Chapter Text
Today marks the 5th year since Lilith disappeared from Hell without a trace. Despite being divorced eight years prior, the vanishing of Lilith had left the Morningstar family confused and hurt. There was no note, no explanation, or even a farewell was given, just a trail of confusion and sadness left behind for Lucifer and his daughter to traverse. With the conclusion of their marriage, Lilith's sudden absence set the stage for a challenging period in Lucifer's life which have pushed him into isolation, where he spends most of his time alone in his room, neglecting his duties as a royal.
The question as to why Lilith chose to abandon everything they had built together—their kingdom, their circle of friends, and most heartbreakingly, their daughter—remains an enigma to him, a shadow that looms over Lucifer's heart. He had lost his place in heaven—wasn’t that enough? Why did he have to lose his family as well?
Just thinking about it caused his chest to swell with sadness and bouts of irritation. He had endeavored to fulfill her every desire, to weave happiness into the tapestry of their lives, into their family. Yet, her absence serves as a painful reminder that perhaps, in her eyes, his efforts were in vain.
In the depths of his solitude, Lucifer struggled every single day with the weight of these revelations. The silence of his chambers echoes these very questions that have and will remain unanswered with the spaces between them filled with the ghost of Lilith's laughter and the phantom touch of her hand.
The kingdom, once a vibrant testament to their power and passion, now stands as a monument to their fractured legacy, separated, alone, and afraid.
In the shadowed corridors of a castle that bore the weight of eons, where the walls whispered secrets of ancient malice and the air hung heavy with the scent of stone, Lucifer paced around his workplace, red eyes tracing the walls that were littered with family portraits of him, Lilith, and Charlie.
Lucifer gazed longingly at the painting of Charlie's birthday from when she was just a child and silently wished to swap places with his former self. The the guilt, the anger, the depression that has been eating at his heart ever since he was banished to this cursed place has been festering for some time now.
If only he could shed the mantle of his cursed immortality.
But the universe pays no heed to the wishes of fallen kings.
“Sire,” a voice cut through the thick silence.
Stirred from his thoughts, Lucifer reluctantly tore his gaze from the painting to find a silhouette framed in the doorway.
Seeing who it was, Lucifer turned away to look back at the familial pictures that adorned his wall. “Yeah, what is it?” he said, his voice a blend of disinterest and command.
“Your presence is required at today's summons.” Mazikeen declared flatly.
An exasperated groan escaped Lucifer's lips over Mazikeen’s words. “And for whom do I owe the pleasure of gracing them with my presence," he inquired sarcastically.
“3 out of the 6 sins are here to discuss how operations are going at their respective rings as well as for you to discuss this years extermination in your ring” his response came, draped in indifference, “this meeting happens every year at the same time your highness”
Shit, that’s today? “Ah-that” Lucifer's voice wavered, “Yeah, yeah I knew that Maz, it’s just… didn’t this meeting just like…happen?” Pivoting on his heel, Lucifer grabbed his staff and began walking towards Mazikeen.
As Lucifer approached the door, Mazikeen held the door open and closed his eyes, sighing, “no sire, that is why we are meeting. It’s been a year since the last summoning, thus we are scheduled to meet.”
Lucifer walked through the door and ahead of Mazi, who then followed closely behind. The air seemed to thicken, charged with the unspoken words and weighty gazes exchanged between the Devil and his confidant.
"Yeah, well, I'm just saying,” Lucifer began, “wasn’t this year like a…whatcha call it,” he stood still in thought for a second before snapping his fingers “a leap year? I guess what I am trying to say is that– I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s already been…” Lucifer sighed “another year.”
“I understand your hesitation and disinterest in these queries, your majesty, however,” Mazi said “it is your royal responsibility to ensure hell is at least operating semi-functionally.”
Lucifer cringed at Mazikeen’s words, such queries had always made him want to fall asleep. While he is aware that he should care about the fate of his kingdom, a part of him always resents such order and structure, serving as a painful reminder of heaven's plethora of rules. To many of Hell's residents and hierarchy, summons had come at an hour when even the restless spirits seemed to hold their breath, a meeting convened to discuss the operations of hell. Yet, for the lord of the dark realm, the gravity of such gatherings had never had any luster for him.
