Author's notes :
I didn't expect any reviews so thank you Caringheart for yours. I hope you'll like the next two chapters (I haven't published on this story since a while on this website).
For all the other readers, don't be shy, a review is the best reward for a writer.
Happy reading !
ABANDON ALL HOPE, ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE
Chloe stared a long time at Lucifer without saying a word.
She wouldn't know what to say or was simple not able to express a consistent thought right now.
This place was far beyond logic. The human logic, at least. And the detective had still trouble to understand what was surrounding her and what it meant. Once again, she was hit head-on by all these things, all this totally unknown world hidden from the mankind.
Nothing could have prepared her for this experience. Something she would never have thought of living. She never thought she had to live this and understand this world one day.
Visiting Hell… What a visit!
The beginning was really promising and quite pleasant! Filthy dogs trying to eat you in no time, a stifling air with an endless rain of ashes around you… what a beautiful landscape. It was perfect for taking some rest; she could come with Trixie next time!
Chloe inhaled deeply and squeezed her fingers around her gun, slightly shaking. She had to calm down or she would never weather the storm. She truly hoped that the worst was far behind them without believing it one single second. This apocalyptic place still hadn't showed them all it could do, she was unfortunately sure of this. The question was: would they all survive long enough to get Lucifer's wings back?
Would she survive?
She didn't know why but she was pretty sure that a human had far more to fear from Hell than the devil and a well-trained demon. She exhaled as gently as possible to appease her heartbeats in her chest and thus appease her intense emotions that were petrifying every part of her body.
Lucifer was looking at her, a broad smile on his face. A smile trying to hide his sincere concern for her, she could see his anxiety reflect in his dark eyes. Chloe slowly put her gun in her holster while giving him a slight, forced smile. She was hoping reassure him with it and that her partner would understand: she was fine – as fine as she could be given the circumstances – and she would certainly not leg it. Her partner's gaze softened, relieved. Then the rest of his features suddenly tensed, Chloe scrutinizing him with concern too. His legs gave out briefly, Mazikeen holding him still, as much worried as the young woman.
" Lucifer! ", the demon exclaimed worriedly, Lucifer's face noticeably turning very pale.
He smiled softly and briefly closed his eyes, seemingly exhausted. Chloe approached them quickly and helped Mazikeen to hold him up, anxious.
" …'m fine. 'Just need… break. ", he said, panting.
They helped him sit on the floor covered with gray ashes, Lucifer wincing first and then sighing with relief. The detective finally noticed that he was squeezing his right burned arm against his chest. How did this happen? Certainly not during the attack.
Then, how?
She knelt beside him, scrutinizing him openly. He noticed her gaze on him and smiled slightly, looking at her from the corner of the eye:
" Like what you see, Detective? "
She smirked as she checked the deep wounds along his right shoulder, blood slowly running down the folds of his suit.
" Not really. ", she replied gently, touching the wounds with her fingertips, Lucifer's body tensing almost immediately. " I prefer men who are not covered in blood for the first date… "
" You shouldn't have used thoughtlessly your powers, Lucifer. ", the demon told him off, standing up in front of him and hiding her concern with this weak negative comment.
Lucifer tried to apply pressure on his shoulder with his left hand, a long whistling coming out from his tightly closed lips with the pain and he then looked at Mazikeen.
" Well, in that case, I did think that using my powers here might be vital. With the Garms and a human in distress… but maybe it wasn't thatdangerous, you're right! ", he replied, annoyed.
Chloe and Mazikeen exchanged looks while Lucifer was cursing vague insults about demons and flea-ridden dogs. Mazikeen pinched her lips before sighing heavily, crossing her arms on her chest as she was used to when she was upset. Lucifer didn't pay attention to her, keeping shouting nonsenses while still placing his hand against his injured shoulder. She shook her head, sighing again.
" I'm gonna get my blades. ", she told them as she walked towards the dead dogs not far from them. " Stay with him, Decker, I'll be right back. "
Chloe nodded and looked the dark-haired woman walk away in the thick fog. She could understand her concern. More than just understand, she was also sharing this feeling. Seeing Lucifer put his life in danger for her was… hard to accept. She was thankful he did it but if protecting her meant that he always should risk life and limbs…
She couldn't accept this possibility.
She cared about him. She didn't want to lose him.
The detective came closer to him, Lucifer finally stopping to curse everything around him and turning to her. Chloe grasped his collar and began to slide as slowly as she could the rest of the black jacket along her partner's shoulders.
" We must take care of your wounds, Lucifer. ", she said, keeping gently pulling off the jacket.
