Hazbin Hotel: Singed Wings

Underworld. The Morning Dawn Mansion, the Solitary Workshop.

Lucifer...

Lucifer couldn't exactly say how he was feeling.

No. No sadness, sadness, or any other foolishness inherent in some weak and inferior souls of mere Fallen Archangels. No, Lucifer was doing great!

A beautiful wife, a beautiful flower of his Universe, supporting and fully understanding him, and his beloved daughter that with new and new passion was following the path of her parents, threatening in the near future to repeat their success and...!

Lucifer sighed, looking lazily at another rubber duck in his palm. It was ready, Lucifer had embodied all his desires into this baby that could bounce through space, if any of the energies hit it, all he had to do was release his creation....

Just. Let go.

Lucifer squeezed the black palm tightly, clawing at the squeaking golden duck with red horns and imitation dark dress.

"Another success, may I present to you..." - Lucifer sighed and slowly turned to the audience, stretching out the words, looking at every gathered soul in the workshop who had come to witness another triumph with an almost blank expression. - "...A magical duck capable of tearing through space and...!" - Lucifer's voice became more energetic, and his movements regained their power. - "Time, something that mere mages or angels aren't capable of!" - Lucifer nodded importantly, bowing to the audience and placing his free left palm on his chest while his right presented his new creation.

Lucifer continued to bow, continued to talk about the possibilities of his idea, continued to...

"The Fire of Creation...", Lucifer's face creased as he looked at the silent and ungrateful faces of a bunch of golden ducks, a small row of thirty small figures gathered in a semicircle, sitting then on his coffee table, then on a cabinet, then on a chair... the pair hovered in the air, for Lucifer wanted to test his small skills, for research...!

Lucifer threw the newly created duck, but instead of meeting the wall, it, after a moment, disappeared in the blue-violet smoke, obviously starting its endless cycle of movements, which, someday, should bring pleasure and amusement to Lucifer, after some time will simply forget about this peculiarity and ...

The Second Seraphim's shoulders slumped, and a tired sigh filled the spacious room made in red-dark colors, filled with exquisite furniture and the pleasant smell of wax from burning candles.

Lucifer slowly, with a certain laziness, removed the "court of showers", which made the golden hues that filled the room with some light disappear, leaving the room in almost complete darkness, minus the small candles in the corners of the room and at his desk.

...Lucifer had everything he could possibly want. Power, influence, his own house, his wife and daughter... A lot of subjects that make him sick, and he doesn't talk about monkeys and the likes of man, Sinners, when it comes to his servants and a lot of reasons to be annoyed, Lucifer thinks first of Arc Goetia, then Sins, and only then of various small demons, like Demons, Hounds, Rusals or whatever these creatures of Leviathan call themselves....

Lucifer took a cup from the cup holder, the drink in which had had time to cool and solidify, sipping slowly, trying to nail his taste buds with something.

"The creations for this twenty-four hours have been created, the papers from the Sins have been sent for tomorrow, and... what else was there?", Lucifer thought peacefully, going about the great multitude of things to do for the day. He didn't need to sleep like some mortal soul, but it had become one of his favorite pastimes in recent centuries, especially if his bed was warmed by a beautiful wife sharing...

Lucifer shook his head, noting with a little annoyance at how easily the rest of his thoughts disappeared, leaving only the remaining business...

Business. Important matters. There were a lot of them, and he was the King of Hell, he had a lot of important things to do.

Then his gaze fell upon a golden violin, as if recently placed on its pedestal of honor, in a softer shade of gold, adorned with snow-white feathers.

" ... Play some work of art, that's right!" - Lucifer happily remembered the important business at hand, standing up in the blink of an eye, tossing the empty cup into his perfect cylinder. The cup simply returned to its place on the table, outlining a small shower, while Lucifer was at the pedestal in two broad steps, from which he carefully and slowly lifted his beautiful instrument.

It didn't take Lucifer a moment, just a dozen minutes of close inspection of the instrument, to come up with something to play! A perfect melody, suited to the mood and clearly outshining the labors of God's many creatures with its majesty, attention to every note, and more!

Lucifer's workshop was filled with a beautiful sound that soon left one room, spreading throughout the Mansion, allowing the rest of the inhabitants to hear the quiet masterpiece of the Favorite Son. Nameless, for to come up with something that takes people a lifetime to make, Lucifer just had to think about it and let his beautiful fingers do the work...

