The shadowy figure loomed in the dark corner, watching the room with a serious eye. It looked no different, and yet, it lacked that usual spark that made it fill with the warmth of the Morning Star. The Light Bringer had gone home, willingly, by choice. It had been foretold many millennia ago, and yet, it still came as a surprise. Not so much his return, that was to be expected, but the reason behind it.
Stepping out from the shadows, long billowing robes behind her, she tucked the trail of her long veil into her breast plate. No angelic robe was complete without it. Her eyes scanned the area, the softness lost under all the darkness. Walking along the bar, trailing her hand across the wooden surface allowed the images to flash before her. She could see it all, every interaction, every detail. The details of the lives and futures of all who had touched it. All but one. It was always tricky, not an exact art. Every decision caused branches, they never arrived at their destination the same way, but they always got there eventually. It was the journey that was important more than the destination. He may have created the ending, but the path was still open to interpretation.
That was part of the problem, the not knowing. She'd seen the fall, she'd foretold the rebellion. She had been burdened with the knowledge of Amenadiel's disgrace and Uriel's tragedy. She'd seen the fiery pits of hell and her mother's loss. The prophecy had been hers, she'd seen that too. All paths converged until she no longer knew where the world of the humans and the angels parted. They became so jumbled that it was hard to see the true path. Hell, Earth, Heaven, all of divinity would bow to her whim should she so wish it and yet, she could see all that was His plan. Decisions that were cast aside and exemptions made. Deals that were broken caused her physical pain and yet she still sat, stoic in her resolve not to interfere. She never left her domain, finding the world of mortals to be more pain than she could bear. The tiny lifespans of man next to the infinite lives of a celestial being, there was no contest.
Yet Amenadiel proceeded to make a child. A Nephilim, the first ever to exist. She saw the great tragedy that would befall them in the future, the pain and suffering to everyone. Yet she could not bring herself to reveal such. To break their hearts now would only make the inevitable worse later. So why was she here now? Walking the Earth like so many of her brothers and sisters had done before her, yet she'd detested so openly. One by one, they'd become trapped in their own guilt and shame. Amenadiel had fallen because of his own self-doubt. Lucifer had destroyed his own family and She had been tossed aside into Her own dimension, never to see Her children again. And it wasn't fair.
Making decisions had never been Lucifer's strong point, that much had been true from the start. Even from before his birth, she had foreseen all he would do. His path had been paved even before the birth of the first. Before the creation of humanity. There had been no escape. Free Will didn't exist.
Or so she had thought.
Things were different now. She didn't know why, but they were. There was something in the air, something brewing, but she couldn't see it. Her instincts were failing her, and she needed to find the answer. The answer, as it appeared, lay in one place only. The Place where all instincts fail.
The elevator doors slid open and the figure smirked. Right on time. Stepping back into the shadows behind the bar as the visitor moved fully into the room, the figure wrapped herself in the darkness, watching, waiting. She had to know. She had to see the path.
Chloe looked around the penthouse again. She'd been coming here every night after work, expecting to find Lucifer back at him piano, knocking back bottles of whiskey, even, she allowed, finding a hooker half naked in his bed. Anything but the empty loneliness she now found. It was tearing her apart from the inside, knowing he'd left for her, to protect her. Going through literal hell, as he always did, to make sure she was safe. She'd never gotten it before, didn't understand the depths of pain he suffered just to keep her alive and yet there were so many times she hadn't thanked him for it. She'd fought him at every opportunity and not even thought about what that might have meant to him.
Walking over to his piano, she trailed her finger along the keys. A six-month layer of dust stuck to her finger and she stared down at it. The realisation, the dawn truth had hit her long before she'd gone to him in that moment, but he was the Devil, the actual Devil and coming to terms with that had forced her to hold herself back from him, to keep herself safe. Not physically, because she knew somehow on an intimate level that he would never hurt her, but emotionally? That was different. Even if he wasn't what the bible stories and myths said about him, he was still Lucifer, fallen angel of the Almighty, cast unto Hell for rebellion. Punishing those who deserved it and forcing his will over others. Even if she was immune to his many charms and could now understand him better, seeing his truth like that, it had shocked her to her very core, caused her to question everything she'd ever thought or felt. Everything he'd ever done, everything he'd ever said to her had raced through her mind as she analysed it for clues about his true identity, looking for the sure lie. And yet, somehow, she'd always believed him. Seeing his face had only been the push she needed to accept the truth.
And then she'd run away.
