Ji, 226 b.c.

Lucifer's - and anyone else's for that matter - first real experience with pitted battle and bloodshed was his rebellion. His first blood drawn in anger overwhelmed him. The reaction of his brother in disbelief and his rebellion was over almost before it began. It turned out he didn't have the stomach for it, but the realization came far too late and the damage had been done.

As it turned out, there was no such thing as a bloodless rebellion, though none had died that day.

His second experience with one was during one of his visits to post-neolithic Earth and turned out vastly different.

The first few thousand years did not interest him. At all. Hell seemed better than spending time spying on small tribes of roaming humans, fighting the ravaging cold and inclimate weather as an ice age retreated.

In those early days, few souls arrived in Hell. It seemed hugely disproportionate, so he finally broke down and openly remarked to his oldest brother that Heaven must be misery, swamped with miserable, unwashed, rough humans.

Amenadiel looked at him like he was crazy and informed him that at least for the first ten thousand years of humanity, nearly everyone was simply reincarnated. Not a significant percentage even made it to adulthood, and simply shunting barely functional souls to either location made no sense. It was Azrael who came up with it almost immediately, and it worked nicely.

The humans weren't organized well enough to even have societies, much less much of a system of morality, and at least half the Host was certain they wouldn't even make it out of the wilderness.

Somehow they did.

In the early days, except for Adam and Eve - when they were new and exciting, he ignored them. The Eden fell, he fell, and other thing occupied his time. When they began building and collecting into real cities, he became curious.

He didn't bother hiding his wings, usually. The first trip to Rome was an eye-opener, and he furled them away before he even got inside the city, what with commoners commonly assuming he was a god.

He towered above the general population of the city of Ji, hundreds or thousands of kilometers away from Rome. A child grabbed his folded wing with dirty fingers, and he reflexively jerked them into hiding. He wasn't overly fond of the appendages, but freeing them to the wind outside of Hell at least felt good. It appeared he wouldn't be able to do it this time unless he got outside the city.

People around him gasped but otherwise didn't seem overly alarmed. The child, however, started screaming shrilly until an older human picked it up and scurried away.

This place was not as nice as Rome, but it bore inspection. He couldn't figure out why different civilizations developed at different rates.

His hidden wings itched. A short flight before Amenadiel found him seemed like an

excellent idea.

He spared a moment to look around, note the language was different from a previous time and place he visited. The humans had spread far enough for evolution to work - these had developed features that reminded him of Remiel.

Odd.

The thought disquieted him, reminding him he hadn't seen any of siblings other than Amenadiel in a very long time. Aside from the ones who fell below with him, of course, but they resented his company as much as he resented theirs. When he fell, he was the only one who remained angelic. The rest could no longer be called such. They became some of his first demons, though not even the most powerful of them. Maze came later, after Lilith's own fall.

He found a clear area and took off again, away from the smells and clamor of the unwashed.

Up on a hillside outside the city, he had a clear view that made him pause before launching himself up in the air again.

A serpentine dragon, who reminded him of Maze's paternal side, rested, coiled up in a hollow. She blinked a lazy eye up at him and greeted him in the language of what became that of the Lilim.

Draconic was one of the first creature languages, and it suited the demons.

He responded in kind with a careful smile. Dragons were impulsive and dangerous.

They were otherworldly and capable of harming mortals and immortals alike. He wasn't exactly worried, of course, since a dragon had never killed a Celestial - that he knew of - but it didn't hurt to be wary.

Her long body twisted and curled around her single young child, protectively. She looked a little thin.

Lucifer cocked his head. "How fare you, mother dragon?"

She shook her great head, and he saw how tired her red-gold eyes were. "Not well, King. My mate is gone and I will be overrun soon."

Now that he looked, her scales lacked luster and did not shine in the sun. "By what?"

"See for yourself." She flicked long, broken whiskers up over her narrow shoulders.

Further up the hill, he looked over.

More humans, indistinguishable from the ones in the city, at least to his eyes, rallied around ragged flags and banners and lay limply in the still air. The men on foot had spears and not much else, but they looked determined. They marched raggedly, out of time or formation toward the city at a fast clip, and would run right over the dragon if they continued.

He unfurled his wings and squared himself up for a short flight when Amenadiel appeared and grabbed his arm, "what are you doing back on earth so soon, Luci?"

"Stop calling me that. I need to tell those humans to change direction."

"Why?"

"They're about to run straight into a nesting dragon!"

"It doesn't matter, you aren't allowed to interfere with them."

"She's going to die, Amenadiel."

His older brother looked at him with infuriating pity. He said, "I'm sorry." in a flat tone that was both resigned and resolute.

"You aren't sorry at all." Lucifer pulled away, or tried to. "Let go!"

Amenadiel held him firmly.

"Let me at least-" Do what? The child would die without his mother, that young. They could very well be family of Maze's father.

Amenadiel scoffed. "Those are creatures, Luci, It's time to go."

"Wait." I want to know what my failure means. I want to know why those humans look...hostile. Why their expressions matched those when facing down his own family during the rebellion.

He found out.

The dragon, whose name he didn't even get, died screaming after a short fight. They stabbed her and her child with their spears and she only killed a few of them in return. They paused to collect the little remains left behind, claws and teeth that fell out of her bloody bones and skin.

He wanted to break free, he wanted to slaughter these humans for what they'd done.

He would have if Amenadiel didn't hold him back.

And then it got even worse.

The invading army, if it could be called that, went into the city, killing and overrunning meager defenses until the city of Ji surrendered.

Amenadiel watched impassively as blood ran in the streets. It was far bloodier a battle than his own rebellion. No one had even died then, though wounds were sustained. He'd had no desire to kill any of his family; he just wanted to prove he was right.

Lucifer snarled at the carnage. "Why?"

It wasn't the first time he'd seen dead bodies, but watching them die and kill because of their own selfish desire to take the city seemed...pointless. A waste. He watched souls arrive in Hell in singles and groups but never looked much into the cause of their deaths.

"This isn't the first time this has happened. It won't be the last. Human centers of power don't stay with one lord or another for long. Not unless they work harder to set defenses."

At least half the humans in the city were dead or dying. The victors began to enjoy their spoils - capturing unwilling, crying women and claiming property for themselves.

He broke free this time with a fierce pull. Amenadiel slowed time, flashing in front of him with spread silver wings, blocking him. Lucifer charged him, eager for a fight.

He could do something, what was wrong with that?

Amenadiel sighed, spread his arms, and grasped his body. Instead of wrestling, he just flew Lucifer back to Hell.