Soon the violin was joined by the piano, played by Mr. Quackus, his favorite music colleague, and on vocals and brass was the locally famous Mrs. Quackus, while on strings Mr. Quackus helped Lucifer create the perfect orchestra.

Perfect music filling every corner of the Morning Dawn Mansion, a perfect and omnipotent performer-conductor-king playing his favorite instrument for the...

The Empty Mansion.

Lilith, his favorite flower, was in seclusion in her private gardens while his Char Char... was with the Dumb and Stupid Fallen Archangel. Lucifer's fingers gripped the violin tighter, and the palm holding the golden bow with white strings twitched, but Lucifer's outstanding ability prevented any falseness from slipping through or ruining the melody in any way.

...He could understand Lily, he could understand that similarly to him, Lilith needed peace, even from...him. They had both been through everything together, they both knew the reason for the need for such retreats, him in his Workshop, alone with Creation, and Lilith in the Garden, where she....

Could invite some idiot who thought he knew everything.

No, Lucifer was a wonderful husband. He respected Lilith's personal time and decisions, he didn't try in the slightest to find out the details of that meeting in a place he had long ago sworn not to look, enveloping those places in something that even he would have trouble getting through, effortlessly. 

Lucifer is a model husband. He didn't try time after time to find out the details of the private and secluded conversation between the Idiot Archangel and his wife. He didn't try to gently steer his wife toward a confession, he didn't... try to discuss the matter with his wife. He and Lilith have no arguments or conflicts.

It's some Adam or loser Archangel that has issues with wives or souls whose trust they've betrayed, Lucifer never quarrels with Lilith.

They just need to cool down a bit and then talk again... Lucifer apologizes, that's what those books seem to recommend, and Lilith....

Another Lucifer "popped" out of Lucifer's body. The double was absolutely identical to his original, dressed in the usual "snow-white King's outfit", without a coat, in a red-and-white vest, with rolled-up sleeves. The doppelganger, or rather a part of Lucifer himself, looked into the open book, quickly going over the lines while leafing through three other books with similar themes.

The beautiful composition didn't stop for a moment.

...Should Lilith sublimely accept the apology, or sensibly discuss it with her husband? No, if these people aren't lying, sharing their experiences in books, then he'll definitely send them something... Through those hooded guys trying to summon him, his servants. Though, given their attempts and general style, Lucifer was beginning to think that they just liked the subject of Hell and were just a little hobby group, discussing more of a nuisance than actually trying to summon demons and the King of Hell.

Although, if the books lie, he's clearly some Goetia demons who will randomly walk past their houses with the occasional soul stealing assignment.

The doppelganger-particle disappeared, the instant their contents appeared in the Devil's mind. Lucifer didn't even need to be distracted by the movements of his fingers following the impulse of his mind, weaving notes as he went.

...Lucifer could understand Lilith. Could understand the fact that they, as husband and wife, could have...periods of rest from each other, but....

Why was Charlie consorting with this...?!

The strings creaked, the piano shook, and Lucifer took a deep breath.

The music continued as if the hiccup had never happened.

"She has her own dreams, her own goals, her own life and future, but... Why is she so eager to plunge into the very vats of dung, not understanding, as if not seeing the way those doomed rotters treat her, how can she even...?!!", the gorgeous and majestic music perfectly concealed the storm of emotions of Lucifer's mind.

Resentment, Unacceptance, Rejection, Irritation, Zavs....

Lucifer shook his head, letting all these feelings, all these... emotions born out of... Excitement? Worry? Lucifer himself couldn't exactly say how he felt about the whole situation.

That Christmas party? Lucifer didn't want to offend Charlie. He'd seen how she'd prepared, he'd seen how his wife and daughter had "prepared" the Fallen Idiot, how each had tried to "protect" him from him. So why did he have to live up to their expectations and create conflict in the middle of nowhere, ruining relationships for the sake of some do-gooder?

Lucifer was a great father and husband, skillfully juggling all the souls at that reception, he was able to make sure the Eldritches didn't kill the idiot Archangel on the spot, and Lilith only made him sleep in the workshop for a week.

Most importantly, he made Charlie happy. He remembered that smile, that joy, directed solely at him... For that, he could put up with William, because he also wanted his daughter to have a great Christmas....

A small smile appeared on Lucifer's face, replacing the frowning, perhaps blank, if not tired expression that had previously been on the Second Seraphim's face.

