The little boy found himself alone, cold, on a crisp spring night, with no memory of leaving his bedroom.
He looked around, but there was nothing familiar. It looked as though he was in a forest clearing. He had barely formed the thought when, from above, two monsters fell upon him. Equally suddenly, something collided with them, knocking them sideways, away from the boy.
The decaying, winged, humanoid beasts growled menacingly, but his savior held her ground. From this distance, he could clearly see the woman: tall, with slender shoulders, a graceful figure, and a lightly muscled frame. In the light of the full moon she seemed to give off an angelic light. Her bronze hair shone in the moonlight, falling in large curls past her shoulders. She turned to him, calmly sweeping him over with those clear, bright green eyes. He was astounded by the gentleness that her features expressed, her small nose, soft cheek bones, and round face, despite the scar that intersected her left eyebrow. When she had finished her military like assessment, she faced her enemies. Then, as an afterthought, she threw a black rucksack towards him. The effortless movement landed the bag not half a foot away from him.
They lunged at her, but she fended them off with one easy sweep of a combat boot clad foot. A torn, leathery wing sliced her dark jeans and bit into her flesh, drawing blood. She didn’t cry out. She knocked the creature off of its feet with a swift kick, and then lunged at the standing creature. She quickly entered its range, the boy heard the hiss of metal on leather, and the woman slashed the monster’s chest with an evidently sharp weapon. A sword, the boy thought, wide-eyed.
A sickly black liquid stained the front of her white t-shirt and her blade, but made no headway on her long-sleeved, unbuttoned black jacket. She turned to face the remaining assailant, who had regained its footing, always placing her body between it and the boy. It moved to strike, but hesitated, as though unsure of itself. Its eyes left her feet and blade to glance at its felled comrade. The creature’s momentary hesitation brought about its end. In that instant, she stepped in and drove the blade through the center of its chest, where its heart might have been. The stroke was sure and powerful; it pierced half way up to the hilt, the tip of the blade extending out the beast’s back.
As it writhed in the silent, surreal night, a clear, sparkling bead rolled down her cheek, bursting on the small silver cross that hung from her neck.
She pushed her foot against its chest, pulled out the sword, and then released the carcass, letting it thud on the ground. The boy thought he heard a sharp intake of breath, almost like a concealed sob. Her strides were long and sure; she faced him whilst wiping her blade on the small hand towel she’d removed from her small bag. The woman scrutinized him, face grim.
The air was dense. The boy broke the almost tangible silence by asking, “What are you?”
She finished cleaning her blade, sheathed it, and then tended to the wound on her thigh. She worked quickly, with deft hands, as though she’d patched herself up many times before. Finally, she spoke; her voice desolate and anguished, and gentler than anything he had ever heard before. “You have heard of angels?”
He nodded eagerly, his five years as a roman catholic confirming that his protector must be an angel sent by God to save him. He felt so safe when she lifted him in her arms, and though he tried to stay awake, he fell asleep seconds after he left the ground.
“I am the exact opposite.” She whispered. She carried him away gently from the dead ‘angels’ that unraveled in layers of light.
The woman returned the boy to his bed, leaving no evidence of her presence. She had only just exited through his bedroom window, when he woke up.
His parents, naturally, dismissed it as a dream caused by all the hype over the deaths, saying, “Here, climb in with us. You can sleep in the middle, where you’ll be safe from all the monsters.”
The big news in the small town was of the killings that had been occurring, nearly fourteen people were dead, most of them children. They had all been attributed to some wild animals. The locals watched people coming and going, reading their newspapers, gossiping about who would be next.
A father walked with his son, never letting the boy out of his sight, “Don’t you go wandering out of sight, now, you here? There are animals out there, and I’m not going to lose you.”
The boy looked up at his father and smiled. “I’m not scared, dad. If anything happens you and mom will protect me.” He grabbed his dad’s hand and laughed, the father smiled lovingly upon his son.
As the woman boarded the train back to Vancouver, a nearby passenger heard her whisper, “I doubt there will be many more ‘animal attacks’ here.”
She owned a two bedroom apartment just outside of downtown Victoria. Her living room and kitchen were divided by a small strip of counter, and a small hallway led to the bedrooms and bathroom. She had taken the smaller for her own, and furnished it humbly. The larger room she had converted into her study.
She tossed her small bag onto her leather couch, and draped her jacket over the back of one of the kitchen chairs. The chair sat in front of the counter, there was no space for a proper table. She placed her sword on this selfsame counter.
She relaxed on her couch in front of the floor to ceiling windows that made up one wall, overlooking the mountains and ocean. Her thoughts drifted to her ancient comrades, and she traced her fingers along the back of her cross, feeling the rough inscription of her name. She remembered when it had been given to her long ago.
“Look what I made for you!” the young sword smith smiled, glowing with pride in his first silver work. He held out the small cross to her. His light brown hair which never lay flat was more wild than usual.
“How long have you been working on this?” she asked him.
He flushed, “All night.” He admitted. His gentle hazel eyes were tired, but bright and excited. She found herself lost in them for a moment. “Look, on the back, it’s your name. See? It says: Lucifer.” His smiled widened immensely when she smiled and thanked him for it. He hung it over her neck, brushing her hair away gently.
“It’s beautiful. I’ll never take it off.” She promised.
He scratched the back of his head, elbow in the air, his posture and tone affable. His well-muscled arms and chest were bare as was typical of when he worked in the forge. “It’s not that good, just you wait and see. I’ll make you something even better, and you’ll love that. It won’t be jewelry; as you may well have guessed it’s not my forte.”
“I can hardly wait. You’re the best, Niamh.” She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
As often happened when she was at home, tears spilled over her lashes, and she allowed them to run down her face. Niamh deserved her tears and more, and not a day went by that she didn’t miss him. Some days she wished that her Creator, the Lord God had not become corrupt and tainted the Heavenly Kingdom, but she would not have met Niamh, nor grown up, nor lived and helped those who needed her.
Her spirit was barely three years of age, though she had existed much longer. Because Lucifer had lived so sheltered, she knew naught of the evils of the world, and never matured beyond her pure state. She played every day with her friends, and walked with the Lord; she was happy. The happiest she’d ever been.
Things began to change when Gabriel challenged the Lord and entered his sacred Garden of Eden. He returned, unscathed, but his figure was that of a man, no longer that of the seven year old boy Lucifer had known. He was grim and hardened.
Lucifer called out to him, and he turned to face her. His eyes were so pained, and he was so different, but Lucifer knew somewhere her friend was in there. She smiled and ran up to him. She threw her tiny arms around him as best she could. The expression on his face softened, and a light smile broke through.
Gabriel never ceased to be a favorite of the Lord, and Lucifer had once been as well. Gabriel was often sent to the Earth to guide the Lord’s chosen. Lucifer was never allowed to leave Heaven, but she had never wanted to. She had never felt anything negative.
