Chapter Nine: Shocking Revelations and Plans for New Life
There was a long silence between Vaggie and Lucifer. The silver haired Moth Demon seemed shocked.
"What! How can I be pregnant? I'm a Sinner. Demons like me are sterile. Many of us… But why am I telling you this? You already know that." Vaggie said.
"Yes, I do know that. I'm just as surprised as you. As the princess of Hell, Charlotte has great power. But no Demon I've yet seen… Other than Asmodeus has ever been able to impregnate a Sinner. Still, I'd be much obliged at a chance to examine your child once they're born." Lucifer said.
"In fact, I would recommend that you permit me to offer the services of my doctor. As far as I know, no sinner has ever actually given birth before and I think it would be wise to keep a close eye on both you and any potential child that you might be having." Lucifer said.
"I also think it would be wise not to mention the pregnancy just yet. At least until you're a bit further along." Lucifer said. Vaggie knew that he was just trying to help. But she didn't appreciate being told what she should do. She took a deep breath though.
This was his potential granddaughter he was thinking of. She could understand why he was being a bit nitpicky about them.
"Tell me more about Asmodeus." Vaggie said. Lucifer smiled.
"He's the Prince of the Lust Ring. As far as I know, he doesn't tell me about all of his sexual conquests, but as far as I know, he's impregnated no fewer than five hundred Sinners. And as far as I know, none of them have carried to term." Lucifer said, knowing that being straightforward was best right now.
"You see, Asmodeus is capable of catalyzing the organic reaction known as pregnancy, even in a heretofore sterile woman. However, his seed is incapable of preparing the woman for the rigors of pregnancy. And in a being, such as a sinner, that was designed to be sterile, the body simply could not carry the child to term. That said, in such a small sample size, only five hundred participants if you will, it's hard to call that a scientifically adequate sample. So theoretically, you could still carry to term if you were given the proper medical care. I would like to see you beat the odds." Lucifer said.
"I-I don't know if I can keep this secret from Charlie. She's… She's my fiancée. I love her and I know she wants children." Vaggie said.
"She deserves to know." Vaggie said. Lucifer smiled. He was glad that Charlie had such a devoted partner as Vaggie. He could tell that they had incredible chemistry together.
"Well, this is your child. Do you have any ideas on what you want to call them? Or are you going to wait until their birth is a little bit more certain before you get emotionally invested in them?" Lucifer asked.
Vaggie sighed. She didn't know what to do. Charlie had talked about wanting children. Vaggie had always wished she could give Charlie children. She would even have been willing to let Charlie be impregnated by someone else. Vaggie knew she would be sick to her stomach, that she would hate the idea of Charlie being with someone else. But she would have given her permission if Charlie could have the babies she wanted. Now, hopefully that wouldn't matter. Hopefully, Vaggie would be able to bear Charlie's children. She couldn't answer all of Lucifer's questions. But maybe some.
"I don't know if we're going to name them yet. Frankly, I wouldn't do it before they're born. I wouldn't because I don't want to be hurt if I miscarry. But I can't promise that Charlie won't start thinking of names. But I will accept your offer for medical treatment. If you think it will increase my chances of carrying to term, I'll do it." Vaggie said. Lucifer smiled.
"Why don't you and Charlotte come see my doctor to begin the treatments. Now, I really must warn you, there may be some… Unforeseen consequences of this treatment.
"I must confess, I've never used it on a Sinner before. So there is the chance that it won't work the way you're expecting it to. The child may still miscarry, or they'll be born prematurely or any number of other complications. Either way, my first and foremost desire is to give your child the best chance of carrying to term." Lucifer said. Vaggie was a little suspicious of Lucifer. In her life, she had always been taught that Lucifer was the Prince of Lies. That still carried over into her afterlife. Even if she knew that Charlie was good, she wasn't sure that she believed that Lucifer was good.
This could all be a part of some elaborate plot for Lucifer to produce an heir for Charlie, regardless of the consequences for Vaggie. She went with him though.
"Hon? Your father wants us to go with him to his palace for a little while." Vaggie said uncertainly. Charlie nodded and looked to the rest of the guests. She sighed.
"Can you guys look after the Hotel while Vaggie and I are gone? If any new guests come and want to speak to me, please just be gracious and welcoming and tell them I'll be back ASAP." Charlie said.
They'd never heard Charlie use slang like that. But Angel Dust was not about to undermine Charlie's hotel by being unwelcoming. He nodded.
"We'll do our best, Doll." Angel said, smirking at her. Charlie nodded and went with Lucifer, Vaggie, Lupa, Selene, Lorcan and Lilith. The group got into Lucifer's limo and drove up to the mansion. The limo, Lucifer was proud to say, was heavily armored and enchanted. The metal used to make it had been alchemically treated to resist not only damage, but to dispel energy in order to prevent damage.
It was a tank. A luxurious tank, but a tank nonetheless. They drove up to the palace and were greeted by two Hellhounds. They bowed politely and opened the doors to the limo, maintaining their bow and avoiding eye contact as Lucifer, Lilith, Charlie and Vaggie got out. Lorcan, Lupa and Selene joined the two servant Hellhounds and walked in with them, surrounding them in order to keep an eye on any potentially suspicious activity. It was obvious that the two servant Hellhounds were surprised to see Charlie and Vaggie. The two women hadn't been to the palace in years.