A playful note appeared in the music, the seriousness and sublimity abruptly replacing the winding tone that mortals could feast to.

If one were to enter the studio, one would see a "golden wind," if not the energy radiating from Lucifer's playing. It was as if music was coming to life under the Devil's notes, embodying the very emotion that would affect the person who entered.

"By the way, Char Char was supposed to write her article about... some demon or Sinner, wasn't she?", Lucifer almost chanted in his thoughts, letting the music bring back the right memories and immediately remembering that....

Lucifer's hand twitched sharply, and the room itself, the 'golden energy' itself, seemed to shudder in annoyance. Lucifer's eyes slowly opened, staring at the window, which appeared here simply by his wish and whim, then looked exactly at the Cursed City, spitting in his face personally, from all those ungrateful souls.

Lucifer did not look at the landscape, he looked beyond, beyond any mortal or Sin, for it was he who was the master of this place. Its King.

...He saw Charlie laughing, joking about something with the Fallen Idiot walking beside him, how... Lucifer saw how happy the one was.

"Tha doesn't laugh when she communicates with me," the absurd thought was burned away the instant it appeared, and Lucifer's gaze intensified.

...And he saw Charlie not lying, not pretending. No plan, no game, ta... Just having a good time with a friend... a best friend, as ta had said at the two families' Christmas party.

Lucifer sighed, leaning on the newly-appearing glass. The "golden energy" began to "boil", almost starting to sparkle....

But everything disappeared as soon as Lucifer saw his daughter's joyful smile again. All the anger, all the irritation was gone.

He only regretted that her happiness was not because of him.

Lucifer shook his head, vaporizing the window in an instant, putting the newly created musical instruments back together with the musicians, sending them to rest in their nice houses.

Black claws rubbed tiredly at his closed eyes as the Devil himself caught the cylinder, and his favorite surtoute appeared on the shell.

The Devil walked out of the Workshop, leaving the room in pitch darkness.

...

Rain.

The raindrops beat on the stone paths of the Morning Dawn Mansion Gardens. The drops circled all visible space, clogging the mind with a strange melody that could be heard if one listened closely.

This ringing, this music of nature reached the corridors of the Mansion, to its very depths, spreading its sound to every part of the empty estate while its owner, its happy creator....

was just sitting in the main kitchen.

Having recently come from a meeting with an old acquaintance, Lucifer was... not to say broken, not to say tired, just... Pensive.

The fact that he was without a fine coat, without a cylinder with a crown, even the vest was unbuttoned and the sleeves lazily rolled up, just a coincidence and liberty.

In general, Lucifer is having a great time. He, he, the wall, a glass of purple wine, though maybe it's some product of Belphegor, the Sin of laziness, which, strange and surprising for Lucifer himself, is the most industrious of all the Sins, bypassing in his field of medicine even Satan...

He doesn't enter the competition at all, or he'd win it with flying colors... Lucifer sighed, sipping some of the clear liquid.

A spacious hall with dark magenta walls with many light red figural patterns, darker furniture and an interior that was barely noticeable, if not blended in with the darkness of the room, in which the Devil could see perfectly well.

The hall was filled with the smell of some berries from laziness, a treasure trove of medicine, violet-pink clouds, sweet even for Lucifer and just some dream fantasy... Lucifer didn't care. He didn't even care about that right now.

Lucifer already regretted that he had decided to go inside that shower at all, once again brutally reminding him of all the things Lucifer had been thinking about for the past centuries...

But, right now, he just wanted to be alone. Just wanted... not to think.

Not to think that everything he'd done, everything he'd wanted to give, it could all be part of this fucking...

"Dad?" - His daughter's soft voice broke the silence, still making him jump in his seat, nearly dropping his half-empty glass.

"Char-char?" - Lucifer spoke quickly, turning around, instantly finding a tired and slightly wet Charlie on the threshold of the kitchen, toweling her golden hair.

"And after all, Lily and I still haven't come to a conclusion as to who those beautiful locks are from. From me or from Lilith?", Lucifer thought with a faint smile, hiding the unfinished glass behind his back and shifting slightly to cover the bottle as well.

"Did you want something?" - Lucifer smiled broadly, thought, fixing his hair, his clothes... he could also fix his voice, but he wasn't in the mood for that right now.