Run to the one man in the world who believed her, made her see. Made her think that she was doing the right thing by betraying the one man in her life, the one person, who'd never lied to her. Oh, she'd tried so hard to deny her part in it, told him she was scared, and she was, of course she was, but was she scared of him, or of the fact that she'd always known the truth but gone along with it anyway, to solve the case?
The way he interacted with suspects, thrown that agent out the window, been shot numerous times only to show up at work the next day without a scratch, of course she knew. How could she not? She'd been kidding herself to say she hadn't always suspected he was telling her the whole truth even if it was so incredibly unbelievable. The one time she'd almost had an explanation, a not so divine one, when Amenadiel tried to throw her off the scent with his talk of makeup, blood bags and bullet proof vests, she'd known it had all been a lie and yet had thrown out the only evidence she'd had to disprove it all. Preferring to keep the lie rather than face the truth. She thought she knew better. She couldn't have been more wrong.
She loved him. She had for a long time. He'd tried to throw her off course, suggest to the both of them that they weren't right for each other. Candy, Pierce, Dan, even his numerous flirtations were all thrown in her face as a way to help her see just how bad of an idea the two of them together was. It had worked in the moment, but in the end, just like every other time, they'd been drawn to each other like magnets, unable to stop the pull that had them constantly racing towards each other.
A soft warmth filled her, and Chloe staggered back from the piano, looking desperately around the room to see him, anything that might suggest Lucifer was back from hell. But there was nothing. The penthouse was dark and quiet, as it always was when she was here. Amenadiel had promised her that Lucifer was fine, that he was as safe as he could be in Hell, but she didn't care. The thought of him in that place, the place he'd spent most of his time on Earth trying to avoid, was painful. The knowledge of why he was there, that because he loved her he was sacrificing his life for her, it was a cruel fate she wouldn't wish on anyone. To her, he was effectively dead.
She'd tried to explain to Ella and Dan. It didn't really work. Her overwhelming sense of loss was hard to hide and simply telling them that Lucifer had left hadn't really gone over well. Ella didn't believe that Lucifer would leave after everything that happened and of course, Dan, who would believe any ill from Lucifer had tried to vow to hunt him down if he ever tried to return. It hadn't felt right to besmirch his reputation like that, not when he was only doing what he believed had to be done. In the end, Chloe had let them in on a close truth, that family problems were causing horrible sacrifices to be made on all sides and that he'd had to deal with some responsibilities he had from his father, meaning he'd had to leave suddenly in a critical point. Of course, she'd made it very clear that they weren't to say anything to anyone about any of it and that he had explained everything to her before he'd left.
Linda helped where she could, she let Chloe cry into her shoulder for the first couple of days. There wasn't much she could say or do however, because she was far too busy with her own life and as she had pointed out, this separation may not even be forever. Amenadiel and Maze were already working on ways to get Lucifer back, and Maze had Amenadiel fly her back to hell a couple of months ago in order to protect him. Chloe was grateful of course, but it made the amount of people she could talk to about the real truth, a very small group indeed.
Unsurprisingly, she supposed, her best source of comfort was Trixie, who could never believe any bad mouthing about him. Though she was only a child, she was far more open to all the divinity around her than she had ever been before. Curiously, not long after everything had happened, Trixie had taken to leading her mother to churches, and praying with her. Of course, Chloe had no way of knowing if any of it got down to Hell, she supposed it was crazy to think so, since most people didn't pray down, but these days she was willing to believe anything. It had been Trixie's idea to visit the penthouse most nights, she'd believed that if Lucifer were going to come back from wherever he was, the penthouse would be the first place he would go, and Chloe supposed that was true, unless he didn't want to be found.
That same feeling of warmth and light washed over her, and Chloe frowned looking around the room again for the source of it. The room was as empty as it always was, and she sighed, leaning against the piano heavily. It was her mind playing tricks on her, trying to make her believe it was Lucifer's presence she was feeling. It must have been a lot longer than she thought since she'd thought about the feel of him though, because the presence felt different, softer, harsher.
A suddenly shadowy moment in the corner of the room behind the bar made her pause and she instinctively went for her gun, hissing slightly when she remembered she'd left it in her car because she'd never thought she'd need it here. "Who are you and why are you here?" She asked, moving closer to the bar to try and see who it might be.
The slight whooshing sound was horrifyingly familiar, and Chloe took a tentative step back as a small, figure, face covered in a long white veil, stepped out into the low light. "Chloe Decker."
The voice was dreamy, like something out of a cheesy movie, yet it held a strong resonance, a feeling that each word said was of vital importance. "Who are you?" She had to ask. She had a feeling this was someone divine, though she did not know who. Were they on Lucifer's side or were they here to stop whatever was happening between her and Lucifer, was this someone she should embrace, or fear?