One day, Gabriel did not return when he was due. The worry and unease were Lucifer’s first taste of pain. When finally he returned, he was gravely wounded. He had been stabbed thrice through the chest, his arms and legs were slashed, and arrows buried there tips in his broad shoulders. His wings had large tears, in some places the bones were obviously broken.
Lucifer ran towards him, but was knocked off of her feet by the momentum of a crowd of angels that swept past her. The majority was female, and they all attempted to support or aid Gabriel. Three-year old Lucifer slowly pulled herself to her feet, but she couldn’t see Gabriel through the crowd.
Lucifer was worried, and frightened. Not for herself, but for her best friend. She had no idea what to do; she had never felt so scared. She started to cry, silently.
Nearly one hundred meters away, Gabriel heard her quiet sobs. He looked back and found her, then shook off all of the angels who besieged him, telling them to leave him be.
He turned himself round and walked painstakingly back to the tiny crying Lucifer. He knelt down beside her and pulled her into a gentle hug. She wrapped her small arms around him and cried into his shoulder.
“Quiet, quiet, all is well, Lucifer.” He whispered.
She sniffed, the looked up at him. “But you are hurt.” She said between sobs.
He smiled at her then, so warm and kind, with endless patience, “It is barely a scratch; I will be fine in no time whatsoever.”
She opened her mouth to argue, and then thought a moment. “But your wings…”
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come, let us go inside. I will show you how to patch these up, and you will be able to mend the cuts on my wings.”
As Lucifer watched him, she realized he was comforting her, when he was clearly the worse. She learned a lot that day, and she aged in physical form. She still cried as they proceeded slowly, but she made no noises.
Her now five year old face was determined; Gabriel would not have to protect her when he was hurt.
Lucifer couldn’t help but smile to herself as she recalled that. She’d been so unaware of the world, but so determined. It was that day that she had stopped letting people help her, she had begun to keep some things to herself, and she had had her first glimpse of pain, sorrow, and fear.
As Lucifer herself had changed, so had her world; the children stopped laughing, and shortly after they stopped playing at all. The adults no longer smiled or told stories. The angels all began to decay. The heavenly kingdom itself began to darken, and crumble. Lucifer ran to the only place she knew of that would not be reached by this imminent darkness.
The Divine Palace was in shadows as well, but Lucifer knew safety would be found if she only reached the Lord. He would protect her from everything. He would fix what was happening outside.
When Lucifer reached the Lord, he stood before a great Demon. He said to the King Demon, “Then thou shalt have thy soul, and I shall be rid of my faithless creations. They do not love their god, and many do not even acknowledge me. They are nothing.”
And the Demon smiled cruelly unto the Lord. His voice was silken and cold as he replied, “Yes, precisely.”
The Lord turned from him, having heard a sound behind Himself, and He saw Lucifer. When He saw that she wasn’t rotting as were all His angels, He saw her defiance, and He took away her angel’s wings.
“You can’t let them die! You can’t! They have such potential if you’ll only help them! Please, my Lord, don’t condemn humanity when it is so young.” Lucifer begged, a whisper before the roaring ocean.
She had been so little when she’d discovered the corruption, the great threat to the earth and the promise of freedom for the demons that dwelt below Hell. Regardless of her age, she knew the demons ought never to be released. She’d stood before her Lord, and she’d done what little she could, but she’d been too weak.
That had been the first time she’d cursed Him; for creating her weak. She could neither forgive Him that nor for falling from His own ideals which he had cultivated in her. He raised His hands to strike her, but Gabriel stood between them. He took each blow, unflinching, until he was knocked to the floor. As he fell his eyes were focused on her. “I’m sorry Lucifer.” He whispered.
The Lord looked down at the crying child before Him, he struck her once across the face, then threw her from Heaven. Lucifer had escaped with a scar across her left eyebrow, a constant reminder of her failure and inadequacy.
She hurtled to the earth, creating a great chasm and landing in Hell.
Lucifer saw how the Sinners were punished by the Lord. She traveled through all the circles of Hell, and found at the bottom a large, dirty, frozen pool, where a great Demon fought to escape.
He laughed venomously, “Have you rebelled, child? The world is crueler than you know. But you will see.” Lucifer recognized him immediately. He had been the angel who had raised her, and then abandoned her very suddenly.
Following her banishment from Heaven, Lucifer had defended many innocents, learned all she could of the earth, lived through the rises and falls of great nations, and killed many of the ‘angels’ of the Lord.
She had also made and lost more friends than she cared to count. No matter how painful, she would not let their remembrances go. She was the only being who held them now. Their courage, their strength, their hopes and dreams, erased by the Lord through all time, resided within her. She refused to let them go, even if they destroyed her.
Lucifer finished her meal and placed the dish on the small wooden coffee table in front of her. She watched the sun set, imagining the souls that were eternally ascending, reaching for the light of the Lord.
When she had defied her Creator, Lucifer had ceased to count herself as among the living. She still existed by His grace, but she refused to pay homage to Him anymore. He had fallen from her grace. Every Sunday she visited His temples and shrines, but she did not pray to Him. She prayed for Him, for the Father she had known of Him. The Lord had created her, raised her, taught her, and told her stories. He had shown her miracles, and mysteries, and cared for her.
“Just because he has sinned does not mean that you should cease to pray for him. It is after they have sinned that they truly need our prayers. Maybe words cannot reach them in their darkness, but prayer can. You don’t need to ask, you need simply feel it, and as long as you are sincere, He will answer you as soon as He can, as best as He can.” A humble Priest had said to Lucifer in a small chapel in Greece.
“Do you truly believe that?” Lucifer had asked, at the time very doubting and untrusting, having only recently come into her adulthood. The world she’d seen, all the suffering and cruelty, still weighed her down heavily. She’d come to the church, without purpose or understanding, lost and confused by a brand new world.
“I have faith in Him, because He has always led me right and done well for me. Look at me, I am sheltered, my wife is beautiful and kind and healthy, and my children are happy, and healthy, and want for nothing. Surely I have everything, and He has granted it unto me? Therefore, how can I doubt Him? Should I not have faith?”
“You are truly wise, Father.” Lucifer smiled at this man in whom all virtues were exemplified, the ice that encased her heart thawing slowly. “Is it alright to miss someone, even if they are still there, just changed?”
The priest smiled at her, soft, brown eyes warm, filled with an endless patience and love, sensing the change in her. “Yes, it is, child. It is perfectly alright. We love a person for who they are, and when they change, they can become another person. Is that why you pray, for this person who is gone from you, but not lost?”
Lucifer nodded. “He is my Father. And I miss Him every day, but I cannot excuse His actions.”
“Then pray for him, and I will pray for him, too. Whether it is a long time from now, or soon, I promise that you shall receive your answer. God is mysterious; we cannot understand Him other than that He is always with us. He will hear us, and one day, you will see.”
