Chapter Text
The golden splendour of heaven had long been a gilded cage, a celestial prison, for Lucifer Morningstar. Once the brightest of the archangels, he wanders through the ethereal gardens of his Father's palace as a ghost. The irony that he should spend his days wandering the gardens of his Father's creation is not lost on him, though he can no longer stand the searing looks of his brothers and sisters or the winners that have ascended.
But Lilith’s gaze cuts the deepest. Once filled with love and admiration for having gifted her and mankind free will, her eyes now hold a cold, distant indifference. When he and Lilith cross paths, her look is devoid of warmth, a mere glance of his existence without a trace of the affection they once shared. Even she barely manages to mask the disdain she harbours for the Morningstar, their once fiery passion snuffed out. Charlie had briefly been a blessing in this terrible existence, a small kindling to a dying flame of their marriage. But now that she’s grown and independent, she no longer needs him. The light she once brought to his life has dimmed, leaving him as a shade with no purpose, no meaning in his immortality other than to be hated and shunned.
What fruits remain from his rebellion?
Love lost.
The image of mankind’s ruiner.
Aimless, unable to shape dust into everlasting gems against the inky black canvas of the universe—a punishment from his Father.
Suffering solitude.
Today, as on most days, Lucifer stopped at the serene pond teeming with wildlife, nestled amongst great alder and willows. The hum of frogs and insects around the water, stoats along the tree line chattering, geese calling above and small duck quacks fill Lucifer's void with a peaceful symphony. Still, the blissful scene offers little to no solace for his troubled mind.
He sat on the marble bench by the pond, his once majestic form now a shadow of its former glory. His wings, once the envy of Heaven, were folded closely to his back, as they often are now. They were in desperate need of preening, their feathers dishevelled and shameful. The golden sheen they once held was dulled, a testament to his neglect. Despite their sorry state, he couldn’t bring himself to tend to them, not even when he ventured outside. His robe was worn yet tidy, his hair unkempt, and his eyes, though still striking, were rimmed with exhaustion and sorrow. He was no longer his Father’s most beautiful, angelic child.
“Dad?”
The familiar voice snapped him back from his thoughts as swiftly as a bolt of lightning, making him realise Charlie was standing there, having hesitantly called out to him. Her golden hair caught in the light, and her indigo-blue cheeks, so much like his own, glowed softly against her fair complexion. She was a vision of ethereal beauty, her presence both comforting and heart-wrenching.
Charlie’s wings, though fewer in number than those of the archangels, were no less magnificent. A true testament to her status in heaven despite her Father’s failures, each feather meticulously perfect, reflecting the light and casting a gentle golden glow around her. Despite their simplicity, they radiated a purity and grace that made her stand out among the heavenly host. Lucifer’s heart swelled with pride and a pang of sorrow as he took in her uncertain expression.
“Charlie,” he responded, his voice warm yet tinged with sorrow. “What brings you here?”
She hesitated, sitting beside him on the marble bench. “I need your advice. I know you always tell me not to seek it from you, but… I trust you, Dad.”
Lucifer’s heart aches at her words. He had tried his best to shield her from his scorn and derision, yet here she was. His daughter, seeking his guidance. Part of him wants to turn her away, though he knows he never would. “What troubles you, my star?”
“I’m struggling to think of how to solve something, for the heavenly host and I wanted to talk to you about it.” Her eyes pleaded for guidance as she glanced at him.
Lucifer wrung his hands in his lap. “Charlie, I’m not the best person to speak to about these sorts of things. What have your uncles said, are they aware of the issue too?”
It is a terrible feeling to dismiss the one being who has yet to hate him, but Lucifer knows better. His daughter is the only good thing to come from his existence other than the stars, as Michael used to remind him. They hadn’t spoken since Charlie entered her second decade of life. It means the world to him that Charlie still comes to him for advice, despite having heard all the ways in which he was the invitation to evil and ruin. That’s why it’s heartbreaking to shrug her off, as gently as he could.
