Lucifer made his way towards the exit of the room he was in, and as such, closer to the exit entirely. He'd decided it was best to bide his time. His father couldn't babysit him forever. He was going to have to leave his quarters to attend to Heaven's needs eventually. Of course, there was a possibility that he would send one of Lucifer siblings to keep him prisoner, but it was a risk Lucifer decided to take. Besides, it was entirely possible he could overpower one of his siblings. His father, he couldn't.
In that time, memories continued to form. False memories, Lucifer had to remind himself. They weren't real. They couldn't be. For them to be real, Lucifer would've had to be turned into a child again, which admittedly, the memories supported. But that was just too farfetched. The memories were still sporadic. There was no order to them yet. Certain memories just appeared at times. He did have a clear memory of his father informing him he'd been turned into a child, which only increased his belief that this wasn't true. He supposed it wasn't impossible, but it was very farfetched, even for creatures like him and his family. No, it was far more likely that his father had tricked him, and less disturbing.
Luckily, Lucifer soon learned that it was Azrael sent to babysit him in his father's absence. He could get past her easily enough. She wouldn't even fight him, at least not physically. She might annoy him for a bit, but he'd get his way.
Azrael was waiting by the door to their father's quarters. "I had a feeling you'd try to leave as soon as Dad was out of the way."
"Right. Let's skip the tedious part of you trying to talk me into not leaving. We both know you're not going to force me to stay, so just move," Lucifer said.
"Lucifer, you're not in any shape to be leaving right now. I'm guessing that memories are still hitting you often," Azrael said. It had been a few days since Lucifer had come back and memories began assaulting. If he were a normal person, it probably would've been over by now, but he was a celestial who was contending with a century's worth of memories trying to form little by little. It was going to take a little more time.
"False memories. They are not real. I don't know what Father's game is, but I will not play it. I'm going back to Earth. The detective is probably quite worried by now," Lucifer said before making a move to get past her.
Azrael held her hand to his chest. "I will stop you, big brother. Dad doesn't want you going anywhere until you're a hundred percent, and he's right. You're not ready to leave. You don't understand what has happened."
"I understand that Dad is trying to trick me. Perhaps he thinks giving me new memories will somehow turn me back into his mindless soldier, but he has failed," Lucifer said.
"Come on, Lucifer. You know that doesn't make any sense. If Dad wanted to give you knew memories, why wouldn't he destroy the old ones. Even if you believe Dad would do something so horrible, do you think he'd do it so half assed?" Azrael asked.
Lucifer didn't really have an answer for that. It did occur to him at times that it was a rather stupid thing to do, that it was doomed to fail, but he knew his father had done this. There was no other explanation for it. "I don't know why he's going it, but he is. These memories are not real. Now, I am leaving. I will fight my way past if I have to. You can't stop me."
"Maybe not, but how far do you think you're gonna get if you do get past me? Do you think you'll get past all of our siblings on your way to the gates? Plus, even if you tried to fly, I'm not sure how far you'd get with the state you're in," Azrael said.
"So, you all are conspiring to hold me hostage," Lucifer said irritably.
"No, we're trying to look out for you," Azrael said.
Lucifer laughed in response. "As if any of these bastards give a damn about me!"
"We all do, Lucifer. Things aren't the way they were," Azrael said.
"Well, I suppose not, if you want to believe those bloody memories. I have memories of Michael actually hugging me. If I needed any proof that they were fake, I have it with that. Now, I'm leaving. You can't stop me," Lucifer said before forcing his way past her and out of his father's quarters. He had to admit, the memories did feel real, and a part of him even wished that they had been, but he knew better. The memories of Michael were the most proof of that. Michael had hated him all his life.
Azrael was hot on his trail. "Lucifer, you don't want to do this. Even if you somehow made it back to Earth, you wouldn't like the results. Just come back and rest. Once you remember everything, things will make more sense, and we can explain what doesn't make sense."
"I wouldn't believe anything any of you say. You say what he tells you to, as his perfect soldiers," Lucifer said bitterly. He couldn't trust any of his siblings, not even Azrael. At the end of the day, they would always choose his father over him.
"Dad's not the enemy here. None of us are. We're trying to help you," Azrael said.
Just then, Michael came into view as they walked. He immediately went up to them. "What's going on? Samael, what are you doing?"
"That is not my name! Now get out of my bloody way! I'm leaving," Lucifer said as he went to move past his older brother.
Michael took him by the arms. "No, you can't leave right now. Dad wants you…"
"I don't care what he wants! I'm not staying here!" Lucifer yelled before punching his brother in the face.
Michael was forced to let go of his brother, but he quickly recovered and threw his arms around him from behind, hugging him to his body. "Samael, stop. We're trying to help you."
"That's hilarious! Like you would ever try to help me. Let me go!" Lucifer yelled before trying to break his brother's hold.
"Guys, stop!" Azrael exclaimed.
Lucifer elbowed his brother in the side hard, forcing him to break his hold.
Michael let go and held his side for a second before advancing once more. He grabbed his brother by the arm as he tried to flee once more. "Samael, stop! Even if you did make it back to Earth, you wouldn't like what you found."
"Stop!" a voice called out.
They all turned to see three women standing feet away. Michael recognized Linda Martin standing with Ella Lopez and Beatrix Espinoza.
"Let us help," Linda said as they approached.
Lucifer stared in shock as he looked at Linda and Ella. He didn't know who the third woman was with them, but she did seem familiar. But they couldn't be there. No human could enter Heaven unless they were already dead. They couldn't be. "Linda, Miss Lopez?"
Linda smiled as she approached him. "Hi, Lucifer. It's good to see you again."
"Y…you can't be here! You can't be…" Lucifer trailed off in a shaky voice. At least two people he'd known were dead. It was the only way they could be there.
"It's okay. I made peace with it a long time ago. We all have. In fact, I was ready," Linda said.
"A long time ago," Lucifer repeated. He was getting the feeling that he'd gotten wrong how long he'd been in Heaven. He'd tried to believe he'd been in Heaven no longer than a few weeks, despite the fact that the memories he was receiving suggested otherwise. Believing they were fake helped him with that. But Linda's words suggested he was gone much longer. She didn't look much older than he remembered, but she didn't have to. Passed souls could look the way they chose. In most cases, they appeared in their twenties or thirties.
"I don't think this is a good idea. My father wanted him to remember everything before he was told what happened," Michael said.
Linda smiled at him. "Memories he refuses to believe aren't going to do any good."
"Neither will hearing the truth from people he doesn't trust. No offense," Ella said.
Michael reluctantly nodded after a minute. They had a good point. Even when his brother remembered everything and they told him, there was a good chance he wouldn't believe it because of who he heard it from. Whether they liked it or not, they earned his distrust.
Linda held her hand out. "Come with us. We'll tell you what happened."
Almost numbly, Lucifer took her hand and let her lead him away.