And Lucifer smiled at him. “Thank you, Father. I think I understand, now.
This remembrance was one of a few that held no sadness for her. The man had brought her soul to peace, and comforted her when she was alone. He had suffered no evils by her hand or the hand of the Lord. He had shown her the light when she’d lost her way, remembering him always warmed her heart.
In the midst of her remembrances, Lucifer felt a presence entering her haven. She walked into the small kitchen, picking up her sword as she passed it, then returned to the living room. Before her stood Gabriel, once her greatest friend, and the current favorite of the Lord. His steady brown eyes met hers, his dark hair falling long and unruly about his face. His features were ruggedly handsome, not the perfection the other angels had had. He seemed to always be deep in thought, his eyes ever contemplative. He stood well above six feet, always looking down upon anyone he stood by. He was well muscled, and obviously strong, but he was too gentle and passive to be imposing.
She waited, and he spoke. “You are uninjured.” It was not a question, but demanded an answer nonetheless.
“I’m not that weak to be injured by two so far gone. What do you want today?” She asked coldly.
He spread his hands. “I am merely come that I may ensure your health.”
“Did He send you?”
He tilted his head. “Please, Lucifer, you know I am merely concerned for your well-being. It is never for some errand of His that I am here.”
She shifted her weight, and raised an eyebrow. “So, you have no business here other than to ‘ensure’ that I am not dead?”
Again, he splayed his hands. “I have already answered your question.” He paused. “You lied to me.” His face was hurt. “You are injured. You favor your right side, and I smell the blood. Let me see the wound.”
It was a command, not a suggestion. “No. It is nothing.”
“I disagree. And, as I have not seen it, I cannot be expected to revise my judgment.”
“I am not a child, Gabriel. I have no need of my enemy’s servant caring for me.” Gabriel was impassive. He said nothing, simply stood before her, waiting.
They stood, equally obstinate, neither able to cave to the will of the other. Lucifer stood as long as she could, but she had not slept in four days. After three hours, she fell, exhausted. Before she hit the floor, Gabriel swept forward and caught her in his arms.
When Lucifer awoke, she was in her bed, dressed in a tank top and sweatpants, and the wound on her thigh had been redressed. By now, as always, he would be gone.
To Lucifer, Gabriel was incomprehensible. He always showed up as he had just done, and protected her, or saved her. But, regardless of the fact that most often her enemy was the Lord, he always returned to Him.
When she returned to her living room, the only things that remained where she’d left them were her sword and scabbard. Gabriel had put all her other belongings in their places. She recalled how he had never, in all the eight thousand years since she’d acquired it, touched that blade.
To her, the blade was a gift from Niamh. Perfectly balanced, and made entirely to suit her. It was his soul put into the form of an eternal piece of art, just for Lucifer. It was one of the few material things she clung to; she would never let anything happen to it.
Lucifer realized that Gabriel must have taken her backpack. Her eyes widened with fear that he had opened it and seen its contents. She searched somewhat frantically, and finally came upon it, in her study. She opened the door to see Gabriel sitting at the largest desk, in her most private room.
He looked up, his lips slightly parted and his eyes apologetic. “Forgive me, Lucifer.” He said.
She shook her head, afraid that he had found the map that was supposed to lead her to a sacred place of enlightenment.
“Please, Lucifer, explain these to me.” Gabriel's voice was soft.
There was menace in her tone when she replied. “I will not. It is none of your business.”
He looked at her eyes and her expression. “This is important to you. Tell me.”
“You have no business going through my possessions.”
“That may be, but I have already, and I would like to know what these… documents are.”
Lucifer took several deep breaths, recognizing that he had not yet seen the papers, and sat down in the doorway, leaning against one side of it. She rubbed her hands over her face. “They are the documentation of my sin.” She laughed at the irony. “The first name and the city’s name thereafter is that of a child I have removed from safety. The second name is the ‘angel’ I killed during that time, if there was more than one their name would appear next in order of death.”
“You can hardly suggest that Melicim was a child. Or Niamh.”
Lucifer looked away. “It was my fault they died.”
Gabriel took this in slowly, viewing all the papers before him. “Why do you keep this? Will torturing yourself aid you in your quest?”
Lucifer furrowed her brow. “I cannot just forget that I have done this. I put them at risk, when I have sworn to protect them.”
“You will only serve to harm yourself by keeping this. It will help no one.”
“Oh, is that so? Then what would you recommend, O wise one?”
”Under any circumstance, do your best. If you always strive to do your best, then you cannot reproach yourself. There is simply no more you could have done.” His tone was so matter of fact, but so genuine, that it was difficult for Lucifer to argue for herself. “Or, you could at least put this aside until after you have attained your goal? It will only serve to distract you until then.”
Lucifer turned to face him. She studied his expression awhile. “You always come when I am sore, and make it all go away. Why are you ever protecting me, even from myself?”
“I think you know the answer to that already, Lucifer, and if you do not, then my telling you would be of no service. Now, these documents here, that you have yet to translate, I must take. They are not for you. They belong in an otherworldly library.”
“No! Those are mine! Don’t you dare take them! Give them back now.” Lucifer was livid that he had discovered her hope and was now taking it away.
Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. “They are not for you. I must leave now, anyways. I have tarried here too long. The Lord will notice my absence. Be well, Lucifer.” With that, he left.
Lucifer watched him leave, knowing she couldn’t fight him. No matter how strong she became, he was always stronger. He flew away gracefully. She felt envy and nostalgia, remembering what it had been like to fly on the Lord’s wings. She didn’t want to, but every time Gabriel left, she felt the ghosts of loneliness.
Lucifer had only just been abandoned by her guardian, and Gabriel was away as usual. She was alone, she could have gone to the field to play with the other cherubs, but their newfound silence unnerved her.
Time was distorted in the heavenly kingdom; there was no real comparison to Earth or the universe, a minute to a human might be a thousand years to Lucifer, or vice versa.
When the Lord came to Lucifer, she felt as though she had been alone for months. He took her under His wings, and He showed her the mysteries of His universe. Lucifer’s favorites were the stars, because she knew she could see them when she returned home.
The Lord saw that her loneliness returned when she no longer had the sight in front of her. He told her a story, a secret he’d never told anyone before. “Long ago, little Lucifer, before even you existed, I was alone, too.”
“Were you lonely?” she asked Him, drying her tears.
He nodded solemnly, “Very. But, I had an idea. I created a world, and I created people to fill that world, and in each of those people, I put a tiny bit of myself so I would never be alone again.”
Lucifer’s eyes widened, and her mouth gaped. “Really? Where?”
The Lord laughed, she was His favorite creation, though He couldn’t tell her that. “Right here.” He pointed towards the center of her chest.
“That’s my heart!” she exclaimed.
He laughed again, “Yes, Lucifer, and no matter where you go, or what you do, I’m with you. Right here.”
