"I do not understand."

The woman with the eagle wings, that Chloe hadn't been able to tear her eyes from, turned from the forest's edge to Amenadiel. The crisp light of the morning was doing very little to warm the woman's features.

"I do not sense him, still. Did he return to Hell?"

Chloe's heart plummeted.

Oh, God, please don't even suggest that.

She couldn't handle it. Especially not after a night of little sleep, waiting as the angelic siblings in front of her had flown back and forth scouting the entire damn park.

Amenadiel opened his mouth to speak, but the shorter girl with the dark bob haircut spoke instead.

Azrael, that was her name, right?

"No, Remiel, he isn't in Hell. He's on Earth," Azrael said in a voice that sounded like it belonged to some high school nerd more than an angel of death. The latter being something that Chloe still hadn't wrapped her brain around.

The person in front of me takes the souls of dead people to Heaven.

Shouldn't she have a scythe?

Azrael looked at her with a smirk. "I did that for a while but it bugged people out, so I switched it up. High School Nerd is working for me at the moment - don't judge."

Chloe cringed inwardly. "Oh, crap, I'm sorry, I didn't know you could..."

"Oh, yeah, sis here reads minds," Amenadiel said with a smile. "Probably should have mentioned that."

Azrael grinned. "Anyway, like I said before, I was pulled to him recently when he was drowning, but-"

Chloe's eyes bulged. "WHAT?!"

Amenadiel winced and shook his head slowly at his sister. "I didn't share that with her Ray, that's not... helpful."

"He was DROWNING?!"

"For this very reason, sis," Amenadiel murmured, rubbing his temples.

Chloe looked back and forth between them, her mouth wide with shock, her heart slamming against her ribcage. "What are you talking about?! WHEN?! Is he okay?!"

Azrael nodded. "He didn't totally die, and I haven't felt a tug since, so for now he seems to be okay."

"Oh my God," Chloe moaned, clasping her hands to her head. "I've been sitting in my car while he's been dying?"

The angel of death shook her head quickly. "Oh no, this was early last night. Like probably 6:12pm Pacific time?" She brought a finger up and started gesturing as if she were doing math, then nodded. "Think I did that right. Someone must have helped him."

"Who?!"

Azrael shrugged. "Don't know. I think this means he's near water though - but we've followed every river."

"None of this matters," Remiel said in a cold voice, "because I should be able to feel Lucifer here, and I do not."

She turned her gaze to Chloe. Of all of the angels Chloe had met at this point, which was honestly everyone here plus Lucifer, Remiel was the most... inhuman.

Was that too harsh?

"You waste energy with pointless emoting," Remiel said directly to her.

Nope. Inhuman was absolutely fucking fair.

A snort made her look from Remiel to Azrael, who gave her a wink.

Oh geez. Please stop reading my mind. Please find Lucifer.

"We will," Azrael answered, with a sincere smile.

"Ray, what did you see when you were called to him?" Amenadiel asked.

Azrael squinted and looked skyward. "Um. He was drifting in very wild water. Few more seconds and I would have had him."

Chloe made a small sound, covering her mouth.

Shooting a stern look at his sister, Amenadiel came to Chloe and pulled her into a hug. "He's okay, Chloe. He's going to be okay."

"We have to find him right now. Please," she murmured into his chest.

"Oh! His head was bleeding," Azrael said abruptly. "His side too. Lots of cuts, but, you know, rocks."

"His head?" Chloe mumbled. "Badly?"

Azrael shrugged. "Wasn't deep - a long furrow from a bullet."

"Azrael," Amenadiel snapped, clasping Chloe closer. "This does not help her!"

Chloe's mind was roiling with yet another awful detail of Lucifer's suffering, but something important about the nature of the wound clicked into place.

"Wait, no that's helpful..." Pushing away from Amenadiel gently, she focused on Remiel. "How does her tracking work?"

The angel stared down at her without blinking.

"Tracking is an inadequate word to describe my talent."

Chloe stepped into her space, and stabbed a finger at her chest angrily. "I don't give a shit about using the right word, lady. How does it work?"

Remiel blinked and took a small step back. "Did you hear how she addressed me?"

"Remy." Amenadiel's voice was low.

Her lips set in an irritated line, Remiel stared down at Chloe. "I sense their soul. I sense their essence on this plane. Who they are. I do not spend my time peering at misplaced dirt."

Chloe turned her back on the woman to face Azrael and Amenadiel. "What if... he's not himself?"

Amenadiel frowned. "What do you mean?"

She tapped her temple. "Head wound. Concussion at the very least, but what if its done more than that? What if he doesn't remember who he is? Like, he doesn't know he's Lucifer anymore?"

An aggravated snort came from behind her. "I do not sense people by their memories, human."

Chloe glared back at her. "No, but don't angels 'self-actualize'? Couldn't he change his nature, or the essence of who he was - what you sense - if he believed he was someone else? He hasn't answered any of our prayers - maybe that's because he's not Lucifer anymore?"

Remiel's gaze grew thoughtful. "Who, then?"

That's where Chloe ran out of steam, and she gave a little half-shrug. "I don't know. I mean, he could think he was anyone, or nobody. That wasn't very helpful actually, dammit."

Amenadiel took her arm in a firm grip, and when he spoke, it was directed at Remiel. "Samael."

His sister frowned, but her gaze grew distant and searching. Then her eyes shot wide open. "Yes! Yes, he is here!"

Chloe's heart jumped as Amenadiel grabbed her in a fierce hug. "What, that worked?" she mumbled, finding herself a little squashed.

"You're amazing, Chloe!" he said, and he pulled her up into his arms as his wings unfurled.

"Whoa! Wait, we're flying? You know where he is?" She directed the last at Remiel, who gave her the smallest of smiles and nodded.

"I know a general direction now, and as we get closer I will narrow that to his exact location. Azrael?"

The angel of death gave a small smile, a short nod, and spread her black wings wide.

And a moment later, they were airborne.


I was soooooo excited to see Azrael pop up in this story :) While she appeared in a sort of non-canon episode lumped in at the end of Season 3, and got a lot of flack for being weird, I really enjoyed her character. I liked the idea of this incredibly powerful, sometimes foreboding, almost omniscient celestial looking like a goofy kid, and loved that she was friends with Ella, who is, in her own right, such a lovely character. (btw, I love commas, I eat them for breakfast)

Remiel too, was interesting, and she plays a very key part in something that's about to happen soon. Everything changes rather dramatically at that point.

PS: I would have love to have seen this many of the angelic siblings taking off in flight with Chloe. :)

PPS: Thanks to everyone who's shared their thoughts so far, I love hearing from you!