"Chloe Decker, the time is near."
Chloe frowned. She didn't know who this was, it was a strange feeling and the way they spoke was creepy almost, but there was something in the words, the way they made her feel. "You're not answering my question."
"Your question is irrelevant, it means little. Chloe Decker, you must prepare."
Chloe was frustrated. It was true that Lucifer's siblings… okay she'd only ever met Amenadiel, but Lucifer suggested that most of his siblings were as stubbornly frustrating as he was, which seemed to be being confirmed right in front of her. "I must prepare for what?"
"The truth is not yet to hand, but the journey will be hard. The endgame is the goal of the universe, for the unification of all life."
Chloe shook her head, stepping closer now that the being, angel, whatever it was, hadn't yet tried to attack her or whatever. "I don't understand."
"You are not supposed to. The divine cannot be seen by mortal eyes, only belief will show you the way."
"The way to what?" She asked again, her eyes scanning all she could of the figure, maybe trying to place her in the ridiculous menagerie of angel lore she now carried. Not that even a quarter of it was real. "What are you trying to tell me?"
The figure pulled her veil aside to reveal a pale face, bright blue eyes clouded over with white. She looked young, no more than about fourteen, though Chloe was aware that she was probably millions of years old, or however long Angels were around for. Even so, the appearance was very off-putting as she was used to adults and not Divine children. "Chloe Decker, your life is twined with the Divine. He has shown me many paths and many ends, but I cannot see the path you will take. Your journey has yet to be written."
Chloe blinked at this. She didn't know what she was supposed to say, but whatever was happening right now, was obviously something to do with Lucifer, it was the only twined with the Divine that she could think of. Did that mean Lucifer was returning, or something else? Something… evil? "How do you know this?" She asked, Amenadiel had made it clear that angels never knew God's plan, yet this one seemed to be suggesting that she did. "Who are you?"
The Angel tilted her head slightly, her eyes clouding over again, and her face turned slack.
"It was ordained each footfall pressed into its place
Every word spoken to its rhythm
We dance, and he sees us dancing
If you wish to know, just ask
Eistibus will tell you."
It was a recital, something she seemed compelled to say. The light returned to her eyes once more as Chloe mulled over the words. They made absolutely no sense to her, but, she supposed that was the point. "Your name is Eistibus?"
The Angel nodded. "My creation came to be many, many millennia ago, I live to see all paths, all choice, all ways to the end. He may create His Divinity and cause His ending His way, but the path still layered with choice is my dominion."
Chloe searched her face, curiosity alighting in her. This one seemed different to both Amenadiel and Lucifer, but she couldn't put her finger on why. "You don't call him Dad?" She realised, frowning at her.
"I bear the burden of all knowledge, the paths that lead to them and what will inevitably be. I see the births and deaths of every creature, celestial or no. All things die, Chloe Decker."
Chloe wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know anyway. "Why did you come here?" She asked, her detective senses tingling. There was something going on here, she wanted to know what.
"The Light Bringer burns with passion and guilt, his path is already foretold, his life is yours now, Chloe Decker, only you can restore what he once lost."
"The Light Bringer, you mean Lucifer?" She asked, thinking hard about what he'd ever said to her, the things she'd read in the bible. "Is he hurt?"
Eistibus considered for a moment, though there was no physical change in her stance. "The Fury of God will rage; the Light Bringer must make his own path."
This was all getting needlessly complicated. "Where is Lucifer?"
"The Light Bringer remains in the darkness, tethered to his own assumptions of the end. His path is not clear, but the Miracle will show him the way."
Frustration reaching a boiling point, Chloe glared at the Angel spurting nothing but riddles and rhymes. "Tell me about the Light Bringer." Maybe speaking her language would help?
"The Light Bringer sees but he does not know. His belief wanes when he wishes to make a choice." She said. "The Light Bringer cannot make the choice, it is not for him to decide. The miracle is his salvation."
"Are you saying I… I need to save Lucifer?"
Eistibus blinked. "The Denizens of Darkness will claim them; the path has been set. You must make your choice, Chloe Decker, there is little time left."
"Little time for what!?" Chloe called, too late. The Angel had already wrapped her veil back around her face and spread her deep blue wings. It was a strange and compelling thing to see as she suddenly disappeared. But now Chloe was left with even more questions than she had answers. Just what was the Angel talking about? Who were the Denizens of Darkness, what was the Fury of God and what choice was she supposed to make? Just what was she supposed to save Lucifer from?