" ...I'm back from my walk through the Silence with Zephyr." - Charlie said evenly, finally letting irritation creep into her voice, which made Lucifer cringe slightly. - "Right in the rain...and I warned you I'd be back tonight, about this time." - She cast a quick glance at the gold clock hanging on the wall, designed in his, Lucifer's, style.

" Ha... Yes, that's right, you said that, yes!" - Lucifer nodded vigorously, letting the drink and bottle from laziness disappear into his workshop, while Lucifer himself slowly approached Charlie, absentmindedly running his fingers over the cane-less hand that had been left in the workshop. - "It's just that your Great Papa has been in important meetings and doing important business." - Lucifer turned on the light with a flick, making his daughter squint.

" And you... What were you doing alone in the dark?" - Charlie asked, looking away, rubbing her forearm, letting her father, or rather his magic, dry her hair and pick up the towel, which disappeared in the golden light afterward. - "Mom's not back from the Garden yet?"

"Oh... Oh no, not yet, that one's obviously growing something or inventing new things... maybe just swimming?" - Lucifer scratched his chin, rubbing where people's noses are. Charlie didn't buy his suggestion, if Lucifer had read her expression correctly, but she said nothing more, continuing to stand.

Lucifer also stood against her, his eyes traveling over his daughter's purple pajamas and pink slippers, or wandering around the room, until his gaze came upon the frying pan and....

" Would you like some pancakes?" - Lucifer smiled faintly, trying to make his voice sound cheerful. His daughter nodded, quietly mouthed her thanks and sat down in the seat he'd already warmed, while Lucifer stood behind the stove, taking his white apron out of thin air and heating up the pancake pan and....

" So... How was your day, Dad?" - Charlie asked languidly, running her finger along the dark table, chattering her feet. The kitchen gradually filled with a pleasant odor that Charlie could almost taste with her tongue, and the pleasant sizzle of spilling dough, which also seemed to appear out of thin air, whetted the appetite of the recently eaten guest.

"..." - Lucifer froze as the pancakes cooked themselves, staring into space. - "You know, today was truly an exhausting day." - Lucifer shook his head, picking up the skillet handle again, skillfully wielding the spatula and flipping the pancakes. - "Created many magnificent artifacts and creations, went to even more meetings, solved issues..." - Lucifer spoke and spoke, watching Charlie eat the food he had lovingly prepared with a small smile.

"Such as?" - slightly abruptly interrupted his daughter, immediately correcting herself, in a softer tone. - "I mean, unless it's secret or important..." - Charlie looked away, biting down on a delicious pancake that softly spread across her tongue, filling it with sweetness and some delicious additive.

" Uh..." - Lucifer's eyes raced around the room, his back to Charlie. - "Stopped by Belphegor's place, found her asleep on the job, can you believe it?" - father and daughter laughed quietly before Lucifer continued. - "Discussed... important matters with a couple souls, nothing like that..."

Just something that had been bothering Lucifer for the past centuries.

" ...And how was your day, my dear?" - Lucifer asked when the dough was finished and Charlie was no longer laughing at his silly jokes about laziness. Lucifer allowed himself to sit down next to his daughter, taking one of the remaining pancakes.

Lucifer wrinkled his nose as he saw Charlie's energy fill and her smile widen. Her movements became more active and her gesticulations quicker.

"Oh, today Zephyr and I decided to gather information 'empirically', that is, we went to different areas of the Silence..." - Charlie said smiling as Lucifer listened to her, propping his head up with the palm of his hand.

" Why not in another part of town...?" - muttered Lucifer, which his daughter heard, nodding.

"We want to tackle this in the next few years, stopping for now at the most 'simple' indicators, the place where Sinners are most prone to change and transition..." - was telling Father Charlie, and he was listening and not thinking.

She was talking about the morning at the Mansion of Silence, and Lucifer was listening, nodding and not thinking. Smiled, nodding occasionally.

Charlie talked about the Sinners, who had sent her away rudely, even threatening her in some way, eliciting a response in Lucifer that was immediately extinguished, because "Zephyr had decided." Lucifer listened, not thinking, and nodded, remembering to smile softly.

" ...Also, he showed how the 'interview' for the Silence usually goes, with a live example!" - Charlie was almost enthusiastic as Lucifer nodded without changing his posture. Without forgetting to smile!

" Really?" - Lucifer wondered in a hollow voice, looking at the nodding Charlie.

