Falling forever. Never ending. Arms flailing, hands catching nothing but air. Where's the end?
Breath catching, eyes pinned on the fading Silver City. Tears of rage, of betrayal cutting like glass down his face.
Where's the bloody ground?
His wings were useless. They were burning, the brilliant white turning to fire and ash as they trailed after him.
They had all just stood there, watching in silent obedience as his Father shoved him from his home. Amenadiel, his expression grave. Azrael, tears in her eyes as her favorite big brother screamed fury at their Father. Gabriel, his eyes downcast. Uriel, a dark gleam of glee on his face as their Father gave that final shove.
And Mother…
"WHERE IS THE GROUND?!"
His shouts were lost to the passing wind and the Silver City was gone. His home was gone. His brothers and sisters standing still while Father cast him out.
For what? For not wanting to listen to Father? For wanting to mingle with humanity? For not understanding why his Father was the only one who got to create?
He slammed into the hot, hard earth and slid several hundred feet, creating a crater in his wake.
How long he lay there, his breath rasping through his dry and cracked lips, eyes fixed unerringly on the heavens, he did not know. His wings were damaged, but they would heal. His skin was burned and scabbed, but he did not feel it.
Finally, the sun sank and doused the Earth in darkness and he sat up.
Dirt was caked his hair and covered his wings, but he did not care.
Getting to his feet, Lucifer brushed himself clean and looked around.
He hadn't been to this part of Earth yet. It was a barren wasteland and without the scorching heat of the sun, the air turned frigid.
What was he going to do now? He was banished from his home and now he had nowhere to go.
Almost as if his thoughts had been spoken aloud, a whole opened in the ground, a set of stairs descending down into its depths materializing and Lucifer knew he had to go down them. But what was at the bottom was unknown to him.
All the same, he took that first step and did not stop until he reached the bottom.
The air was just as cold, with ashes falling all around him. He was in a labyrinth of coal blocks that speared to the ceiling of this new place. A door sat opposite him and, curious, Lucifer approached it.
Stepping inside, he found himself in a foreign room with lights on the ceiling and chairs and tables scattered all around him. It was silent and empty save one person.
"Amenadiel," Lucifer breathed.
His brother turned to face him, his expression grave as ever.
"Hello, Brother," Amenadiel greeted.
"What is this place?" Lucifer asked, his eyes fixed on his brother. "Why am I here?"
"Father needed you for this task," Amenadiel said.
Lucifer tilted his head, baffled. "What task? I thought I was just supposed to wander the Earth for eternity without a home."
Amenadiel stared back.
"You wanted your own kingdom, Luci," Amenadiel said and he spread his arms wide. "Father has given you one."
Lucifer stumbled back and looked around, stunned and horrified.
"What is this place?" Lucifer demanded, rushing to his brother and grabbing the front of his robes.
There was a smirk on Amenadiel's lips and Lucifer felt fury flare alive inside him.
"This is your home," Amenadiel said simply. "This is Hell."
Lucifer released his brother and collapsed into one of the chairs.
"You will take the worst humanity has to offer," Amenadiel explained, walking slowly around the vast room, "and you will punish them." He stopped and faced Lucifer, who was staring, wide-eyed with horror, at him. "This is Father's will."
Before Lucifer could ask any more questions, Amenadiel spread his wings and was gone.
There was a knock on the door and Lucifer, not really knowing what he was doing, answered it.
A short, dark woman stood before him clad in a solid black robe and maroon cloak. Behind her, dressed the same and all looking expectantly at him, were more men and women. Only they weren't people. Half of their faces were in varying stages of decay, their eyes dark and most definitely not human.
The woman in front stepped forward and Lucifer tried to keep the disgusted look from his face as he took in her ruined face. On one side, she was beautiful, but on the other, half her face was missing, revealing muscles and sinew and bone.
"Who are you?" he asked her.
"I am Mazikeen," the woman answered. "We're your demons. We're here to help you punish those who sin."
"Sin?" Lucifer shook his head. "But humanity has only just begun. There is no sin."
Mazikeen gave him a wicked smile. "Oh, but there is. You created it."
Lucifer stared down at her.
He had created sin? Impossible. That would mean that he would have had to have done something extremely terrible.
Like rebelling, he thought and his eyes found Mazikeen's.
If his father truly wanted him to be the epitome of evil, of everything that terrible and wrong with the universe, then so be it. He would embrace it, enjoy it, punish those who deserved it. After all, this was his own now, his kingdom. He could do whatever he wanted.
Cocking his head to the side, he grinned down at her. "Then who gets to be first?"
In answer, Mazikeen's grin widened and she leaned close to Lucifer, eyeing him hungrily. "Whoever you want."