‘It’s because Lilith always handled these type of meetings’
Great, his thoughts betraying him per usual.
A few moments of silence settled between Lucifer & Mazikeen as they made their way down the long corridor to the council chambers.
“Asmodeus and Beelzebub are two amongst the 3 that are attending the meeting tonight.” Mazikeen began, “you seem to enjoy their banter and presence given your history, perhaps use that to lighten your mood.” Mazikeen said, in an attempt to ease Lucifer’s shift in demeanor.
Lucifer clasped his staff in his hands and fidgeted with its long handle.
“Ha, only 3 showed up this year? Who else besides them are here?”
“Mammon.”
“Okay, yeah, fun. Thats gonna be sooooo much fun to deal with,” Lucifer began, “probably gonna ask to monetize some sort of fucked up bullshit or somethin”
As they approached the doors to the council chamber, laughter could be heard on the other side. Lucifer stopped and turned to Mazikeen.
“Would there be any way I could just, like, give you the authority to stand in my place? That’s what Mamm, did the last few times, right?” Lucifer pleaded. Mazikeen gave him an unamused look,
“Sire, if I may be frank with you,” Mazikeen closed his eyes and sighed before opening to give Lucifer a stern gaze “get it together. I know it has been a hard transition for you to handle all of this responsibility ever since Lilith disappeared, but you have been single handedly ignoring and neglecting your kingdom by secluding yourself in your bedroom and office for the last 6 years.”
“I am the only other person you regularly interact with on a weekly basis and don’t get me started on the obsession over the ducks-“
“Right, right, you’re so right about the ducks.” Lucifer said, interrupting Mazikeen abruptly. “Although, I would say the ducks have always been my thing, you know?” Disregarding Mazz's previous words, Lucifer fixed his tie and offered Mazikeen a guilty smile.
“Really, that’s what you got from-“
“Yes! Now shall we get going?" Lucifer retorted, interrupting Mazikeen once more.
"Need I to bring up the way you've been neglecting Charl-"
"You forget yourself, Mazz" Lucifer's said, voice intertwined with his normal and demonic one.
Heeding Lucifer's warning, Mazikeen regained his composure. "I was out of line, forgive me your majesty. It won't happen again."
"I'm sorry Mazz, I was out of line too. You're right...about all of it. Can we just not talk about this right now?"
Seeing Lucifer's sincerity, Mazz nodded in understanding, "as you wish."
"Splendid, lets get this over with now." Twirling his staff, Lucifer placed his hands on the two large doors and pushed them open and entered the even larger hall that was adorned with tapestries and gold curtains. The once muffled laughter from earlier fell silent as all eyes fell to Lucifer’s frame.
A few moments of silence before, “Lucccyyyy!!” Beelzebub jumped out of her chair and flew over to Lucifer, the smell of sweet honey reaching Lucifer's proximity “how’s it going whip cream? Been a while since we’ve seen ya bitch.”
Lucifer quipped a wide, toothy grin at Beelzebub, “Apparently it's been a whole year already! Charming to see you again Beelzy. How’s the party scene been treating you my dear.”
Beelzebub returned Lucifer's smile and hovered next to him as he walked towards his seat “Ohh you know how it goes. Been keeping it pumped up every night with my sweet honey juice. I was actually updating Ozzy over here about the crazy shit that happened last night.”
Asmodeus sat at the grand table and chuckled before turning his attention to the two approaching figures, “girl, crazy shit happens to you all the time. Hey Luce, good too see ya, even if it’s for these boring ass meetings.”
“Ditto Ozz,” Lucifer said in agreement as he made his way to his chair. “How’s the clubs performing? I heard you did a lot of renovations.”
“Mmmm, it’s better. Got a LOT of new sex rooms installed in ALL of my clubs across my ring. Actually, I am having my grand opening of my new club tonight. House of Asmodeus” Admodeus said, putting out his hands to emphasize the title, “sounds sexy right?”
“Uh, yeah. Hot as hell,” Beelzebub said, nodding her head, “I cannot wait to be done with this lame meeting so we can party. Got a new mixture of honey I’m wanting to try out tonight at ozz’s” Her and Lucifer sat at their respective seats “say, Lucy you should totally join us. Would totes be fun, like the old days.”
