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The Movement of the Stars.
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Chapter Two – Agony.
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The Goddess of Creation gasped; covering her mouth to muffle the sound, and took an involuntary step towards her daughter. Agony didn't even begin to describe what she was experiencing.
Her dear sweet Hesperiel, what kind of monster…
"Mother, why don't we leave Hestia to rest?" Amanadiel gently guided her out to the terrace. Where Lucifer had moved most of his bar and was preparing to get very drunk (or at least try to).
"Hestia?" She looked at her sons helplessly, "Why would anyone do that to her? Hurt her? Take her wings?"
She caught the glance between them. Lucifer added more alcohol to the brightly coloured liquid in a large glass, threw in some white powder and drank it all down in one long swallow.
"What happened?" The Goddess demanded, "What haven't you told me?!"
"I, I," Lucifer wouldn't meet her gaze, stammering, "I cu- I cut off her wings."
Her knees buckled, and the Goddess collapsed into the chair Amenadiel placed under her.
"You-" Her voice almost left her, "How could you?!"
"I had no choice." The glass in Lucifer's hand cracked.
"Did you hate your sister that much?"
"Hate," Lucifer looked at her with quiet, unbelieving horror, "Hate Hestia?"
"You took her wings, Lucifer," Her voice rose, "Surely-"
"Nobody was answering, Mother!" Lucifer slammed the glass down, where it shattered, his eyes as red as hellfire, "I begged, I pleaded for help, for anyone who could do what we could not. I promised to go back to Hell, I even promised to STAY there. AND NOBODY ANSWERED!"
"No." The Goddess looked to her eldest son, who shook his head.
"If she'd been in the Silver City, anyone could have helped," Amenadiel said bitterly, "But here, she needed Raphael or Father."
"He wouldn't just abandon his child like that."
"He has before," Lucifer reminded her, his face going devilish for a second, "None of us deserved it."
"You lead a rebellion."
"I burned, Mother," Lucifer spat, "For millennia, and the only one of my siblings to offer any comfort was Hestia."
"She went to Hell?"Amenadiel frowned, "You saw her? You never said anyth-"
"I didn't see her," The Devil admitted, absently buffing the stone on his ring against the sleeve of his jacket, "But I'd know her touch anywhere. And she's not one to be bothered by a little fire and ash, perfectly happy on any plane of existence, our Hestia."
"Then how did this happen?" The Goddess asked angrily, "And why didn't you let her die? She would've gone back to heaven."
"She didn't want to," Amenadiel sighed, arranging the chairs so he could sit next to his mother, "While Luci was trying to get help, she was begging not to die, to not go back."
"She handed me the blade herself," Lucifer shook himself, trying to rid himself of the memories. The weight of the knife in his hands, the softness if Hestia's feathers, "She said I was the only one she trusted to do it."
The Goddess swallowed a sob, accepting the drink dangled in front of her face and Amenadiel's arm across her shoulders. "What did you do with her, her wings?"
"There are a few feathers in the safe, for emergencies," Lucifer gestured vaguely to somewhere inside the penthouse, "We burnt the rest. I've seen what their kind of divinity can do to mere mortals. It was far too dangerous to leave them lying around."
"And what will Hestia do? When she's better?"
"That, Mother," Lucifer heaved a sigh, "May take longer than you think it will.
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