Lucifer tightly pinched his lips while she kept going, the blood already sticking to his wounds and the fabric together. She looked at him, feeling bad for what she was going to do and then pulled sharply the burned sleeve. The red liquid began to run along his shoulder again, soaking the white fabric of his shirt. Lucifer groaned while glaring at the detective, but remained still and quiet. Chloe finally managed to take off his jacket, placing it on his lap, and checked more carefully the wounds caused by the sharp fangs of the beast. Well, the demon or…the thing. She moved the fabric now red at this level, looking at the extent of the damage which seemed serious at first, but rather negligible in the end.
She then looked at his right arm.
The burns seemed serious, but she couldn't be certain. She was a cop, not a doctor. She tried to stay focus, checking her partner's multiple wounds. Keeping focus on this prevented her from thinking about where she was. About this danger endlessly turning around her. Chloe was feeling an instinctive need to hide and wait for the next threat.
They couldn't be sure that they were safe, could they?
These creatures were probably not the only keepers here, right? What if others come to kill them?
" We're safe, Detective. At least for now. "
She stopped looking at Lucifer's hand and looked him in the eye. His dark eyes always reassured her. They never lie. They would never lie. She smiled at him, reassured, before taking his jacket and tearing it up. Outraged, Lucifer opened his mouth, many insults and outraged vociferations threatening to come out from it shortly. The detective overtook him, anyway.
" Let me guess : this jacket is much more valuable than my house, it's a unique model et cetera, etc. ", she made fun of him. " I had to tend to your wounds, Lucifer. I'm pretty sure there's no hospital nearby, is there? "
He didn't reply, only squinting and keeping going to give her a dirty look. Which didn't impress the young woman. She kept talking to him while tearing several pieces of fabric up from the jacket:
" Imagine it's like being bandaged with really expensive stuff. You usually like expensive stuff, right? That's it: a Band-Aid costing at least five hundred dollars! Happy, now? "
She began to wrap the bands around his wounded shoulder, trying to avoid as much as possible to hurt him more in the process. She saw Lucifer closing his eyes at times when she was touching this area too frankly. He didn't complain, though.
" Happy… That's not really the first word crossing my mind right now. ", her partner replied quietly as she knotted the bandage to held it in place. " And it costs seven hundred dollars, Detective! "
" My bad, then! ", she replied in turn, not feeling bad at all.
Chloe gently took his right arm, Lucifer tensing again without one single sound escaping from his mouth. It was quite unusual to see him so quiet for so long. It would have been funny in another situation but here… She would have needed more inappropriate comments from him to distract herself and that strong fear rumbling inside her for far too long. She began to wrap the pieces of fabric around his arm to the elbow, quiet too.
" Thanks… ", she whispered after a while as she was gently wrapping the fabric around her partner's hand. "… for saving my life. "
Lucifer looked embarrassed with her thanks, beginning to shrug then quickly stopping his move as the pain hit him again, making him wince. The thanks had always embarrassed him. It was like doing good surprised him, like it was something difficult to accept. Accepting that he could be something else than a monster. He looked away, still embarrassed. Their proximity didn't seem to help either.
" I was just keeping my word, Detective. As I told you, there's no better hellish bodyguard than the devil himself here. "
The young woman nodded and tightened the knot around his wrist.
" Yeah, your home couldn't be warmer than that! ", she said mockingly.
She looked at Lucifer's face, his body tensing this time for another reason than the pain he could feel. Not that kind of pain, though. Another one. Much deeper. Deeply buried inside him. Chloe could see it through his eyes and this sudden tension. He looked in front of him, his eyes looking something far away from here. Or right here, maybe. The detective looked at him silently, worried about this sudden change of behavior. After a few seconds of heavy silence, Lucifer swallowed, still looking something she couldn't actually see.
" This is not my home. ", he murmured hoarsely. " This is… punishment. Prison. "
He seemed to think about something, something overwhelming him deeply. He was showing a sincere confusion. Almost innocent. He let out a trembling exclamation and looked at the detective, still confused.
" I'm not sure I ever had a home, Detective… ", he told her in a surprised tone.
She just stared at him silently.
What could she say?
Saying something seemed wrong right now. But… They didn't really have to talk, right? Why expressing with words her sincere compassion for him?
It wasn't pity. Just concern.
She did care about him and was sorry for what he had been through alone. In this place devoid of real heat. Devoid of this comforting flame that we could find easily in an embrace.