When Lucifer smiled, her tiny face lit up like the stars around them. “I’m not alone, because you’re with me forever.”
He smiled, but His eyes were sad, “Of course, forever.” Lucifer looked up, her smile turning to confusion at His tone. “Do you want to know my favorite secret?” He asked, distracting her.
She nodded her head vigorously. “Tell me! Tell me! I can keep secrets!”
He leaned in and beckoned her closer. “I made a special miracle for all the children of the Earth.” He explained.
“Really? What is it?” she begged, eyes wide.
He pulled an apple from the air, “Do you know what an apple is, Lucifer?” She nodded. “Good. Most people just take bites out the apple, and others cut it into slices for their children, like this.” The apple collapsed outwards in crescents. “But, if you just take a different approach…voila!” The apple came together again, this time it split in half horizontally. Lucifer leaned in to see.
“It’s a star!”
“It’s your star, now.” He handed it to her, His tiny smiling angel. “This is the secret of everything Lucifer, and it’s my favorite because of all the children like you who are amazed by this simplest of miracles.”
She closed her eyes, sitting down heavily in one of her chairs. He had rearranged the stars to make stories for her, just for little Lucifer. They could be seen from Earth as well, but they were so much more incredible from Heaven.
She gathered up her documentations, and set them into a folder. She put them onto an empty shelf, putting aside the contradictions they housed. Her mind’s focus shifted from being angry with Gabriel to a more productive task: learning a way in which she could become the equal of the Lord and face Him, now that her latest hope had been stolen.
She went through book after book, always hoping, every lead proving useless. Without some information, she could not hope to defeat Him, when He must have further strength in reserve. She never seemed to get any closer.
After fifteen unproductive hours, Lucifer washed up and took a taxi to the airport. She had to attend a service in Athens, the closest large city to the tragedy. It would be a long plane ride, but she couldn’t miss this, she would feel too much like a coward.
It was a large affair, both a memorial and a funeral, and the burial was not for a lone soul. A ferry had sunk, carrying passengers to a small island in Greece. Lucifer had been on board that day, sailing to a library that she felt held the answers she sought. To smite her, the Lord had sunk the ship.
She had feared He would punish her somehow, but she hadn’t imagined He would be that heartless. No matter that she knew it wasn’t she who had sunk the ship, she blamed herself. The grieving families’ pain was hers. She had fought for them, and saved as many as she could, nearly drowning herself in the process… but there had been too many she couldn’t save.
At the wake, some people nodded to her, thankful that she had saved their loved ones, whilst others glared at her, and others simply turned away, unable to look upon this woman who had not saved those they held dear. When people were given a chance to speak of the dead, and the event, Lucifer knew she would be called upon to speak.
A woman who had lost her husband and two children stood with a sneer, her overflowing eyes filled with an endless, frozen hatred. “I would like the young heroine who saved so many to say a few words. Please, madam, perhaps you can explain why you didn’t save my children. Or my husband.”
She was pushed to the front of the hall, when she looked at all of the bereaved, how they glared and cried, and left their seats, she could say nothing. She had no words for them. She could not comfort them by saying that they were walking with the Lord, because she knew they were not. He had long since ceased receiving souls unto Heaven.
Lucifer was alone in a sea of people. They pushed her forward, scratching, clawing, bruising. Finally, she was thrown to the ground before the altar. Their leader, Nicholas, with his frozen black eyes, spoke, “This demon dares to walk among our people who live in the Light of God. We shall destroy this she-Devil, and the Lord shall favor us. All of the plagues Satan has thrown upon us shall be ended with her death!”
The people cheered; a tremendous surge of screams. Lucifer could not bring herself to her feet; she could not fight these people. They were weak, but she had sworn never to hurt them.
She wondered if they were right; in order to punish her, the Lord had wreaked havoc upon them. Her silent tears streaked her cheeks, glistening by the sun’s light. The crowd saw them, and the cheers died down, she appeared more angelic than satanic.
Nicholas was determined to punish her. He shouted, “What shall we do with this monster, this enemy of our God?”
And part of the crowd shouted, “Crucify her!”
“What shall we do with this soulless being?”
Again, though much louder and with conviction, “Crucify her!”
Lucifer was dragged to a great cross, no doubt built specially for her, and lain down upon it. Before the first nail was driven through her wrist, an angel descended from Heaven in a cloud of light.
The men paused with their hammers, the people gasped, but their leader shouted, “He is a messenger of our Lord, come to watch our righteous destruction of the Devil!” And without further hesitation they drove the first stake through her left wrist, her hand, the hand of the Devil, spasmed in pain. They didn’t notice their leader’s disappearance, mere seconds after he uttered those words.
Inside, Lucifer shattered. How quickly the people turned on her, she had been their hero only weeks ago, and now her death was to be their salvation… if only that were true, she had thought. The lightning bolt of pain shot through her entire body. Each injury she had suffered was set aflame.
Lucifer’s scream turned Gabriel’s expression from displeasure to fury. He alighted beside her, and touched the nail. It turned to dust. He then cursed the people, “May the earth bear you no fruit, may your women be infertile, may sicknesses ravage you, may you be slaves to all!” Gabriel raged at the people, the sky clouded over, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.
He lifted Lucifer gently, and flew away, taking her far from the place that held so much sorrow for her. As he cared for her and tended to her wounds, he found marks of torture and beatings. He never repented his curse upon the people. He took no offense from anyone, held no grudges for personal harm, but should anyone harm Lucifer in any way, no matter how miniscule, he would never forgive them.
Lucifer looked at the crowd; they were not the murderous people who had condemned her, but their faces were so similar, their eyes and expressions uncertain. So easily swayed, she thought. So oblivious, and above all, so closed minded.
But where they wrong? She wondered. These were not the first upon whom she had brought death.
Aryn and Nyra, the young twins, were the opposite of identical. Though their hair’s length and their features were identical, their skin was opposite, Aryn as dark as the night, and Nyra as pale as the Moon. Nyra’s hair was snow, and Aryn’s was the color of the abyss. Their eyes were reverse, Nyra’s eyes deep wells of shadow, and Aryn’s stars.
They were remarkable. The world feared them, their village had feared them at birth and their parents had taken them far away, to the edge of civilization where they could escape the prejudice.
They were barely older than ten when an emperor, taking them to be the deities of his religion, captured them and took them to his great city.
When Lucifer was released from Gabriel’s safe harbor in the mountains, she was accosted by the people, having descended from their sacred mountain. They took her to their capital, fearing the strange powers that allowed her to have survived on the holiest of grounds.
The city was walled, smoke rose endlessly from the chimney flues. Lucifer was taken to the great Temple, which resembled a modern day mosque, and placed before the two goddesses. “Oh great Ladies of Dis, please, tell us what we shall do with this immortal being.” Lucifer’s brow furrowed at the name of the city. It was eerie how similar it was to one of Hell.
