Sodom x Gomorrah - Approx. 2300 B.C. Canaan

Gabriel glared at Lucifer. "What are you doing?"

Lucifer, having recently smoked enough opium to stun an ox, blinked up at his brother. He hadn't seen anyone from the Silver City other than Amenadiel in a good long while, but the invisible angelic aura surrounding him was unmistakable. Gabe, sandy-haired and clean-shaven, stood over him, looming in the robes of his station - felted wool gauntlets dyed blue with pale blue underskirts and tan and blue outer robes. He wore a double chained gold necklace that was longer and thinner than Amenadiel's, mostly hidden under his garments. Lucifer recalled there being some sort of pendant, but it wasn't visible now.

Lucifer had always hated the utterly unchanging style of the clothing. He'd had a necklace too, each of the archangels were given one, of a slightly different style. It had been stripped away from him with everything else. He thumbed his ring absently. If anyone ever accused him of using it as a substitute for the polished black necklace, he'd deny it to his bones. His clothing - his only clothing in Heaven was a set of silver and black robes, the cut exactly the same as everyone else's. Boring.

Nothing ever changed in the Silver City unless it had to. So pretty much never. Even less so now that he was gone.

As they stared at one another, It occurred to him belatedly that a question had been asked of him. He fought to dredge it up, running fingers through his dishevelled hair. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

The face twisted. "It looks like you're just waking up after passing out in a pile of humans, mid-coitus."

"Then that sounds about right." Lucifer looked down his chest, taking note of the naked woman curled up with her face against his abs and one elbow jammed into his ribs that probably would hurt anyone mortal. On him, it was just dull pressure indenting his side. Her dark hair spilled over his hips and waist. He honestly had no idea if she was one of the prostitutes or one of the party-goers. He didn't really see a good reason to get up and entertain visiting angels, except that some of his limbs felt like they were asleep to the point of numbness. "What are you doing here? Doesn't seem like your kind of scene, brother."

Gabe sighed and offered his hand as if it were some sort of magnificently charitable act on his part. Lucifer rolled his eyes and accepted, gently moving the woman off of him with the other hand. She grumbled, but snuggled up to another woman at his side and went back to sleep. His brother averted his eyes as if burned, but Lucifer had no shame. Never had. Coming to his feet, he had to yank his wings out from under a few humans, fluffing them with a quick check for random fluids or debris. There was more dirt on them than anything else. The only real reason to keep them clean was his relative comfort. A grain of sand caught between feather shafts was just as irritating as one rolling between toes, even if it wasn't necessarily painful.

His brother huffed a sigh, not yet out of accusatory looks and not likely to run out any time soon. "How can you let yourself get into this state, Samael?"

"Don't call me that. I assure you, 'letting' wasn't a factor at all. I had to work pretty diligently to acquire enough opium to get me even this far. Are you on babysitting duty this time? Amenadiel has better things to do, has he?"

"No. I'm carrying a message. I sensed you here so I thought I'd see what kind of trouble you've been getting into."

"Trouble was getting into me too."

Gabriel didn't take the bait. "You should go back to your domain. You won't want to get caught in the coming calamity."

Lucifer rolled his eyes. "What is it this time? Floods? Plagues? Insects? What's Mother up to?"

"I wasn't told. Something is coming, but I don't know what. I need to find the human or humans in charge of this city. Mother...may face consequences."

"I was mostly joking."

"I'm not. Do you know where to go or not, Samael?" Gabe fluffed his dove-grey and darker-grey-spotted wings.

"Fine. Yes. The man is named Lot. Boring name, but beggars and choosers."

"Changing your name doesn't make you less your Father's son." Gabe gritted his teeth, "Lucifer."

"You think I picked it? Who told you that? In any case, I do prefer it over the name I was stripped of when I was cast out. Sounds like Father's hands free parenting continues on to this day."

Gabe glared icily.

"Fine. Follow me. Watch out for these humans. They get grabby for divinity. Especially for my divine-"

"Please don't finish that sentence."