Chloe didn't stop looking at him, Lucifer not turning away either. She gently squeezed his right hand in hers, telling through this touch more words than she would have tried to do out loud. It had always been like this between them.
This moment seemed last an eternity and stopped as fast as it began. His discomfort quickly got the better of him, her partner removing as quickly his hand from hers and clearing his throat confusingly. He leaned on his valid arm and stood up somehow, Chloe doing the same. She looked around her and towards the dead Garms that had previously attacked them.
A look that brought back in her mind some questions.
" Why did they attack you? ", Chloe asked blankly, frowning in confusion.
She turned to Lucifer who was dusting the ashes from his clothes and hair with his hand. He stopped his move and lowered his arm, seemingly also confused by her question.
" I beg your pardon? "
" You told me they wanted to eat me… not you. ", the detective explained, thinking out loud. " But-… This Garm had passed me like I didn't even exist. It doesn't make sense, don't you agree? "
" I do. ", said Mazikeen's voice in the mist before them.
She reached them quickly, skillfully turning her silver blades in her hands before putting them in her pockets.
" You were their Master. Wild hellish beasts or not, they weren't meant to attack you like this! ", she said with conviction.
She was right. The facts were right there. These Garms hadn't hesitated to attack the devil. The Lord of Hell. It wasn't supposed to happen. Even Chloe had understood this.
Something was wrong.
Something that could quickly become problematic. Maybe it already was. Lucifer looked at the creatures lying on the floor, their horrible profiles engulfed by the thick, ashy mist around them. Her partner seemed to turn many things over in his head. He lifted his bandaged hand and stared at his ring, then clenching his fist.
" No… It can't be. ", he mumbled, apparently annoyed by something.
" What are you talking about, Lucifer? ", asked Chloe, puzzled.
" Something has changed… ", he said, still looking his ring.
A change he didn't like at all, obviously. He looked quite distraught. Mazikeen sighed noisily, annoyed at not having clear answers to her questions. She stood in front of him, Lucifer having no other choice then to look at her.
" Explanations ! Now, Lucifer! "
He lowered his arm and sighed. He rubbed the back of his skull, frowning.
" There might be one. A bloody problematic one. ", he said. " It's possible – possible, Maze ! – that my last glowing argument with Alastor had disrupted something inside me. "
" Your glowing argument? ", repeated the detective. " What are you talking about? Is this about your angelic powers? Sorry, I don't know how to name this, actually…"
" There's no need to apologize, Detective. ", he reassured her with his usual, charming smile. " I call it my Light that I had before-… "
" …- before your fall in Hell. ", Chloe said. " So, you think that your Light is responsible somehow? "
Light.
She found that word quite appropriate to describe what she had seen in this old factory that night.
Lucifer was the Light.
She still remembered this unique feeling…heartwarming with a single touch.
So, was it Lucifer's true nature? Before his Fall from Heaven?
The Angel of Light.
The Morning Star.
A star… Lucifer Morningstar.
Yes, it sounded right to her.
Mazikeen began to tap her foot, crossing her arms on her chest, which was physically expressing her growing irritation.
" Maybe… ' See those odd grooves? ", he said, showing her his hand. " They appeared right after I woke up in the hospital. "
The two women stepped forward and stared intently at the black stone of the ring scattered with white filaments from the left edge of the stone to its center. Chloe remembered having seen them the night she came in his penthouse, when-…
She blushed slightly as she was thinking about this and she could feel Lucifer's gaze on her, as blazing as the heat running through her entire embarrassed face. It wasn't the time for this kind of thoughts. She frowned, intrigued by a detail. It could be insignificant but-… it seemed that these lines were thicker than the last time she had seen them.
" Something had changed that night. ", her partner kept talking. " A change of balance between my former Light and-… "
" …- and your demonic powers. ", continued the demon, lifting her head to stare at her Master.
He nodded. They both seemed tensed like they ever have been before. And the detective still didn't get why. Why were they looked so serious right now? Why this information was a bad thing? Was it? How, exactly?
" What does that even mean? ", Chloe asked, more and more puzzled.
Mazikeen sighed and walked away from Lucifer without a word, dismayed. She began to pace not far from the both partners who were looking her in silence, too. Then, Lucifer finally answered her:
" I really don't know, Detective. That's what worries me, actually. But it might explain our turbulent arrival here and their odd behavior. "
Chloe shook her head, totally lost. Lucifer tried to explain to her more clearly what had happened – what had maybe happened:
" As I've already told you, Detective, the Garms only attack human beings and-… ", he began.
