hell is pure propaganda?” Peter asked.
“Yes. Lucifer and his people have agreed to help us though.” Uriel responded, looking at Lucifer who nodded in affirmation.
“Alright. There are a few resistance factions assembling. I’ll try to coordinate with them before we lose anyone.” Peter replied before the mirror went dark.
“...I stand corrected.” Astra stated. “Looks like our chances have just gone up significantly.”
“We better start preparing. Adam will probably send some troops to scout us, and we need to be sure to prevent any information leaking.” Lucifer stated. “We’ve got a war to win!”