“Yeah Luce,” Asmodeus said, agreeing with Beelzebub’s offer, “think about it. Lust, Gluttony and Pride under the same roof again? Talk about a serious night of getting hot and loose.”
Lucifer sat at the head of the meeting table and fiddled with the papers that laid in front of him, “oh jeez guys, I um, don’t really know about that” Lucifer inhaled sharply and sat fully back in his throne-like chair. He nervously began to bounce his leg under the table, feeling the disappointment emanating from the two sins as their expressions fell from Lucifer's initial response.
The two sins began to exchange worried glances between one another. “I appreciate the offer but-” he stuttered,
“Will yous three stop chirping like bitches ye? I gots lots of gigs going on tonight in my ring that I wanna collect the earnings from. So hurry it up so we can get started” Mammon said, interrupting Lucifer’s response.
All eyes turned to the Mammon's large stature that sat at the other end of the table.
“Mammon,” Lucifer said, tone apathetic.
“Lucifer.” Mammon returned.
“Oh, shut it Mam.” Asmodeus advised, annoyed at Mammon's interruption, “that money isn’t going anywhere your greediness. Be patient for once.”
Mammon let out a growl, “ain’t that bloody ironic coming from you.”
Lucifer sat at his throne-chair and listened to the bickering between his fellow sins. He attempted to preside over the gathering with an air of casual authority by incorporating a demeanor that had a blend of amusement and exasperation, but couldn’t help but feel out of place, per usual.
Lucifer motioned for Mazikeen to approach his side; Mazikeen approached the table and lowered himself to Lucifer's level, “so uh, pray tell, why is Satan, Leviathan, and Belphegor missing from our little soirée?" Lucifer inquired, his voice low but laced with a humor that belied the seriousness of the question. He leaned back in his throne-like chair, an eyebrow arching in expectation of what was sure to be an interesting explanation.
Mazikeen raised himself with the poise and adjusted his glasses before responding. His voice was calm, almost dry, yet subtly witty "It seems that Satan has misplaced his car keys and is currently unable to drive himself here.”
This caused Lucifer to chuckle lightly, “wait haha, okay, why not just take another car or—actually I don’t necessarily care enough to think about other ways he could make it. Just—send a message to him or ask him to email us to send in his numbers I guess.” Lucifer said, “and continue, sorry” he motioned.
“It also appears that Leviathan found himself on the wrong side of hell's gates after a rather unfortunate locking incident. And Belphegor," he said pausing, a flicker of amusement in his eyes, "she overslept. She did manage to send a text to the group chat, accompanied by a rather poorly taken photograph of some financial documents... "
“Typical. Speaking of those documents, could you forward those numbers to whoever our accountant is now.” Lucifer said with disinterest.
“That would be Dazielle, your highness.”
“Yeah, yeah. Dazi-something, just get it sent to him or her for me so the numbers can be recorded in our database. Don’t need Heaven on my ass for this year's soul counts.”
“Certainly, I will do that when our meeting is concluded.”
“Alright,” Lucifer exclaimed loudly, trying to gather everyones attention “ we got a lot to go over so let's get this over with, now if everyone could please relay their reports.”
And with that, the meeting started with Asmodeus's report on his rings operations. Lucifer laid back in his chair, attention span slowly waning from the demon's presentation. He began to think about Asmodeus and Beelzebub’s offer earlier and contemplated his options, such heavy thinking and the monotonous flow of numbers made Lucifer’s eyes grow heavy, lulling him into a state of drowsiness.
Just as Lucifer was on the brink of succumbing to sleep, Mammon’s voice cut through Asmodeus's "Wait, wait, I just thought of something. I just realized is–why in bloody hell are we NOT charging Heaven some kind of fee for the extermination in your ring?” Mammon stood up from his seat and slammed his fist against the table, “That's free money you could be allocating to us. Think of it as a tax, ye?"
Hearing Mammon’s claim made everyone perk up and turn their attention to Lucifer, who in turn, stared blankly back at everyone.
“Come now?” Lucifer questioned in confusion before catching on,
“wait, why are you asking this now? Exterminations have been going on for like,” Lucifer placed his hands on the table and started counting to himself, “a very long time—besides the point, not gonna happen Mamm, okay? The deal with heaven has been settled for a long time. There’s no way of benefiting from it, even now, that’s just how things run in this circus,” Lucifer kicked back in his chair nonchalantly, placing his arms behind his head and threw up his boots on the table.