" …- angels! ", she interrupted him. " You mean they'd have smelled this Light inside you? But-… If they can smell it, then it means th-… "
" It means we'll be in deep shit if we don't get out of here right now ! ", said Mazikeen, turning to them. " We need to move, Lucifer! The more we stay in Hell, greater is the danger! "
" As always, Maze, You're so good to tell me what I already know! ", he teased her, much jollier than before.
Why being in danger seemed always please him?
She wasn't pleased about this and was agreed with Mazikeen. They had to get out of here quickly. The sooner the better, right? Lucifer put his hands inside his pockets, wincing by doing so.
" We need to reach the center, Maze. Your amazing sense of smell can lead us there, huh? ", he said calmly.
" Are you saying that you hid your wings right in the middle of the Portal of the Damned ? ", she exclaimed.
Lucifer lost his sudden joviality, embarrassed. He was obviously hoping to avoid this part of the talk. A sensitive one.
" Well… not exactly. Shall we go? ", he suggested, pretending to move.
Mazikeen grabbed his left arm, placing herself in front of him to prevent him to leave. He rolled his eyes, annoyed, giving her a dirty look. Mazikeen looked him in the eye, Chloe watching them from where she was. Far from the highly probable collateral damage.
" Where did you hide them, Lucifer? ", she asked slowly, very slowly.
He freed himself from her strong grip with a sharp move before muttering the long-awaited answer. Or the dreaded one.
" The Hinnom's Valley. "
Before she could ask any other information about this, Chloe saw Mazikeen punch Lucifer wrathfully in the face. The detective jumped slightly, surprised. A feeling that shared Lucifer. He groaned, placing his hand against his sore red cheek before shooting her a dirty look. The demon glared at him as well. Chloe didn't know if she should say something to calm them down or let them fight together.
" What the hell was that for ?! ", Lucifer exclaimed huffily.
" Well, I'm really not sure. Maybe for your constant fuck-up, your lack of concern… Or was it for our death penalty?! ", she replied bitterly.
" Death penalty ? ", Chloe repeated.
Mazikeen didn't even turn to her, still glaring at her master. She clenched her fists, trembling with rage. Or was it fear?
Mazikeen… afraid?
She gave a desperate look to Lucifer.
" Why? Why there, Lucifer? Do you want to die so quickly or something?! ", almost yelled the demon.
" After their theft, I wanted to be sure they won't fall into the wrong hands, all right?! The Hinnom's Valley seemed pretty discouraging and highly defended for this! I didn't think I had to get those bloody things back some day! ", he explained himself, raising his voice too.
" Exactly… You didn't think. ", she replied bitterly.
Lucifer remained silent. Mazikeen took her silver blades and briefly closed her eyes, the detective watching her with interest. She wanted to ask her something but her partner lifted his hand, telling her to be quiet. She did so, intrigued by the demon's behavior who opened her eyes and turned to her right, deliberately avoiding Lucifer's gaze.
" This way. Let's go! ", she told them coldly before starting to walk, her profile quickly vanishing into this constant fog.
Chloe came closer to Lucifer who sighed loudly. He rubbed the back of his neck.
" So… The Hinnom's Valley, huh? ", said the detective.
He sighed again, more slowly this time, and lowered his arm. He turned to her, smiling.
" Would you mind if we talk about this later, Detective ? It'll become nasty soon enough, so we shouldn't worry about this right now… What about enjoy the trip and the landscape? "
" This is not nasty for you already? ", she said, surprised.
" Of course, not! Everything's fine, so far! ", sincerely replied Lucifer, a broad smile on his lips.
Chloe shook her head. She clearly didn't feel the same about their arrival. And Lucifer's speech didn't reassure her. She looked the greyish landscape devoid of life.
"Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate. ", she recited wearily.
Lucifer, who had started to follow the demon into the mist, stopped and turned to her, surprised.
" This quotation isn't really original but it couldn't have been more appropriate, Detective. I didn't know you've learned Italian literature! ", he told her, delighted.
She shrugged vaguely and took her gun from her holster.
" You're not the only one to have secrets, Lucifer. ", she teased him.
He nodded, looking her intently, which made her blush.
" Good to know… ", he said, pensive, before walking towards the fog, the detective following him.
Chloe had never particularly liked Dante's work for many reasons, one of which was boredom. However, the Dante's quotation seemed quite true to her now. A feeling that would keep growing inside her by spending time in these nightmarish places, according to Lucifer's speech.
Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here…
TBC
" Through the rabbit hole "
Author's notes :
Thanks for reading.
The next chapter will be much longer.
Bye !
