Author's Note: This is just a one shot set between Wings of Darkness and Searching for the Daughter…Kind of a little bonding moment between Lucifer and a teenage Persephone. Helps fill in the gaps of why Persephone started acting out at school. Enjoy.
Song lyrics credit goes to Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac.
Lux was mostly quiet for a Saturday afternoon. A few people here and there milling about. She wasn't really supposed to be in the club when it was open. But if she didn't drink no one bothered her. After all she was the boss's daughter. They let her be. She didn't cause any trouble. Persephone was looking for her father. No real reason. She just hadn't seen him in a few days.
The piano droned on the floor and she saw him hunched over. Smoke rising from the ashtray. The spotlight square on him. A jazzy song played out of the Steinway. A few other patrons were seated watching him. She stood on the bottom step of the stairs and watched him. A slight smile across her face. She loved watching her father play and sing. It reminded her of when she was younger. He would sing with her and her mother. Her mother's voice harmonized with his so beautifully.
Sighing she stepped further into the club and stopped at the bar. She smiled at Maze who was at the other end. The demon returned the smile. Persephone sat at one of the tables. Her eyes watching her father's hands glide over the keys. He never needed sheet music. He just played. Maze set a glass of soda in front of her. "Thanks Maze." Persephone said to her.
"No problem, kiddo." Maze patted Persephone's back.
Persephone turned her dark eyes back to the man at the piano. He didn't look like the face of evil. The one that humanity blamed their darkness on. No, he looked like a man feeling the music from some unnamed source. Persephone had never seen him as evil. He was just her dad. Not the Devil.
She took a sip of the soda and noticed he was gone. One second he had been sitting at the bench playing and the next, he was gone. He was a supernatural being. He could move much faster than the humans. She picked up her glass and stood up. She walked to the center of the club to the now quiet piano. She set her drink down on the piano. Her eyes stared down at the keys. Something compelled her to touch the keys. Her hands gliding over the smooth ivories. Then she was sitting at the bench. Her eyes cast down. Then suddenly her hands were playing. How she didn't know.
The music just flowed out of her. She knew every note. Every rest. Then her lips parted and she sang the song she was playing. "I took my love and I took it down. I climbed a mountain and I turned around. And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills. And the landslide brought me down." It was her mother's favorite song. She used to sing it in the car. In the shower. Wherever. "Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love? Can the child within my heart rise above? Can I sail through the changing ocean tides? Can I handle the seasons of my life?" She kept singing. Kept playing.
"Hey, kid." A male voice growled through her music. "Mr. Morningstar won't appreciate you touching his piano. You need to stop." Hector, the general manager stood beside the piano.
Persephone merely kept singing. She glared at the short balding man. "Bite me." She spat out and kept playing. Her father would not chastise her for playing. She kept singing and watched the man walk away. "Well, I've been afraid of changing. Cause I've built my life around you. But time makes you bolder. Even children get older. And I'm getting older too." She barely noticed him standing before her. His dark eyes cast upon her. She stopped playing and looked at him.
"Don't stop." His accented voice said gently. "Keep going," He smiled.
She resumed playing and finished the song. Adding an extra chorus. Her father beamed down at her. When she finished, he clapped lightly. She smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to- "
"Didn't mean to what?" He chuckled. "Oh, you mean Hector. Don't worry about him. I'll have a talk with him later. I didn't know you played."
Persephone shrugged. "Neither did I. I was watching you and then you disappeared. Something compelled me to walk over and start playing." She explained.
Lucifer took a step towards her. He smiled. "All angels have a natural inclination for music. It's not something we learn. It's something we know." He gestured for her to scoot over on the bench. He sat beside her. "It was one of the few happy memories I have of my family." His voice took on a sad reflection. "Us all playing music together. Even my parents would join in. We would just sing and play." He sighed.
She turned her dark eyes on him. Listening fondly at his story. He rarely spoke about his family. It was a sore subject for him. And most of the time it was only the negative. "Parents? Oh right. I guess I forget you have a mother and father, just like the rest of us."
"Yeah." Lucifer chuckled. He placed his hands on the piano. "Do you know this one?" He began to play a song familiar to Persephone. It was one her mother had written. She knew it well.
"Yeah. I do." She smiled.
"Sing. Sing my angel." Lucifer encouraged her. He bumped her shoulder. A smile across his handsome face.
Taking a deep breath, Persephone began to sing her mother's song. Her voice echoing across Lux. Patrons stopped to watch father and daughter at the piano. She didn't feel nervous. A smile across her face as she sang. Her father kept playing. When the song finished, applause rose across Lux. She felt a blush and leaned against her father's shoulder.
Lucifer chuckled. "Oh, sure now you are nervous." He shook his head. "Darling, you are the daughter of the Devil. You have nothing to fear." He placed his hands on the keys again. "Let's do one more."
Persephone shrugged. "Oh, what the Hell." She laughed.
The Devil rolled his eyes. "You think you are funny, don't you?"
"Hilarious." She laughed.
His began to play "Heart and Soul." He eyed her. "Heard this one before?" He laughed.
"Yes. I think so." She placed her hands and began to play the harmony. She laughed with him. Soon they were harmonizing and laughing together. Persephone sang along. Not fully knowing the lyrics she just made them up. Eliciting more laughs from her father. The patrons in the club merely ignored them. A few seemed annoyed and moved away from the center of the club.
The song was over and father and daughter were laughing hysterically. Lucifer picked up his drink form the top of the piano and took a sip. He kept laughing. "That was fun. We should do that more often."
"I agree." Persephone smiled.
A pair of barely dressed women sauntered over to them. Lucifer looked up at them and smiled. "Hello ladies. Ready, are you?" He asked them.
"Yes." One of them replied. "Ready for whatever you wish." She said with a husky sultry voice.
Lucifer stood up from the piano. "I'm sorry darling. But I have a prior engagement. Please excuse me." He picked up his drink and downed the rest of it. "Now, you can stay down here and play if you wish. But if you come up stairs you may want to avoid the living room." He smirked and glanced at the women.
Persephone sighed sadly. "Okay, Dad." Her heart fell. She was hoping to spend a little more time with him. But once again some floozies took center stage. She was pushed back onto the back burner. She then felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him. His dark eyes looking at her.
"Don't ever let anyone tell you not to play or sing. You sing as loudly as you wish." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Okay?" He squeezed her shoulder and let go. "See you in the morning." He then turned and wrapped her arms around the women. They then headed towards the elevator.
Persephone sadly watched him walk away. Her eyes cast down at the keys of the piano. Her desire to play was suddenly gone. Replaced by the rejection. She felt tears forming in her eyes. Slowly she stood up from the bench and started for the stairs. She needed to get away from Lux for a little bit. She needed fresh air. She started up the stairs.
"Persephone." Maze's voice made her turned around. The demon stood behind her. A look of concern on her face.
"What?" She replied to the demon. Not quite looking her in the eyes.
Maze stepped towards her. "I was enjoying your playing. Why did you stop? Is it because your father took off?" She placed her hand on Persephone's arm.
Persephone shrugged. She didn't want to cry in front of the demon. But she felt the emotions hit her at once. "Yes." Tears fell down her cheeks. "I don't know why. But I suddenly feel the need to go outside."
"I liked it. Your singing. You sound like your mother." Maze smiled. "But go outside. Please come back though. Play some more. The customers liked it."
Nodding Persephone smiled weakly at Maze. "Thank you Maze. I won't be gone long. Ask them what they want to hear." She chuckled. Then she turned and trotted up the stairs and headed outside. She would be back in to play some more after getting some air.