Aryn and Nyra had spent their five years learning how the people wanted them to act. They had never been asked something such as this, without their priests acting as a liaison.
“Order them to leave your presence that you may test me with your powers.” Lucifer whispered.
They looked at her startled, but did as she said. “Leave the immortal with us that we may judge her with our powers.” The fear of their deity, and the uncanny way they spoke as one, caused the servants to flee.
Lucifer laughed quietly, watching these people who feared two fifteen year olds. “So, what are your names?”
They were startled, but answered her. “She’s Aryn,” The fair skinned one said.
“And she’s Nyra.” The dark skinned girl finished.
“It is my pleasure, I am Lucifer.” They gasped. Lucifer laughed, “Please, my friends call me Cife. Now, let’s get you two out of here.” She paused when they didn’t follow her. “Unless you want to stay…?”
“You can actually get us out?” They asked.
“Of course.” Lucifer laughed. “Come.”
As time passed, Lucifer found it nearly impossible to believe that those two girls were the ones she travelled with. They lost their fears and insecurities as they realized that it wasn’t about who would let them, rather who would stop them. Lucifer had been lonely for a long while, her last companions had been taken away from her long ago.
“Cife, let’s go. There’s an entire army coming for us, come on! They don’t know that there are only three of us in here!” The girls laughed.
Lucifer smiled, “Alright, alright. I just wanted to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.”
“Jeez, Cife, you and your libraries.”
As Lucifer seemed to endlessly learn, good things never last. They had been together four years, a short and wonderful four years, when they were stolen from her. They were fighting off an assassin sent by a King of Christendom, he was really no match, but they liked playing with him, when a demon had appeared. Nicholas’ form was twisted nearly beyond recognition, but he bore the same black, frozen eyes that pierced her through.
Lucifer had frozen for an instant at the sight of him. The two girls had as well, but they called him ‘emperor’. That instant had been too long, he held Aryn and Nyra by the throats, and goaded Lucifer, “Carmen.” He smiled wildly. “Melicim and Seth.” His smile widened. “And now these two, oh so exquisite! And you can’t stop me.” He laughed wickedly.
Lucifer saw them, clawing at his hands, unable to scream or cry out for help. “Damn it Nicholas!” she shrieked. Lucifer threw herself at him, using the staff that was her memento of Melicim. She twisted the grips, releasing the blades, and slashed at him. She aimed for his neck, but he blocked with his arms.
With the bodies of the girls he held in either massive fist.
Lucifer saw what he was doing too late. She screamed, “NO! NO! NO!” Nicholas laughed and threw them to the ground. He ran off, but she didn’t care. She sank to her knees.
Surrounded by corpses, Lucifer cried. She cursed herself; her throat was cracked from screaming at the Lord and herself. She had destroyed Nicholas and locked him in Hell. The only being who could have rematerialized him and loosed him was The Lord. He seemed determined she would live an eternal Hell.
She had killed her only friends. They had trusted her, and she had killed them.
Lucifer laid the two girls beside one another, crying. “Why?” She whispered a thousand times, a hundred thousand times, an endless whisper that followed her for millennia.
As Lucifer stood before the crowd, she was caught up in her own thoughts. In the end, she took a deep breath, and spoke softly. “We were fighting for our lives, and some of us fought for the lives of others. Many souls left our world, and many were rescued. I understand the pain of those who have lost, and the joy of those whose loved ones were returned to them….”
Her voice was pained, “Facing every day, feeling that there was more I should have done… it is more difficult than to have died. Facing the guilt and the hatred… it is too much. I came here to pay my respects to those who were in the same situation as I, hate me if you will. Hate me for living. Hate me because you have no one else to hate. But do not tell yourself this is alright because it is what the Lord wanted. How could anyone wish for your sorrow? How could that be alright?”
Standing there, staring out at the cruel crowd, she realized that no matter what she did, the Lord would harden the hearts of the people against her. She heard them murmuring as she walked down the center aisle, head held high. They all whispered, “Satan’s incarnate, masquerading as some sort of righteous hero” or “That’s Lucifer, right there”.
And she hardened her own heart against them.
As Lucifer left the funeral hall, her tears were hot and angry. She had too much energy to walk, so she ran through the streets. She cursed Him, and she cursed herself. Though they had angered her, she did not curse the people. She could not. No matter what they did or said, she would never curse them. Their lives were so short, and they were so vulnerable, and weak.
When she had exhausted herself, Lucifer found a quiet place; it was just outside an Athenian temple on an outcropping of land over the ocean. She sighed, releasing her anger, and a stray thought crossed her mind.
She recalled a great temple she’d seen long ago. The remembrance was particularly painful because it brought all the events prior to it to mind.
The morning sun rise had been spectacular, by no means an apt comparison of the day itself. Lucifer had been impatiently awaiting a surprise promised her for more than a year. Today was the much anticipated day.
She had awoken early, her mind reveling in the mystery and excitement. She knew she oughtn’t to wake Niamh until the sun had risen above the mountain. He looked so vulnerable in his sleep, it was hard to think of him as the man who had taught her sword play.
When finally he woke, he laughed at her, “You’re like a child on their birthday.” Lucifer glared at him, he laughed and kissed her. “I’ll be only a moment; I need to do one last finishing touch. You wait here, no peaking!” he chided, mocking.
She never forgave herself for her patience that day. When she realized that the sky was a warning, a threat, she ripped away her covers and ran in her nightdress down the stairs to the forge. There sat Niamh, collapsed on the floor, ‘angels’ upon him, attacking him from all sides, fighting over his heart.
She was overcome with rage as she saw him, dead by her Creator. And then she saw her surprise lying on the floor several feet from him. It was the most flawlessly crafted sword she’d ever seen, perfectly molded to her hand. She raised it at them, but they were distracted. She was alone now; again, she was as the dead.
Lucifer struck at them, felling one by one these creatures which only saw her at the last. Were it not for her anger over her loss, she could not have carried out the slaughter of her kindred.
Finally, Lucifer stood alone among all the corpses. “This looks familiar.” The cruel, velvet voice hissed.
Lucifer spun, Nicholas watched her from the corner. “You! Why?!?”
“I can’t have you happy, now can I, my dear?” The monster laughed. “You look just as I did. Angry, alone, broken.”
Lucifer ran at him, and swung her sword. He didn’t move as she stabbed him through the stomach. “For Aryn!” she yelled. “For Nyra!” She stabbed him again. “For Seth! For Melicim!” She cut off his head. “For Niamh!” She whispered. His head laughed at her, cackling even when removed from its body.
“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” He jeered, glacial eyes dancing with pleasure. She threw his head as far as she could, unaware of how she shook and cried.