Charlie’s gaze drops to her father’s fidgeting hands. “They’ve given their opinions, but I still feel uncertain and… worried. They’re fighting amongst themselves on what to do and I don’t want anything bad to happen to heaven.”
“Charlie, nothing bad will happen to heaven.” Lucifer laughs, too late to realise how dismissive it sounded.
Charlie flinched at his tone, her expression tightening. “I wanted to hear your perspective, even if you think it's not worth much.” She stood, turning to leave.
“Charlie, wait.” Lucifer reaches out for her hand, voice softening with regret. “I’m sorry. Please, sit back down. I didn’t mean to dismiss your concerns.”
Eyes shimmering with unshed tears, Charlie looks back at her father; Lucifer’s heart sinks to the depths of his hollow husk of a body. “I just… I thought you’d understand. You’ve been through so much and I thought you could help me make sense of this.”
Lucifer feels a sharp pang of guilt, opening and closing his mouth listlessly, searching for the words to make this right.
After a moment far too long for any other to wait, the ex-archangel is still surprised to find Charlie waiting, his hand still in hers.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, my star.” He said softly, his voice heavy with remorse. “Sometimes I forget how important my words are to you. I just don’t ever want to do anything that would harm your position in heaven by anything I suggest. I think no matter what you suggest to the heavenly host it will be the right decision.”
Charlie sighs. “I just needed to know that you believed in me.”
Lucifer squeezes her hand gently. “I do believe in you, more than you know. Whatever this issue is, trust your heart and your instincts. They’ve never led you astray before.”
After a moment of consideration, Charlie nods, a small smile breaking through her uncertainty. “Thanks, Dad.”
Lucifer stands, a small voice laughing in his head, when did Charlie become so tall and grown up? He opens his arms, a pleading look to his daughter. The uncertain smile grows into a loving one. As they hug, Lucifer says barely above a whisper, “I love you so much, my star. More than anything.”
“I love you too, Dad.” Charlie squeezes him before letting go. “I’m going to get going, I’m meeting up with Vaggie soon.”
“Enjoy yourself.” Lucifer's smile is bittersweet, the joy of the moment dying as he watches her walk away. Pride and sorrow mingling in his heart. She was the brightest star he had ever created, a beacon of hope in his dark existence and he did not doubt for a moment that she had the strength to face whatever problems she faced.
——
When the day comes to an end, the light of Heaven dimming ever so slightly Lucifer makes his way back home. Can it even be called that ? It was now a building he slept in at best, once filled with laughter and love despite what he had done, it was now hollow and desolate.
The silence is his only friend. Charlie has flown the nest and it is rare to find Lilith here anymore. It has been days since he last saw her, their encounters growing rarer. He can barely remember a time when they would have lovingly embraced for being parted for more than a day. The distance between them has become an abyss he can no longer bridge, yet one he stares down into night upon night. Hoping that glancing upon it will provide him with answers in turn.
There are a few questions he’d beg to have answered: When did they grow apart? How? Though he knows it is far too late for him to do anything with any revelations he might receive. Maybe miracles could be performed by those highest in heaven, though time was a foundation immune to any blessing, even to his Father. There was simply no way to go back, as Lucifer had known ever since Eden.
Lucifer is unsure why he returns here night after night. It is rare that he sleeps and what little he takes is often not on furniture intended to rest deeply on. Though he cannot face glancing at a bed made for two, knowing it has been half empty for so long.
Often he finds himself, consciously or not, wandering into the workshop he used to labour away in to make toys for Charlie when she was small. There is something comforting in the room, filled with memories of presenting his little girl with wondrous toy after toy until she was too old for them. Now the workbench lies with dust, the tools laid to rest along the workbench.
Lucifer sits at the workstation, the loneliness pressing down on him like a vice until he can no longer stand it. Once, he had been a shaper of stars and dreams. Now he was a relic, a symbol of ruin. He was the Morningstar, but his light had long since dimmed.
—-
Lucifer had just settled into his usual spot by the pond when he heard the unmistakable sound of hurried footsteps, rushing heels along the golden path. His head snaps up to see Lilith racing towards him, her face a mask of fury and fear.