Mammon, displeased with Lucifer's response and casualty growled, “Ain’t that a bit iffy. It seems a bit to up yourself, even for ya, Lucifer.”
The sudden challenge from Mammon grabbed Lucifer’s attention, his eyes snapping open as he fixed Mammon with a glare.
"Watch it Mamm," he retorted with a sharpness that cut through Mammon’s condescension.
"Considering the circumstances, I'd say I'm exercising what little pride I have left quite well." He admitted causing the room to go silent, the air charged with anticipation. To be truthful, Lucifer disliked using his authority and wished to avoid it at all costs. It was a rare spectacle to witness a clash of egos of such magnitude, especially with Lucifer himself.
“Whatever you say…boss.” Mammon replied with venom.
As the meeting drew to a close, the charged air from the interaction earlier shifted from tense to a more relaxed, albeit somber, atmosphere.
"Okay Lucy, I know you were about to decline our offer earlier, but think about it. Come, join us to celebrate tonight," Beelzebub urged, a grin playing across her lips. "It'll be a night to remember," Asmodeus added in a sing-songy tone.
Lucifer, however, with a weight in his heart that seemed to anchor him to his throne, declined their offer. "Guys, I appreciate the invitation, truly, but I just—” Lucifer turned away from them, eyes casting downwards to the tiled floor of the room. “Just not tonight, I’m sorry"
Understanding flashed in the eyes of his fellow sins "It's okay," Asmodeus responded, offering Lucifer a reassuring nod. "The offer stands for any time, whip cream. And remember, if you need us, we're here," Beelzebub added with sincerity, placing a hand on Lucifer's shoulder.
A brief smile tugged at the corners of Lucifer's lips as he thanked them, but as the final echoes of farewells faded, that cloak of sadness enveloped him once more. He stood there, alone once more in the vastness of his castle. Letting out a sigh, he went around the round table and gathered the reports that were left by the now absent sins.
With another sigh, Lucifer slumped into his throne, the cold embrace of the obsidian chair offering little comfort. He allowed the exhaustion from the social interactions, the weight of leadership, and the pang of loneliness to wash over him. Resting his head in his hands, he tried to soothe his guilt of rejecting Beelzebub and Asmodeus' offer. .
The silence of the empty hall and Lucifer’s guilt trip was suddenly interrupted by the soft sound of footsteps approaching. Without lifting his head, Lucifer assumed it was Mazikeen, here to retrieve his rings report from him and deliver them to their soul accountant.
“I’m so glad that meeting is over Mazz, it was nice to see Beelz and Ozz, but Mamm, god he can just be so—”
“Are those the reports for this year's soul extermination in the pride ring, your majesty?” Came a feminine voice,
Lucifer, surprised by the owner of the voice not being Mazikeen, briefly glanced at the figure that stood before him.
“Yeah sorry, thought you were someone else, here you go. Make sure they get done soon, I guess.”
“Understood, your highness. Good Day” She said quickly and took the papers from Lucifer.
Lucifer paused, his gaze inadvertently following the retreating figure of the newcomer. His eyes traced her exposed upper back which were met with a sight that was all too familiar to him. There, on the canvas of her skin, were four distinct scars. Now, these were not just any scars—they were the kind that used to hold majestic wings that have now been cruelly clipped.
If the scars left any room for doubt, the tattoo designs of inked angel wings stretched across her skin which confirmed his suspicions. He felt his heart tighten as he knew the story written in those scars and tattoos all too well—the story of a fallen angel, marked by the heavens and the harsh decree of fate.
Who was she and as to why he was never made aware of her presence caused his mind to stir. As she exited the room, Mazikeen came in, making his way to Lucifer.
“Ah it seems she reached you before I did, good, saves me a trip.” Mazikeen said.
“Mazz, who is that? Is she new here?” Lucifer asked rather quickly causing Mazz to eye him curiously,
“That is our soul accountant, Dazielle. The one I told you about earlier, I believe she has been working here for over a year now.”
"Dazielle," Lucifer voiced, tasting the name on his tongue, "I need to know everything we have on her."