Chloe pushed down the hall past the people running from the auditorium - kids of all ages, and what had to be their teachers, sobbing, yelling, some still screaming, and every single one wearing expressions of utter devastation.

She couldn't imagine what they'd experienced, and she had no time to dwell - she drove through the stream, stopping only once as her daughter's maths teacher grabbed her by the arm and tried to pull her away.

"N-no, no, no, no," was all he said, his eyes wide and haunted, before she pulled herself free and pressed on.

Light was spilling from around the double doors leading into the auditorium, and the light pulsed with layers of sounds her mind couldn't interpret at all - were they tones, or textures, or dream realities she could reach out and touch?

She froze, trapped in the stuttering of her own mind as the song played, before the light flashed beyond white and bled into an awful crimson.

Then she screamed and grabbed at her ears at the cacophonous outrage that followed... before all sound dropped to the soft tones of a human voice.

Shaking, she reached for the handle, clasped it, and the entire building shook with the cacophony again, the clash of lightning and thunder doubled, tripled, tenfold - as if a thunderstorm the size of a city was taking its rage out on a thimble.

She couldn't do this! What could she possibly use in the battle against a god?! She was going to get squashed like a damn bug!

Another sound came, and even in the alien soundscape she could hear anger and triumph.

Had he hurt Samael again?!

The thought pushed her forward - flinging the door open she ran inside, wishing she had her gun at hand.

Because she could at least shoot something before she was wiped from reality.

Chloe stopped in staggered steps halfway down the aisle, her mind struggling to comprehend the scene in front of her.

Because up on the stage...

"Charlotte?!" she blurted out, before more left her in a mangled rush, "Amena- Charlie?!"

What were they doing here?! And how could Charlotte be here?! She was dead!

The woman was scowling, her hands cupped around something that flickered through her fingers.

The rest of the room finally leeched into Chloe's awareness.

Bodies. Almost every seat held someone boneless and sagging and staring.

"Oh god," she mumbled, holding her hand over her mouth.

More sank in.

Something burning and flickering and impossible near the stage.

Samael standing, untouched, watching her with a soft expression.

Her heart soared, thankful, until she saw what lay prone beyond him.

A boy.

She recognized him.

And forming above the boy, a figure that stole her breath away.

"TRIXIE!" she cried, and she ran forward again, ignoring everything else.

"Husband, I told you to stop," Charlotte said, as Chloe stumbled up the stairs to her daughter's side.

A glance down at the boy's body made her heart lurch.

She'd been right. It was Mark.

Oh no

"Trixie..."

And she stopped then, because it sank in once more, who Trixie really was.

But her daughter looked up at her with eyes bereft.

And it really didn't matter then. Sweeping forward, she engulfed her girl in a hug as her daughter cried.

"I really don't understand why you chose to participate in this charade, honestly," Charlotte continued, her heels clicking across the floor.

"Mom," Amenadiel said, in a low, exasperated tone.

Chloe's eyes widened. Mom?

Chloe turned to face the woman as she neared, still holding something in her hands.

"You're... you're... the Goddess?" she squeaked.

Because Lucifer had told her who Charlotte had been at first, soon after they'd moved in together.

This was insane.

Charlotte ignored her completely, and stared down at Trixie, who was glaring right back.

"Stop wallowing and restore them," she said bluntly.

Trixie's eyes filled with tears again. "I can't. He tore them from me, their scrolls aren't connected anymore, and-"

The Goddess made an irritated sound. "You and your reliance on order, husband. I told you the scrolls were a mistake, but you had to be the complete control freak and scribble every little thing your little lives would do down before you made them!"

Trixie's eyes fell. "But I don't know any other way. I needed to make sure everything was right. It's all so complex, I had to make sure everything would fit and work together, no matter the choices made!"

"And did everything fit and work together?" she snapped. "Was everything right?!"

Trixie pursed her lips awkwardly. "Mostly?"

"War."

"Their choice."

"Disease."

"Unavoidable."

"Natural disasters."

"Most of those were yours."

The Goddess tilted her head with a small smile. "Well, that's true."

She stared down at Trixie. "Ditch the scrolls."

"I can't. Everything's tied to them. Scrap them and I scrap everything."