“You!” She spat, her voice trembling with rage. “What have you done?”
Lucifer shrank in confusion, anxious as she came towards him like a storm. “Lilth, what are you talking about?”
“Charlie!” She shouted. “She’s offering herself to Hell! She said she made up her mind after speaking to you!”
The world seemed to tilt beneath him as Lucifer processed her words. Ringing shot through his ears. Even sitting he felt dizzy enough to fall over.
“S-she’s… no, no, no, no.” He croaked, reality crashing down on him. “No, she-she didn’t say anything about - she can’t - no - I - I didn’t know.”
A sharp snap echoed around them as Lilith slapped Lucifer.
The sting is sharp, leaving his world skewed. The hit was hard enough to knock his tophat off but extremely sobering.
Lilith stood in front of him, seething, her hand shaking, barely restraining herself from slapping him again. “Your advice, your reassurances - she thought she could handle this because of you!”
“Wh-where is she, now?” Lucifer stands. Wings unfolding, bristling, shaking.
“The hall of the heavenly host - where else?” Lilith spits.
Without another word Lucifer spread his wings and took flight. The air rushed past him like a surging tempest as he soared up, a firework blazing in gold and blue. His dishevelled wings beat powerfully, driven by desperation and fear. The grand hall of the heavenly host loomed on high, its golden spires piercing the sky.
The landing is a crash, his disused wings failing as he smashes through the doors of the grand hall of the heavenly host, bursting into chaos.
“If she wants to go then let her -” Azreal’s voice cuts.
“It’s savage - what would they want with her?” Raphael comments.
“Charlie!” Lucifer shouts - going unnoticed.
“We cannot let her go - she’s our niece.” Gabriel pleads.
“Someone must go.” Azreal snaps.
“No!” Lucifer cries.
“I can do it!” Charlie pleads.
“We give him no one, we go to war!” Michael’s voice booms through the hall, silencing all other voices.
“Listen!” Lucifer snaps.
“And put the winners and all in heaven at risk?” Uriel questions.
“It must be a bluff, surely they have no way of entering this realm.” Remiel hopes blindly.
“She isn’t going!” Lucifer soars into the centre of the room, his brilliance radiating, a short burst of a supernova of dazzling light, golds and spectrum of light. Only for a second, but a second long enough to finally go notice. For his intrusion to be glared upon by most of the host.
“Dad!”
Charlie’s voice slices through the tension, mingled with unease and relief. Lucifer is aware that all eyes are on him now, scolding looks from his brothers. He had been warned to never set foot in the heavenly host again, yet here he was, disobeying once more. Immediate fear washed through Lucifer’s body, barely keeping himself aloft in the middle of the hall, so that he could be seen by the highest seats of the host, amongst his siblings. Without confirming, he is sure that Michael’s gaze is the heaviest on him, he can almost feel the hot sting of angelic steel at his wings, if his brother gave into his desires.
But Lucifer’s gaze was locked onto his daughter.
“Charlie is not going to Hell,” Lucifer declared, voice unwavering despite his simmering dread. “What is going on?”
The hall is silent for only a moment that feels like a stretch of eternity.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Michael’s voice is scathing, his older brother’s threat drips from him as the tall archangel, with the grace and all mighty purpose of protecting heaven rises slowly from his seat at the bench. His hand falls to the hilt of the angelic blade at his hip.
“When my daughter is going to Hell - I don’t care.” Lucifer hisses, a fire welling up inside of him that he had thought long dead, beyond smouldering out.
“Dad I can speak for myself -”
“Charlie!” Lucifer turns on her, voice desperate than scolding. Pleading. Begging for her to listen. “I won’t let you go - why would you even go?”
“Dad, it's complicated -”
“We have an ultimatum from hell.” Michael cuts in. “Apparently the current King has found a way to enter our realm. He demands an angel.”
“An angel, for what?” Lucifer's voice cracks. The terror of his daughter’s decision sinking into his gut. “H-How is that even possible?”
“It’s not.” Uriel sighs. “There is no way a sinner , King or not, could possibly breach this realm.”