She breathed hard for a few moments, and then sat beside Niamh, cradling his head in her lap. She kissed him one last time. “Good bye, Niamh, I’m so sorry that I did this to you. I hope someday you can forgive me. I’ll wear your necklace forever, and I’ll never let anything happen to my sword. I can never thank you enough for these eight years. Goodbye.”
She traced the ‘angels’ path, and found their way of descent; a ladder that reached past the sun, to the Heavenly Kingdom, and on infinitely. No longer having the ability to fly with their torn wings and heavy souls and hearts, the Lord had built this ladder for his creations. Lucifer climbed, ascending unto the heavens, to her first home, the realm of her greatest enemy.
Lucifer reached the desolate ruins of a once beautiful kingdom, and nearly faltered but for her conviction. Her steps were resolute as she walked the familiar path, remembering playing in this place, remembering when she’d first defied the Lord.
Lucifer stood before the entrance to His celestial palace, and she trembled slightly. She breathed one deep calming breath, and went to face her Creator. Her knees buckled in His presence, but she forced herself to stand.
“Do you defy me, O creation?” The voice was indescribable. It came from everywhere and nowhere. It was loud and it was silent. It was cruel and it was impassive and it was kind. It simply was.
“Do you mock me, O Master, Thou that hast destroyed that which was free of sin, sacred by Thy own decree? Thou that has released the monster Nicholas each time I have destroyed him?”
“Thou need know only that it is mine way. Nicholas is my creation and he has his free will. Though, had thee no connection to the man, I doubt it should have occurred.”
That day, Lucifer resolved to make no further connections with the peoples of the Earth. She fought Him. She slashed at him, a fierce rain of blows, and he was not able to deflect all of them. She sliced his arm, and drew of his divine blood. The three drops that fell became three monsters upon the earth, three beasts beyond all comparison.
Before Lucifer was able to deliver the final blow, her enemy’s powers increased one thousand fold and she fell to her knees. He kicked her, and she fell on her stomach. “Stop, this has gone far enough!” Gabriel shouted.
The Lord was surprised, “You are not due to return for five days.”
He stood his ground, and raised his chin. “Nicholas.”
“Ah.” The Lord said. Then He waved a hand at Gabriel, throwing him to the ground.
He carved the cross in the flesh of Lucifer’s back, a reminder that no matter what she did, she would always belong to Him.
He dropped her from His heaven; her slow descent only increasing her agony. She cursed herself; she had created these monsters.
Lucifer had no wish to recall the scenes that surrounded the monsters, but when she had thrown them to the demons, she had seen an enormous temple through the pool. She had been curious, but a demon had shouted at her, “I’m waiting for you, Lucifer! Come to me! You must, and you will hear my tale or you shall never have what you want!”
It had not been there the first time. Now that she recalled it, she realized it had looked rather like a library she had seen destroyed by the Divine wrath; the library of Alexandria.
Lucifer boarded the earliest plane to Vancouver. She borrowed a laptop on the plane and googled the library, only now making the connection. As she gained information, she discovered that Alexander the Great had been supposedly charged by God to conquer and to gather all materials associated with the nature of the Lord and the world.
Lucifer knew she had to go there, but she couldn’t. She just couldn’t. He was there. Nicholas was waiting for her.
Lucifer was lying beneath a tree. She was covered in her own blood. Her body screamed with pain, she was covered in scratches and bruises, and had been stabbed twice. She had chosen this spot to die, though she doubted she would be allowed that grace. It would probably end up as shelter until she healed enough to crawl elsewhere.
Lucifer had not expected anyone, not out here, but a young woman happened upon her. She was very beautiful, what Lucifer supposed an angel ought to look like, or perhaps a princess. She had delicate features, and nearly blond hair was pinned back elegantly. Her build was very slight; she could not have been older than sixteen. Her golden eyes were open, but they moved oddly. They didn’t focus or flick around as she listened to the world, they were still and clear.
“Hello,” she called, “Please, don’t be alarmed, I want to help you.”
Lucifer flattened herself against the ground and held her breath.
“Please, I would like to help you, you are very gravely injured.” The woman turned as though listening rather than surveying. “Tell me where you are, and I will help you, I promise.” She said.
Lucifer watched her. She was alone, no one would speak to her; they had just tried to kill her. She was a monster to them. She wouldn’t bring that upon this young woman.
“Please, don’t be frightened of me, I won’t hurt you.” She whispered, closing the distance between herself and Lucifer. “Here you are. Can you tell me your name?” she asked kindly.
Lucifer looked up at her, so trusting, so young, so foolish. “I am Lucifer.” She said coldly, expecting the girl to back away.
“That’s a lovely name. Doesn’t it mean something along the lines of ‘she brings light’?”
Lucifer hesitated. “Actually it means, ‘bringer of light’.”
“Oh, of course, my apologies. It’s a wonderful name.”
The young woman was blind, as Lucifer would later learn, and her name was Carmen. She was a princess of the strange land Lucifer had escaped to. As Lucifer healed she began to trust the princess. They became friends, and Lucifer was offered a place in their court.
It was uncanny how well Carmen was able to navigate through the darkness that was her world. She always knew to whom she spoke, where she was, and what went on around her.
“I am frightened, Lucifer.” Carmen told her one day while they basked in the garden sun. “The arch-duke Nicholas is coming to stay in the palace with us. Our kingdom is so young, and is only just getting itself established within the hearts of the people. His is an ancient noble family, once the Royal blood line.
“He wished to be King in our new country, and he had support, but my father was chosen in his stead, because he did not want to be King. Lucifer without my father… I fear the kingdom will fall to ruin. The people do not want a blind queen.”
Lucifer didn’t make the connection to the angel Nicholas she’d once known. It never crossed her mind that he might have integrated himself into the human world. “Don’t worry; your father is a good, strong man. Nicholas will leave with nothing to show for his visit.”
Carmen smiled. “Of course, you’re always right about these things, Cife.”
“Not always.” Lucifer laughed. This truth proved to be a bitter one.
The Arch-Duke was an unpleasant man. His features were perfectly sculpted, his eyes very dark and ice-cold, his skin tanned, his lips pale and his cheek bones sharp. Lucifer did not recognize him, though he recognized her. Shortly after his arrival, the King took ill.
Carmen immediately suspected foul play, as did Lucifer. They couldn’t confront him, he was a well-respected noble, and the kingdom was too unstable.
Carmen’s beloved, Christopher, also suspected something was wrong. No one else suffered from any illness. It was no cold or flu. His symptoms were not those of illness, either. They were of a slow acting poison.
“Your highness,” the arch-duke said one day to Carmen, “you are very beautiful; a union between our families would help to unify our nation.”
Carmen smiled, “Yes, it would. Perhaps one of my children will fall in love with one of yours. That would be ideal, wouldn’t it?”
Nicholas’ smile slipped for an instant. “But of course, it would be ideal. But your highness, with your father in such ill health, I can hardly suggest it would be a good idea to wait so long. I worry that the people will not support a queen who cannot see ahead of herself to see the future of our nation.”