- "There was some effeminate Sinner there, maybe it was a woman calling herself a man for some reason, though that fur in the form of breasts or breasts in the form of fur... Whatever!" - Bowed her head, rubbing Charlie's chin as Lucifer nodded... and smiled. - "So, the Sinner was-was-was in the form of an anthropomorphic spider, asking or asking a lot of questions..." - Charlie spoke, actively, cheerfully, and with a fervor worthy of better use. Lucifer nodded, listening, smiling and inserting comments.

The main thing was that he wasn't thinking. He did not think about anything else, except what his daughter told him.

Which reminded him so painfully of his own, in his "youth", for all the ideas and attempts to change the Universe, who was simply overthrown, spitting...!

Lucifer shook his head, smiling wider and chasing away silly thoughts, silently regretting that he couldn't taste that apple wine of Belphegor again. Though...

"...So, it turns out that the one or the other just plain slept with everyone in line, literally flying out of the waiting room, clearly hoping for the 'stupid Construct' but definitely not Silence and the Prince himself... What are you doing, Dad?" - Gestured vigorously at Charlie, trying to play all the characters being told, expressing the bedtime adventures of the Sinner Spider through gestures rather than showing on herself, much to the relief of Lucifer's soul that....

" Just pouring myself some juice, dear. " Lucifer shook his head, offering praise to Belphegor as her scarlet-purple drink relaxed his mind in an instant, dulling his worries. - "A gift from Belphegor to me personally, you can't have one of these or your mother will kill me." - Lucifer said absently, shaking the glass and staring at the shimmering liquid as Charlie nodded, swallowing.

"About Spider-Whore and Silence sleeping with a bunch of Sinners." - Lucifer smiled, but then he faltered when he saw his daughter's frowning face. -" ...I'm sorry."

" ... This soul wanted to ask to go to the Silence, but did not pass the tests, and this is the test for addiction to substances, including those from other Circles, the test for addiction to alcohol, and about lust and molestation I do not even mention...!" - resented, but without obvious offense or annoyance, Charlie, while Lucifer nodded, smiled, and didn't think.

He was also drinking a delicious wine, allowing him to.....

"...Also, we walked through the Silence itself, which has only gotten more beautiful, Zephyr did a great job with the latest renovations!" - Charlie smiled, looking at Lucifer's soft smile, simply nodding. - "Saw so many 'Central' Residents, they even waved back at me, they were so happy! True, one gardener working on the flowers and some plants was somber and silent, but with what management and dexterity that one handled the flowers as if it had been a long time ago...!" - Charlie spoke and gesticulated, almost embodying with her magic what she was telling, while Lucifer could think of only one thing.

"There are plant gardens in the Silence now? Progress...", forced... decided to nod his thoughts Lucifer, "Although, I thought Zephyrka had his toys doing everything, but to..."

"...By the way, how's mom doing?" - Lucifer choked, mentally scolding himself for his complete disconnection from his daughter.

" ...By the way, how's mom doing?" - Lucifer choked, mentally scolding himself for his complete detachment from his daughter.

" As usual, just talking in silence, discussing various topics... thinking..." - Lucifer lowered his head onto his elbows, pushing his glass aside while Charlie, warily eyed her father.

"And... Do you and Mom often... think like that?" - Charlie said cautiously, trying not to look directly into Lucifer's closed eyes.

"It's an adult thing, Charlie, you wouldn't understand." - Lucifer waved his hand, not hearing his daughter's indignant sigh. - "Especially since you wanted to tell me about your plans to...on..." - Lucifer faltered, struggling to remember one detail out of many, amidst all the things she'd told him over the past few days... It wasn't much, but now Lucifer...

"On the new 'innovative' ways of helping souls?" - Charlie's smile faded, still persisting, and his tone became more neutral. Lucifer only nodded, raising his head again, holding himself up on two elbows.

"So that youu g-o-o-o-o-..." - tapped her black fingernails on the table Charlie, "You do remember what Zephyr and I, recently asked you to get us from Earth, don't you?" - At Charlie's words, Lucifer just nodded, sipping from his full glass. - "Here, I did some analysis recently, deducing a few patterns of Sinners' behavior, and at the same time distinguishing the types..." - his daughter sounded and sounded, sounding more like the Nasty Archangel than his former lively and creative Charlie....