Lucifer quickly washed his face and dressed in local garb while his brother shifted impatiently. They left the house - it was mid-evening now - the party had gone on all night and for almost another full day. It was a miracle (hah) they only just ran out of wine and other mind-altering substances.

The population had seen Lucifer a few times already and the supernatural was 'known' well enough that the sight of people with (feather) wings wasn't all that alarming. He didn't call himself an angel, of course, but the wings made everything he wanted easier to find. He didn't know why he'd been left with the wings - why they didn't have the scarred, scarlet aspect the rest of his body took on, why he even still had an angelic appearance to call on at all.

If it was an oversight on his Father's part, he wasn't about to bring it up to anyone.

If Dad truly never wanted him to leave Hell, He wouldn't have left the option. Walking around in red skin all the time would make that impossible anywhere with people. Which there were a lot more of these days, more than even his siblings thought there would eventually ever be.

They never thought the humans would outnumber the angels. What other predictions of Lucifer's, once scoffed at, would now come to pass?

It was a bitter victory, however, and it changed nothing.

He shook his wings out and flicked them away for the walk. Gabriel felt no particular need to furl his. Where Lucifer's aura screamed 'availability', Gabriel's stated that he was on a mission. The few people out of doors gave them a wide berth, watching curiously. Most bowed their faces to the ground as they passed.

Just because they'd seen angels didn't mean they didn't know what they were supposed to do around the holy.

Well, when what they thought was the holy wasn't on his back, he supposed, amused. It was a different kind of subservience, one he returned gladly.

Lucifer hated this abashment of themselves, as if they were worthy of abject worship. He wanted to pull the people up off their knees, but his brother urged him to keep moving, paying them no mind.

The late hour meant most people were already home. There were no outdoor lanterns. Except for the occasional firelight peeking out through the cracks of a door or an occasional window, the evening shadows swallowed everything. The full moon reflected light down on them, lighting occasional groups of men standing around and talking. One or two pointed at them, eyes lingering on the wings and tall bodies. The street itself, only wide enough for a fat horse or pair of donkeys, wove between homes, meandering with the natural rise of the ground. A pair of dogs, dirty and rough-coated ran past them, bounding and playing.

A child saw them and bolted off between buildings, yelling.

Lucifer couldn't say he felt any sympathy for the Goddess. If she was finally getting her due, he couldn't be bothered to care about what happened to her. Still, "What makes this time different?"

"Hmm?"

"Mother has been killing off humans for years. What's another plague?"

For a moment, he didn't think Gabe was going to answer the question. He finally glanced back past his wing for a moment then addressed his guide. "It's not a plague. Plagues rarely wipe out every human it comes into contact with. This will not leave any survivors in the city."

His feet missed a step. "What? Hold on, why aren't you telling these poor fools as we pass to get out then?"

"Because my message is not for them. Time is of the essence, and stopping for every individual here will delay my informing the one who will be able to direct them out safely. Should he choose to do so."

"Should he? You're making less sense than I remember, brother."

"I may only deliver my words to the one intended. What he does with it is up to him."

Lucifer glanced back, hearing murmurs of people. They had more than a few stragglers behind them now, with wide eyes. They were full of a hunger he well-recognized. He picked up the pace and knocked on Lot's door a few minutes later.

They were finishing an evening meal, his younger daughter cleaning up scraps to feed some animal behind the dwelling. A goat bleated at the back door, confirming it. The young woman and her sister, both almost old enough to marry, watched their father usher in the tall, handsome man and the other one, who got stuck in the door before growling and whisking away his wings for ease of mobility.

Lot's wife bowed and offered them wine, which Lucifer accepted.

Gabriel addressed Lot, informing him he and his family needed to leave the village. "Your God sent me to warn you and your family to leave. Tonight."

Lucifers attempts to flirt with Lot's wife were immediately diverted. "Tonight?"

His brother ignored him. "Gather only what you can carry. There's not much time."

A rap sounded sharply on the door, "Who're the new fellows, Lot?" "I know one of 'em, my wife knows 'em too." "Why are they here?" "Are they both angels?"