“Well, my lord, in the event of my father’s death, which I do not feel is due for a great many years, I’m sure you would support my rule, for surely your support would be enough to ally your people to mine.” She smiled, ever the diplomat.
His mouth twitched but his smile returned, an act for Lucifer who could see it. “Yes, my princess. Of course.”
He approached her once more, a few months later. “Your highness, I would like to apologize for my manners when I asked for the honor of your hand this past spring. I admit I am much enamored of you. I know not how to properly go about this, so I will be plain. Will you be my bride?”
Carmen’s face was placid. “I am afraid, Lord Nicholas, that I am already engaged. I must decline your proposal.”
“May I ask to whom?”
“You may, but I may decide not to answer.” Carmen was the very essence of civility, but Nicholas had degraded from his self-assured manner to a rather spiteful tone.
His eye twitched. “You will answer me.”
“Good day, Nicholas. I think your stay here has been rather too long. I shall send for your carriage.”
Lucifer stayed with the arch-duke while Carmen made arrangements for him to return home.
He turned to her, “So, my little Lucifer, you have found a home. You, too, have defied our Creator. You’re even happy. I’ll destroy you. I’ll take everything from you. You will hate me, but you will hate yourself even more.” He paused, and then smiled, polar eyes black with loathing. “And do you know the best part? You haven’t done a thing to deserve my wrath.”
Lucifer looked at him very closely, examining his face. Her eyes widened with shock. “You… are… Nicholas… but… you were my guardian, and you abandoned me! I was alone, and even Gabriel left… I didn’t know if I would ever see him again. I thought he had left me to…
“But what do you mean? You’ll ‘destroy’ me? Nicholas?”
He laughed. “This will be fun. You know, it’s been years since I had a purpose. It’s… invigorating.” He left, whistling a bright tune.
Lucifer sat down, running the brief encounter through her head. It made no sense, whatsoever.
Three days later, the king died. It was pandemonium. The kingdom rebelled against its young new queen, the arch-duke Nicholas claiming it was his birthright to rule the country. There was no united front. Each barony fought for itself; the country was burning itself up quickly.
Four days after his death, Christopher was found dead in his bedroom, murdered by Nicholas’ assassin. Lucifer and Carmen ran. This was no longer their home.
They traveled for eleven years, wherever they found shelter, Nicholas appeared, and destroyed it. In the eleventh year, they came upon a great library. It was abandoned, on a remote island, but the materials were unimaginable. It held nothing for Carmen, without sight, books held no value, but it was a place they could be safe for a time.
It didn’t last. A demon found them. He chased them, they knocked over bookshelves and tables, ran down corridors, twisting halls, but there was no escape. It pursued them, never getting lost in the endless maze that was the library.
They turned a final corner to find a dead end. There was no escape. The demon came into view in the torchlight. “Nicholas.” Lucifer whispered.
Nicholas shrugged. “It is my curse. Without the Lord’s light, I am this.” He reached out, aiming to spear Carmen’s stomach with his arm. Lucifer stepped in the way, but his hand went through her as easily as if she weren’t there.
Lucifer gasped in pain. She was dying, and Carmen was dying. Somehow, light streamed into the tunnel; a figure stood in the light and Nicholas returned to his normal form. He hissed at the figure, but scampered off into the darkness.
Gabriel flew down to them, and carried them away. He took them to a healer, and he did what he could, but Carmen was beyond saving. She was only human.
“Carmen?” Lucifer rasped. “You saved me, why couldn’t I save you?” But Carmen was beyond answering.
Lucifer could never go there. She refused to hear the story of Nicholas, he was a monster. He deserved no justification. He had exacted a punishment on her for a crime she had not committed; he had killed her friends, and forced her to kill her friends.
Lucifer realized then that she had no right to wear the cross Niamh had given her. She took it off carefully, and stowed it away in her backpack which she placed in the overhead storage bins along with her sword.
When she got home, Lucifer was ready to break down. She walked into her apartment and dropped her luggage just inside the door. She watched her feet as she walked towards her couch, and suddenly she collided with the chest of a man.
She cringed, not daring to look up. She feared it was Nicholas come to gloat, to enjoy her despair. “Lucifer, speak to me. Tell me everything.” It was the warm, soft voice of Gabriel.
Lucifer looked up, and then burst into tears. She wanted to be a little girl again, she wanted Gabriel to wrap his arms around her and make everything better. But she knew he couldn’t. Her tears tasted so bitter.
Gabriel pulled her against his chest. “Quiet, Lucifer. All is well. I will not let anything hurt you. I am here.” It was odd, Lucifer felt so calm and secure when he held her like this. It was as though all her worries melted away, nothing could reach her now, not even Nicholas. “Tell me everything, if you don’t, I can’t help you.” He encouraged, his tone demanding nothing.
He sat her down on the couch on his lap and wrapped his arms around her, refusing to let go. “I have you now; I may never have you again.” He said simply.
Lucifer took several deep breaths, filling her lungs with the sweet smell of a spring day that followed Gabriel everywhere. She explained everything she had ever kept from him, she told him everything from the day she had met him until this day. When she told him of the funeral his arms became stiff, and she could feel his anger, when she described the deaths of her friends, he held her close, comforting her as best he could.
“Is that why you do not wear your necklace and sword?” he asked her.
She nodded, then asked, “What does it matter to you? You would not touch the sword, anyways.” She considered it. "You might as well tell me why now.”
He looked away, unwilling to meet her gaze which was turned to meet his. “If you must know, it was jealousy that has all these years kept me from touching that sword, and that necklace, and you.”
“Jealousy?” Lucifer was stunned.
He exhaled, a dignified snort, “Well, what else is there that it could be? It would not be fear of him, for I need fear no human.” She looked stunned. “Oh, Lucifer how is it that you do not see? I have always loved you. From the moment of my creation, when I saw you, I loved you. When I entered the forbidden garden, it was for love of you. When I have saved you and battled the Lord, it was always for love of you. When I stood by the Lord it was for love of you.
“If you will not face Nicholas, then stay with me. You are happy now, aren’t you? Would that be so horrible, an eternity with me? The Lord will not hurt me, he has promised, you need never worry of that, and Nicholas has always feared me.
“I know it has never been your desire, but it is my greatest wish. I have envied every one of your companions. They have had a part of you I will never know. Whatever you want, Lucifer, you will have. If you wish to just sit here for eternity, we can. Anything you want, you need only ask.” He looked into her eyes, beseeching her.
“In the end, though, it is your decision. Was it mine, though selfish as it is, I would never let go of your hand.” He paused here. The silence was warm and light. “Lucifer, I ask that you not let go so quickly of your existence, and know that you are never, and have never been, alone. I am always here, no matter what you choose.” It was impossible to Lucifer, that he loved her. Gabriel loved her. She didn’t know how to respond.