His daughter will not back down. She, his little girl, inherited that stubbornness from both of them. Charlie would go all the way, picking up every bruise and curse along the way until she either broke or got her way.

Lucifer only hoped that the one would succeed in doing so. Not to help the souls of these ingrates, no... He hoped she could do something of her own that wouldn't be turned against her original idea.

Lucifer's eyes faded, but he kept smiling, nodding, occasionally putting in a word and... Thinking. He set the empty glass to the side, next to the half-full bottle, picking himself up, laying his hands on the table.

Lucifer listened to Charlie. Saw himself in her, saw her mother in her, saw the very fire, the fervor of an idea... Dreams! Dreams that could burn her, that could destroy her....

How did Lucifer destroy everything he wanted to do.

Will his wish give people True Free Will? Adam and Eve are cast down to Earth, depriving them of Eden.

He wanted to give people, not only those chosen by this arrogant God, the opportunity to create as angels, as higher beings, like their prodigal father Adam... He created magic, but those, as if mocking him, perverted it, starting to behave like Sinners, if not worse, back on Earth.

"They fucking called it the 'test of man,' despising my gift as mere temptation that must be rejected!", Lucifer clenched his claws into a fist, scratching at the perfect black monolith of their kitchen table. Charlie didn't even notice it, continuing to share his plans.

His idea of cubes! That the original perfect shape of the world should be a cube, not a sphere, that damnable and perfect, because it's easier that way! He's still standing for it!

Goddamn it, even the same crappy Fruit of Good and Evil was originally square, and his idea of apples, the thing that was supposed to give Adam and Lilith satiation and wonderful sensations was made into one! Something that cannot be tasted or tasting, for "those were not ready"!

But the worst part is this.

His "rebellion", or rather his attempt to give Adam and Eve a chance to break free from God's shackles, to give them a better future and a chance to decide for themselves... His desire to help Cain, his descendants, fucking Ancient Babylon!

Lucifer over the last century and a half has come to a conclusion...recognized...forced to recognize...decided, or rather, affirmed, that it is possible....

Only possible that his actions... All his ideas, all his Light that he carried into the Void... Creating Hell, helping the descendants of Seth, helping the souls of people who fell into his Gardens of that time....

Fuck, even the birth of his lovely daughter!

It could all have been part of God's Shitty Design.

Lucifer was Pride. He was proud of his accomplishments, his actions, and his history.

And just the slightest chance that all of this could have been at the mercy of that asshole in Heaven!

"And whatever you do, I will use for my own good."

God's last words to his soul, just before his and Lilith's Fall, were taking on new meaning. Or rather, Lucifer finally got his head out of his ass and decided to look at everything he had done from the outside.

It was not he who brought down punishment on Ramses, it was not he who killed people at the whim of some Jew, it was not he who did all that the Servants of God did!

All his "evil" did not come from a Great Intent, not from a Great Evil Plan, no. He sincerely wanted to help. To help people, to help Creation. To do what he was created to do. Yes, he could admit to being a tool of God, but he had broken out of that cycle.

But what... didn't break it, but was the final straw...

"How about having a child?"

Said Lilith then, dumbfounding the ancient Seraphim.

She and Charlie were still discussing something, he was saying something and nodding and smiling... clenching his fangs, trying not to let the golden ichor from his bitten cheek escape.

Lucifer knows the consequences of his dreams, desires and actions. Misery and devastation.

He knows what time has done to him, what these attempts and strikes of God have done to him. He has accepted it, he has long since gotten used to it. It's him...

But if that godly bastard decides to do the same to his daughter...

"Thanks for listening, Dad." - Charlie smiled softly at him, and Lucifer just laughed, waving his hand. She had long since finished telling him her plans, just discussing with him some everyday trivia, like "Uncle Ozzie" or "Aunt Vivi" coming over, maybe he even agreed to invite Dumb Archangel again for Christmas...

" Anything for you, goldie." - Lucifer nodded tiredly, yawning and stretching. Charlie repeated after him.

" Good night then... good night? Mom still isn't here yet?" - Covering her mouth like a polite soul with manners, Charlie yawned, rubbing her eyes as she walked with her father down the hallways towards their bedrooms.

" Not yet, but if I have to, I'll go get her." - Lucifer said playfully, leaning toward Charlie, gesturing for her to come over. "But first, we need to go through the refrigerator, there might be some cake in there!" - Lucifer whispered as Charlie smiled widely, holding back laughter.