Their host directed his family to pack some things, ignoring the growing crowd shuffling outside his door. Lucifer addressed Gabe angrily, "Told you to put away your wings. These humans are going to have a difficult time getting out through that rowdy bunch. They'll probably follow us and them all the way to the edge of-", He stopped himself. "Oh."

Gabe arched an eyebrow. "My orders were to deliver a message to one man. I have done nothing more than that."

"Right, of course not."

"I needed you to help me find this man quickly, of course."

"Surely." Lucifer breathed out a rough breath. Maybe all his siblings weren't just feathered idiots. "Still, it does seem like half the town is outside his door? Getting through them will be an effort."

A male voice carried through the thin wood, "We want to meet the angels too. It's good luck to touch an angel's wings, you know."

Lot huffed and stopped long enough to yell out the window, "They're under my roof and my domain. Go home!"

Lucifer looked out the back door past the goat. Most of the hangers-on seemed focused on the front door. "We may need a distraction to get clear. If you really want to save your townsfolk, I can lead some of them away. I'll go out there."

"Don't be ridiculous. They'll...forgive me, you're closer to God than I, I imagine you must be innocent of the more vulgar desires of my neighbors."

"Oh, not at all. Very much the opposite, actually. I mean, Gabe here is probably still a virgin and will be until Judgement Day - if that's still a thing, that is. Regardless, they cannot touch me without my permission, or at minimum, suffer severe repercussions if they do."

"Perhaps I should go calm them down."

Gabriel shook his head. "I'm sorry, there's no time. The best you can do at this point is get you and your family out."

Lucifer threw back the rest of his wine. "Maybe this one will be like Noah. Dad told him there would be a massive flood but really it was more like an out of region monsoon."

His brother definitely winced. "Who told you about that?"

"Dozens of poor saps who got left out in the rain, naturally." Lucifer waited patiently for Gabe to make the connection. "Honestly, were you completely drunk when you went to Noah with a message from Dad, or just temporarily off your rocker?"

"Noah took from the message what he wanted to hear. He did save some people in the process, and most of the local farm animals. Beyond that, he...lied about what was in the message itself. Father is debating on ceasing delivering messages altogether." He clamped his jaw tightly, as if already regretting letting that slip.

Well then. He had something new to ask Amenadiel the next time he turned up. "I guess it's good to know Dad never meant to drown the planet. Though many, many souls down in Hell certainly believed otherwise, once the rains came anyway."

Lot approached them with a packed sack over his shoulder, shifting and nervous. "We're ready to go," he chewed his lower lip a second, then shouted to the crowded outside, "wait a moment longer and I'll send my daughters out instead!"

The mob rumbled in response, one voice near the front coming out clear, "what about the angels?"

Both Gabe and Lucifer regarded Lot darkly. The man shrugged, "Just a distraction to keep them at the front door until we get away safely. They'll stay with us. The townsfolk can be rough when riled up, but they're not really bad people. Not all of them."

His wife looked out the back, ducking back inside quickly "They're starting to come 'round."

Lucifer tilted his head. "I don't understand. A collection of humans take leave of their senses where one would not?"

Lot licked his teeth. "Frequently. I'm not saying it's forgivable, exactly, but there are very likely to be several men out there mixed in that I would hate to leave behind to die."

"And you believe it's worth saving all of them for the sake of the few you know?"

"Yes, I do."

"Well, perhaps your desires will lead to fewer souls in Hell. I suppose I can hope for that."

It was Gabe's turn to give Lucifer a double-take. "You dislike ruling Hell?"

"Of course I do! It's nothing but screaming and burning flesh, all the time. I found at least one capable demon who is helping me devise more creative means of punishment, but it's not my ideal way to pass the time."

Lot went silent, jaw dropping slack.

Lucifer waved him off, "Oh relax. I was once an angel too. The crowd outside isn't wrong about that. If it helps, plus you see my brother right here, dragging me into this mess. I'd prefer it if humans would stop darkening my door completely. You said you're ready to go?"

The man said nothing further during the trip out. Gabe unfurled his wings once the family was out of the house and headed for the edge of town. The crowd saw the angels and started following in the direction the pair began to lead them.