It sounded perfect, an eternity walking with the Lord, holding Gabriel’s hand. And again Lucifer cried. He pulled her against his chest while she cried. Lucifer fell asleep there, warm and safe. When she woke up, he was sleeping, as well.
He had none of the vulnerability Niamh had had. It was different. He was so calm, and so much more than human. He looked as though nothing would shake him, nothing would stop him.
Lucifer left him to sleep, and took a shower. The hot water seemed to nag at her, each droplet a reminder of something she’d decided to forget. She shook her head, refusing to think about how she had given up, how she was too scared to face Nicholas.
By the end of her shower she was crying again. This far from Gabriel she couldn’t keep the memories away.
Seth stood with his arm around Melicim’s waist, laughing. Melicim’s long raven black hair tumbled in haphazard curls down her back, her sea blue eyes shone, and her perfect, gentle features were lit up, bright and smiling. Seth’s chin rested on the top of her head, his sharp features accented by the shadows cast by the increasing light. His hair was a deep forest brown, his eyes a deeper brown with veins of green. His build was slim and muscular, and hers was curvy and slender. They seemed a perfect match.
Lucifer watched them from the shadows, her heart bright. She didn’t move towards them, she just let them enjoy the day.
She stole away to their lodgings, packed her belongings and left while the sun was still rising. They had suffered, helping her, risked losing one another, but they had done it anyways.
The pain of losing Carmen was still fresh. Lucifer decided then that Seth and Melicim would suffer no more from her. She had killed Nicholas so they could be together, she would not bring the curses of the Lord upon them now.
It was a year before she saw them again, they were happy, and so she didn’t show herself to them. She watched from the shadows, heart lightened by the blissful sight of them. She made it a habit to see them every year, never alerting them.
One year, they were not there when she returned. They had not up and left. They could be found, two unmarked graves, alone on the hillside, together eternally. Lucifer went to the nearby village and asked what had happened. In her absence, a monster had come for them and slaughtered them both.
Lucifer neither forgave Nicholas, nor the Lord for releasing him from his eternal Hell. He had been locked away, and Melicim had been safe and free of him; Lucifer remembered rescuing Melicim from the man’s grasp, and killing him. He had not been human, he was a decrepit angel. One who had rebuked the Lord long before the Corruption.
Lucifer cried for many days, and when she finished grieving, she hunted down the monster Nicholas, and spread his ashes across the world that he might never reform.
“Lucifer,” Gabriel knocked on the door, “Lucifer, are you alright?”
She didn’t reply. She couldn’t. She realized then that she could never be truly happy with Gabriel. She didn’t love him enough to forget her past, to stay with him. She would swallow her fear and her pride and face Nicholas.
She would hear his accursed tale. Gabriel must have sensed the change in her, because he whispered, “Be well, Lucifer” and left.
Lucifer dressed herself in her usual style, dark jeans, white t-shirt, black jacket, and combat boots, and tied her hair back into a braid. She found her sword, strapped it to her waist where it belonged, dug through her pack for her necklace, put it on, slung her pack over her shoulder, and left.
Lucifer returned to the place where she had first crashed unto the earth, and descended into the fiery depths of Hell. She boarded the ferry of Charon which did not move under her weight, and crossed the river Acheron. She descended forever into the depths, feeling neither pity nor fear for the sinners and the beasts. She finally reached the place where she was supposed to be forever struggling against the current of sin and ice. Through that hole she saw it, the great temple and the demonic realm.
Without hesitation, she dove through the water into the land no living thing had ever entered. The journey was quick, but threatened a slow, painful return journey, if she made it back. She found herself standing before the great temple, and in front of it stood a demon she had feared for many, many years.
“I must pass you, Demon.” Lucifer spoke, voice loud, resounding off of the emptiness all around her.
“Yes, you must indeed, child, but, first, you will attend my tale. It is your choice, of course. Listen, or do not enter that library.”
Lucifer clenched her jaw, but had no choice. She spoke, “Very well.”
The Demon nodded. “First, you will know my name was once Nicholas, and I was once like you. I was an angel who defied his Lord. I was not always a monster. But I was lonely.
“I was alone, I had always been alone. They all feared me. I was a monster to them, my power invoked fear. I tried to make friends, to teach children to trust me, but it was never possible.
“I was so desperate, I missed my home, my family, and I wondered why I had left. I wondered if leaving had been worth my while. My pride forbade me from going back. I worked for eleven years, and when finally I had finished, I had devised a spell by which I could create myself a companion.
“Beneath a full moon, I cast my spell, and I created her. She was beautiful, her luminous liquid silver eyes glowed with an inner light, her hair was the black of the universe before creation, and her lips were red as the roses I used to create her.
“Her nature was as sweet as the essences of the flowers, and her heart was so caring. She did not reject me as all others had. I fear that if she had rejected me on sight as I had so long feared she would, I would have truly become the monster the world believed I was. I admit I am not, nor have I ever been, possessed of the virtues so celebrated in humankind. I loved her, or I believed myself to, from the moment I saw her. And I did covet her, though I knew it was against His laws.
He took a deep breath, “She came together as vapors, gathering slowly, building until they were solid. ‘Hello,’ she began, ‘Who are you?’ I didn’t tell her the truth, as perhaps I should have. ‘I am Nicholas,’ I told her, ‘Who are you?’
“‘My name is Arymel,’ she told me. ‘It’s very nice to meet you, Nicholas.’ When she said my name, with no disgust or menace or fear, my frozen heart thawed a bit. ‘Will you come to stay with me, Arymel?’ Her smile was so beautiful. ‘I have nowhere to stay, thank you Nicholas.’
“My castle was a marvel to her. I had never thought of it as much more than a shield from the world, but she saw the beauty that I had missed. My castle, as I call it, was not a castle but more of a palace. It had no great walls, nor a keep. It was built for pleasure, simply to be lived in.
“Arymel never questioned how she came into being. I gave her the room I had prepared for her, and the clothing therein. She never asked why I had it, or why it fit her perfectly. She never questioned why I didn’t partake of the meals I made for her, or why I rarely left my home. She trusted me.
“It was midwinter, and she had been with me for one hundred and three years, when he came. He was tall, and his skin was pale, he was muscular and celebrated for his looks. His arrogance made it clear to me that was wealthy.
“He had heard of the beautiful princess that had been captured by a monster. I, I knew immediately, was that monster.
“He spoke thus, ‘Sir, looking upon y

Lefellow

March 6, 2011 at 9:14 PM PST

Pretty good. Think you ought to break it up into chapters so it does not stretch on and on. Great writing and story.

Legion

January 26, 2011 at 11:25 PM PST

Too long, did not read.

Idler on the Roof

January 22, 2011 at 12:56 AM PST

Great story telling! You can be more specific: kissed her...but where? I want to know. Love the story though.