The Goddess shrugged and looked over her shoulder at the gaping wound in the air.

"I had a fresh start. I can highly recommend it."

Chloe raised her hand slowly.

"Do I have a say?"

The woman who looked like Charlotte, but wasn't, rolled her eyes and looked back at Trixie, ignoring Chloe yet again.

"Fine," she growled under her breath, before shouting to the air, "Azrael, sweetheart! Remiel's soul, body, and her damned scroll, bring them here, please!"

A moment later there was a rush of wings, and the high school nerd was back, holding an odd looking tube, and the hand of the softly translucent form of her sister. Remiel's body lay before them, pale and uncorrupted, save for the large hole in her chest.

"Mom!" Azrael yelled, grabbing the Goddess in a massive hug, before handing over what apparently was the scroll.

Chloe stared at the angel of death.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Because Azrael looked a little... off. Her eyes were completely dark, her skin pale over limbs long and gaunt, her hair a scattered mess.

Azrael smirked. "It's been rough. Little better now. Thanks for keeping Samael here, that was important." She glanced at her brother with a smile that showed a lot of jagged teeth.

Remiel's spirit gave the Goddess a small smile, Trixie an even smaller one, and then looked down at her dead body.

I am lesser, she said with a ghost's sigh.

"Husband, pay attention," the Goddess, dressed as Charlotte, said, jerking the scroll so the entire thing unrolled before them.

Chloe felt weird.

"You're not really supposed to see this stuff, mom," Trixie said softly, holding her hand.

And the Goddess did something to the scroll that Chloe couldn't track with her eyes properly, as she talked about how you could unravel what didn't fit anymore from the scroll until the connection to the soul was reestablished, and then use the substance of what had been unraveled to rewrite what had happened, including a very Lazarus-like resurrection.

Which happened before their eyes, as Remiel's soul snapped back into her now healed body, and jerked up from the ground with a gasp.

Chloe looked over at Samael.

He was watching everything with a calm kind of serenity she could feel in the air.

"Bring Lucifer back now," she whispered, feeling a bloom of hope in her heart.

He'd know who he was again! He'd be her Lucifer again!

Samael lifted his gaze to her. Smiling gently, he shook his head.

Her brow flickered, but she looked back at Charlotte expectantly. "Lucifer, now."

The Goddess fixed her with a gaze on the far side of murderous.

"Please?" Chloe added.

The gaze flicked away to the angel of death. "Lucifer's scroll, Azrael." She turned to study Samael. "I'm not quite sure why you've created this replica, husband. Where is Lucifer's body? His soul? I don't... sense him."

Azrael looked a thousand times more weary than she had before.

Charlotte's eyes grew wide.

"Where is my son?"

Chloe looked between them all, her gut twisting.

If they could do it to Remiel, they had to do it for Lucifer!

"Bring him back!" she cried, and she glared at Samael, suddenly hating the serenity she could feel from him. "No, don't just accept it! You deserve to be whole!"

Samael smiled softly, and a soft glow spread across his skin. "I am."

"What did you do?" Charlotte whispered down at Trixie, her eyes wide.

Trixie's eyes were filled with tears. "He was lost to me, I felt I had no choice. I didn't know I could do what you've just done here."

"Lucifer's scroll is gone, mom," Azrael said finally, in a voice of grinding stone. "But Sammy's here now. He's my brother, and that's all that matters."

"My name is not Sammy."

"He's also reeeeally literal at the moment," she said with a small smirk. "That'll wear off."

The angel of death hugged the Goddess, whose eyes were locked in shock with Samael's now, then stepped back, spreading her ragged wings wide.

"I have the dying to collect," she murmured wearily.

And then she was gone.

"No!" Chloe yelled, grabbing at Charlotte's shoulder. "Fix this like you fixed her! Remiel killed him, did you know that?!"

"Mom," Trixie said quietly, squeezing her hand. "It won't work. There is nothing left of him to fix. I'm so sorry."

The Goddess looked away from Samael with tears in her eyes, glancing at Amenadiel who seemed similarly struck, closing his eyes tight.

She glared coldly at Trixie then.

"I think our celestial divorce is long overdue. I don't trust you with the custody of our children, but they seem happy here and I will let that be." She sighed. "Never bridge our realities again."