" Again?" - Charlie said, looking around playfully, squatting down beside him, trying to suppress a smile.

"It's not again, it's another time, sweetheart!" - Lucifer nodded, raising his index finger and turning them both around, walking briskly into the kitchen.

" But Mom..." Charlie's uncertain voice didn't stop Lucifer from speaking

"She won't find out anything if we do it right!" - Lucifer hissed, silently leading an unsure Charlie, as if worried more and more with every meter. They came to the kitchen, or rather, back to where they came from, and when they opened the refrigerator, there was indeed a cake Lilith had prepared waiting for them!

" Dad..." - Charlie yanked weakly on his shoulder, still sitting down, looking at him almost doomed.

"It's okay, my princess wants a nightcake, right?" - Lucifer grinned broadly, looking at Charlie with amusement, trying to convey some of his amusement.

" Your Queen wouldn't mind a nightcake and meat pancakes, my husband." - The sharp, stern voice made both "criminals" freeze, frozen statues of themselves.

Lucifer did not need to turn around to see his lovely wife.

The same perfect figure, slender belly, firm hips, slender legs and such breasts... Covered by purple pajamas with dark roots on her naked body, barely covering the upper part of her body, exposing those legs, this time without hooves.

Lucifer licked his lips, smirking as Charlie turned to her mother with quiet horror.

"Good evening, mom!" - Charlie's wide grin, a sharp body-turning jump, and the clatter of hooves in slippers. A small smile appeared on Lilith's face as Lucifer slowly stood up, letting himself get a good look at his wife's body, grinning his teeth.

"Good, sweetheart..." - Lilith whispered, slowly approaching and hugging her daughter, who began to say something, if not make excuses as Lucifer devoured Lilith's figure.

It all happened in the familiar manner he and his wife were accustomed to. Lilith portrays strictness, forbidding something to Charlie, forcing the latter to "excommunicate" to her friend, who so successfully has the forbidden, leaving her and Lilith alone...

" Was it really worth going away all day for that?" - Lucifer grumbled, hugging and running his palms all over Lilith's tall body.

" Was it really worth locking yourself in the workshop all day and disappearing for meetings for this?" - Lilith exhaled languidly into Lucifer's ear, letting her husband begin their usual game.

Lucifer grinned, nodding and....

"Is something wrong?" - Lilith stepped out of the image, asking her husband worriedly. - "You've been even more..."

" It's all right, dear..." - Lucifer shook his head, exhaling. - "It's fine." - Lucifer exhaled, meeting Lilith's gaze.

He knew how to hide his feelings, knew how to lie in a way that even his closest soul wouldn't be able to recognize. He is the Prince of Deception, that he did not wish to lie, just nudge souls to the best possible outcome for them.

He is the Aspect of Wonder that created Magic, allowing all people, regardless of their worship of an arrogant God to create Wonder. This art, the peak of his creation, is now being banned and the labors of generations of magicians are being burned, and Lucifer didn't care.

"...Then maybe... Let's watch something from the human movies?" - Lilith suggested weakly, throwing a blanket over her naked body, to which Lucifer just nodded, following.

He looked at his wife, seeing similar thoughts and intentions in her. He might not know the details of their conversations with William, but Lilith was definitely not joking or flirting with him. Rather, wanting to know about Adam and Eve, for some reason... Not wanting to ask him.

Lucifer's palms clenched into fists and his gaze hardened, looking not so much at his wife's figure as at the space around him. At God.

He was willing to admit that he was an idiot, that he just might be God's Instrument, dancing to God's Plan...

But, his Lilith and Charlie?

Lucifer knew full well the cost of his actions, what they had done to him, and the prospect that his wife and daughter might be part of the Conceit... That Charlie was literally on a path whose outcome would be Holy Fire!

Lucifer sighed, relaxing and pressing himself harder against his wife's naked body, trying to respond to her flirtations while there was some human attempt at adult movies in the background.

Lucifer was the Sin of Pride. He didn't care about the others. Heaven, Hell, the Sins, the Goetia, the lower demons, the humans, the Sinners... They could all go down in flames, or insult him, Lucifer didn't care.

But if they touched the last bastion of his mind, the last bit of Lucifer's happiness, he would drown Creation in blood and flames without blinking an eye.

After all, his family, his Lilith and Charlie, were all that remained of his Pride.