“Brother, you saw the messenger, you heard from… it .” Gabriel’s voice shakes. The archangel speaks as if he has seen an ungodly, unholy thing. “That thing appearing before us is proof enough -”
“I don’t care what you saw,” Lucifer interrupted. “How could any of you even consider sending Charlie?”
“She volunteered,” Raphael replied, his voice strained at his niece’s decision. “We didn’t force her. She believes it’s the only way to prevent war.”
“But she’s wrong!” Lucifer shouted, his desperation palpable. Clear the angel was drowning in it as he spun mid air amongst all of them. Turning to Charlie to reason with her. “You can’t, Charlie! This isn’t a decision you should be making - there has to be another way. Your heart is too pure, the fact that you would sacrifice yourself instead of your uncles - Charlie - please - you can’t. You can’t.”
“Lucifer! Calm yourself.” Michael’s order cut through his little brother's panic, tone as cold as ice. “This is not just about Charlie. It’s about the safety of all of Heaven.”
Lucifer stared at his brother. Indigo eyes searching the being before him he knows should be his brother, finding only a cold, calculating entity. An angel with purpose but empty hearted.
“H-How could you say that?” Lucifer’s voice breaks. “She’s your niece, your family!”
“And that’s precisely why it’s her choice,” Gabriel stated. “She’s willing to make the sacrifice for her family, for all of Heaven.”
Lucifer turned back to Charlie, his eyes filled with so much pain and confusion. “C-Charlie. You don’t have to. You can’t.”
Charlie took a deep, shaking breath. When she finally looks up to her father, her eyes are filled with resolution despite the fear forming on her face. “Dad, I can’t let Heaven suffer.”
“No!” Lucifer shook his head violently. “No, I can’t accept that!”
Before anyone could respond, the floor in the hall began to darken. What little shadows existed in the room began to grow long and sinister, shifting and dancing all of their own will. The light in the room is sucked out by the void growing on the hall's floor, consuming everything in its wake. An eerie pitch pierces through the veil filling the air as ink-black tendrils of the purest darkness, interwoven with crackling green and purple energy, start to spread from a central point. Clawing and hooking themselves as the fabric of reality of the Heavenly realm is torn apart. It is a fight, one that none of them can look away from, as coils thrash and pull frantically from the void, the gloom breathing on the floor, contracting as something attempts to break the veil.
Gasps and murmurs of fear ripple through the assembly as the shadows coalesce, forming into a menacing, humanoid shape. Slowly, a being emerges from the void, eyes glowing with a sinister red light only possible from the bowels of hell. A twisted grin unnaturally formed up to the cheeks, even larger than the face itself, glowing a dark yellow, fang after fang filling the toothy smile.
The shadows almost race back to where they had come from as if being pulled back to the vacuum of space, stopping only shy of the being’s feet that stand below them, grinning sadistically up to the host in all of its unholy spectacle.
Left standing in the shadows' absence is a tall creature. Most of it is obscured with a heavy cloak, likely made with the flesh and fur of some unholy beast. Under that, though, is a deep blood red shirt with loose sleeves that are pulled up to expose scarred, lightly furred forearms. A black vest pulls in whatever billowing the loose shirt would do, both decorated in unearthly green stitching. The pants the thing wears look to almost be made of the shadows it arrived in, with how they cling to it like a second skin, colour only marred by the same deep red of a cuff at the shoes, which are also tipped in red.
The chilling smile almost distracts from the dark antlers that curl around its head, despite the absence of a demon-made crown, jutting up and then swooping around furred ears, coming to rest over it’s brow in what could be a mockery of a halo. It was a demonic thing that almost hurt to look at, with the way the tines seemed to distort reality around them.
A cane topped with a strange ornament is spun and makes a clink sound that echoes through the deathly quiet space as the demon lets it come to rest on the ground, both hands folded on top.
“Good day, angels!” Alastor purred, his voice dripping with mockery. “I do hope I’m not interrupting anything important.” He tips his head slightly, his eerie grin widening. “I’m Alastor, King of Hell! It’s quite the pleasure to be meeting you all!”