They cut it too close. Fire started raining from the sky, caving in buildings around them as glowing rocks dropped down like so much deadly hail. Instead of continuing to follow the two Celestials to safety, the people began to scatter like chickens, or dashing to their homes for their belongings, trampling each other in their growing panic.

Gabriel sighed heavily and teleported them both to a hill outside the town when it became clear that no one was sticking with them. From up there, they could see smoke reaching up to the sky, first in small streams and spreading out thickly as roofs caught fire. Larger rocks began to fall then, some in a more scattered pattern that stretched all the way to three more towns inside the fiery radius. The lines of fire were visible for miles in the pitch black night.

Off in the distance, they saw three figures escaping the edge of habitation. He didn't see the wife. "What happened?"

Gabriel looked sad. "She must have been hit by a meteor. The fires haven't spread far enough to endanger them directly at this point. Hopefully she died instantly."

They watched as a few more people got clear of the buildings, but it was terribly disorganized and most were spaced out randomly, despairingly watching fire from the heavens consume everything they didn't take with them which was still damn near everything. Before long, ash began to fall around them, reminding him of Hell. He hissed at the sky. "Mother did this? Why?"

"She and Father - I best not speak of it. However, you may be able to ask her yourself when you return to Hell."

"You can't be serious."

"The rumors seemed...likely. This time."

The few, ragged survivors began to meander, finding each other. More than a few heads bowed together against the overly bright fires. The rocks falling from orbit must have contained minerals that burned more brightly than an average fire, hotter and leaping fast from roof to roof, consuming the entire town in minutes.

They kept watch for a long time, silently. When Amenadiel finally came, he didn't offer more than token resistance to being forced back. He wanted to know if it was true, if Mother was there now. He didn't want to know badly enough to go back before he had to, however.

The falling ash from the fire vanished, replaced by the fine flakes of Hell.

It seemed to welcome him back, as it always had.

As the City once had.

Lucifer always made a point to walk back to his chambers, from the definitely not-pearly gates. Not far behind him were a fair number of dearly departed, arriving each moment - a husband and wife together, momentarily relieved, then the panic set it with the realization.

He hated this part. All the parts, really.

It was hard to say if they came from where he just was, or something unrelated. There were enough humans now that the line was fairly consistently always there.

One or two new arrivals watched him stride through the gates, straightening his garb and walking right in like he owned this place. Which he did.

This time he took the long way back.

He knew where every soul in Hell was. He found where his Mother had been housed, probably directly, deposited by one of his brothers or sisters, rudely skipping the usual procedure.

It was just as well. It gave him the choice of visiting Her or not.

He paused. This cell had locks on it. No other door here had them. This was, as they say, a first.

In the wavering heat, he grew cold, his heart nearly stopping.

Was it a trap, set for him?

No. It can't be. They would just stuff him in there with Her, if it were. There was no need for subterfuge, and his Dad wasn't known for being subtle. Gabe couldn't have known that he would have sensed Mother's presence in Hell, immediately or eventually, could he? Was it something he ever complained or bragged to Amenadiel about? His older brother wasn't known to be a gossip, and he was fairly certain none of his family wanted to hear about the things he did on earth unless it was to mock him, even if Amenadiel swore no one did.

He didn't want their pity either. Mockery he could deal with.

Still, there was no good reason to chance opening the door, even for a peek. He would send Mazikeen down to see what She had to say, if anything. Ultimately, it wouldn't really matter if She did.

After all, no one was down here who didn't deserve to be, right?

He figured she was due as it were, between the plagues and other murderings of Dad's beloved creations. Lucifer knew He wouldn't turn a blind eye for Her forever, but he hadn't quite thought through what the result might be. He never thought he'd be standing outside Her door.

Lucifer shook his head, taking his hand from the chains, knocking off ash that had already begun to collect on them, despite the short amount time She'd been here. Time was tricky here though, something he hadn't been truly aware of until visiting earth a few times. Sometimes it was the same and sometimes it went faster or slower than time on earth, but he had yet to figure out why.

He had no idea if it was the same for Heaven.