"I did that to save Amenadiel," Trixie mumbled.

"Yes, and I am grateful for that, for it also gave me the chance to meet my beautiful grandson." She smiled softly at Charlie, secure in Amenadiel's arms.

Charlie grinned back and burbled something happily indistinct.

"But never do it again," the Goddess said, her eyes snapping back to Trixie. "The decision to visit will be on my terms. Not yours."

Trixie nodded, her gaze shifting to the twinkling light cradled by the First.

"My songs were better."

Charlotte smirked and turned on her heel. "Your songs were louder, Second, let's be honest. Enjoy your toys. Be kind to my kids. Darlings, I will see you in an eon or two."

"Wait," Trixie said, stepping forward. "What about the rest of the scroll - you didn't finish it?"

The Goddess stepped to the mouth of the tear in the world and gave a small smile back.

"Embrace chaos, my dear. Let the souls write their futures themselves."

"Bye, mom," Amenadiel said, bouncing Charlie in his arms.

"Goodbye, my sweet boy. Look after your new brother, and my beautiful Charlie."

As she stepped through into her own universe, the light cupped in her hands began to shimmer and the softest sound filled the air.

A song, the faintest echo of what Chloe had heard before coming in. It still spoke to her in words and visions.

And they were all beautiful.

The Goddess was gone then, and they stood, watching the wound close.

"Remiel," Chloe said flatly, her gaze focused on the empty space that remained. "I am going to hate you for the rest of my life."

"I deserve it," Remiel said, before leaving with the soft sound of beating wings.

A sudden gasp came from her left.

Mark was sitting up, staring around himself. He jerked back at the sight of Samael, who was looking about as angelic as an angel could. Glowing softly and white winged.

Chloe couldn't muster a smile.

But she was glad Mark was okay.

A predictable storm of gasps followed from the audience, as every single body jerked back into life.

And then they all disappeared.

Trixie held out her hand, and picked Mark up off the floor. He looked at her and back at Samael in shock.

"Is that real?" he whispered to her as she held both of his hands.

"I'm glad you're okay," Trixie said, looking up into his eyes in a soft way. "Go home and sleep now. I fixed your house. It's no longer at the bottom of that sinkhole caused by that stupid earthquake."

Mark jerked his gaze back from Samael and looked at her crookedly.

"What?!"

And then he was gone.

"Dad. Trixie? Really?" Amenadiel asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

She smiled at him and walked over to take his hand. "It's complicated. But I'm so proud of you. You have been so brave and so strong through everything. The world is a better place with you here."

Amenadiel's gaze grew soft, dipping to Trixie's small hand, grasped in his own. "Thanks, Dad."

"And Charlie, what an adventure you're about to have," Trixie said with a grin, grasping his even smaller hand.

The little boy smiled mischievously, giving the smallest nod.

"Wait... what adventure?" Amenadiel asked, looking between his child and Trixie, his eyes widening in concern.

Trixie gave him her most sneaky smile. "A good one. Go home to Linda. She's all better now."

"Linda?" Samael said suddenly, drawing everyone's eye.

With Chloe, the gaze came with an ache she didn't think would ever go away.

Samael smiled beautifully.

And the ache lessened somewhat.

Because there was so much joy in him. She'd never seen Lucifer's eyes like that before - open and absolutely unmarred by any kind of pain.

"I have met this Linda, I believe. She is the wisest human on this Earth, is she not?"

Chloe smirked.

Amenadiel grinned his gorgeous smile.

"Yes," they both said in unison back at Samael, before smiling at each other.

"I'll go, then," Amenadiel said softly. "Goodbye brother, I hope we can talk soon. I look forward to getting to know you."

Samael bowed slightly in reply.

"Bye Amenadiel, bye Charlie," Chloe said with a wave.

Another breeze came with the flurry of feathers.

And the stage then held three.

Hi everyone! Thank you for all of the comments! Yay! :D

I'm so glad I didn't lose anyone (or at least, it didn't seem like I did) with the cosmic light show in the last chapter :D I'm really kind of curious what everyone thinks of the Third now. Also, it might seem like a bit of a cheat, un-deading everyone, but once the First showed the Second how to do basic Scroll Revision 101, it was game on.

For everyone except Lucifer...

...until...