"Hi, Skara, Zillah." Charlie said cheerfully. They were Nessian Hellhounds as well. Their primary purpose was as discreet bodyguards. Neither had terribly flashy appearances or shadowy or glowing fur. Zillah had dark grey fur while Skara had light grey fur. They looked fairly normal, except for their eyes. They'd been transmuted in the same process and as a result, they each had one golden eye and one blue eye. They'd been servants at the palace for almost 100 years. And though their families had been given large rewards in exchange for permitting Lucifer to hire them, they missed their homes.
They had learned not to show their homesickness though and to focus on their jobs.
"It's an honor to see you again, Princess." Zillah said softly. Charlie smiled sadly at her. Zillah had been Charlie's personal bodyguard when she went out into Hell in the past and often spoke about her home in the Envy Ring. She'd been a criminal, even by Hell's standards and was known for being able to break into anything. However, she got cocky and tried to break into Lucifer's home. She'd traversed rings and gone to the Pride Ring. She got pretty far into the mansion.
Charlie remembered that one night, there was a red alert and she was locked in her room. The bars on the windows and all the vents shut and she was sealed in good and tight. When she was allowed back out, there was a young woman being dragged away by some of the guards in the manor. Charlie didn't understand at the time what was happening. But Zillah explained that she had never wanted to hurt anyone. She just wanted to steal the Crown Jewels. Partially to prove that she could and partially to melt down the metal and take out the gems and sell them to support her family.
Now, her family was doing well, having been given 100,000 Pecunias in exchange for trading her into Lucifer's service. But she hadn't seen her family in over a century. She was lonely without them. She wondered how her brothers and sisters were doing. How her parents were doing. She agreed to go because she knew her family needed the money. But she wanted to see them again, even just once. She looked at Charlie as they followed Lucifer to the audience room. They bowed and then left the room, standing guard outside.
"Now, Charlotte… Vagatha. Did you have something to say to Charlotte?" Lucifer asked. Vaggie blushed.
"A-apparently I'm pregnant. I haven't even started having morning sickness yet. But your father says that I'm definitely enceinte." Vaggie said. Charlie was silent for a long moment, leaving Vaggie scared that Charlie was upset or angry. But then she squealed excitedly, hugging the Moth Demon tightly, kissing her passionately on the lips.
"That's great! I'm so excited! I've always wanted kids! Let's name them Abaddon if they're a girl and Apollyon if they're a boy!" Charlie exclaimed. Vaggie chuckled. She'd known that Charlie would immediately begin preparing for them to be born, no matter how unlikely it was for the birth to actually happen. Charlie sobered fairly quickly though. She was naïve in some ways, but she knew that the odds of a Sinner getting pregnant, much less carrying to term was almost nil.
"Oh… I-I mean… Did you have any names you were hoping to give them?" Charlie asked.
Vaggie sighed.
"Well… I'll pick their middle names. I haven't decided yet. I think I'll wait to see how the pregnancy goes before I start choosing names." Vaggie smiled, trying to reassure Charlie without getting her hopes up. Vaggie had always been good at being both practical and optimistic. Charlie smiled. She kissed Vaggie lovingly on the lips, looking into her eyes.
"However the pregnancy goes, I still love you. Whether they're born or not. Whatever happens, we're in this together and nothing will ever change how I feel about you, mi Amor." Charlie cooed.
"Your father wants to provide for my medical treatment during my pregnancy. He says that he has some alchemical treatments that he's used in the past. But he says that he's only ever used them on Hellborn Demons, so he's not sure how they'll work on a Sinner like me." Vaggie said, rubbing her arm anxiously, not sure how Charlie would take it. Charlie thought for a moment.
"Vags, you have to make this decision for yourself. It's your body. You're the one who's pregnant. I can't know what will happen. And I don't think you know either.
"But if you want to accept the treatment, I fully support you." Charlie said.
"I do want the treatment. Anything that can give me a better chance to bring the child to term, I'll take." Vaggie said. Charlie nodded, kissing Vaggie again and nodding to her, looking at Lucifer.
"But I have one request in exchange." Charlie said, going into dealmaking mode for a moment.
"Yes?" Lucifer asked curiously. He knew that look. She was being crafty. She was usually so straightforward that he sometimes wondered if she even was his daughter.
But now, he recognized that expression. He'd shown it many times himself.
"I want you to permit Zillah and Skara and any other of your guards who want to to reconnect with their families. I want them to have opportunities to take time off to go see them. Lucifer sighed, sitting with Charlie. He'd explained before why he couldn't do that. Maybe if he explained again, she'd finally understand. It was complicated.
"Nessian Hellhounds are a big investment. Each one requires the investment just to find them in the first place. Then there's the training and testing process, which also requires an investment of time and money. It can take weeks to months of testing before I can be assured of what role they would best serve in my forces. Then, there's the investment of the highly individualized alchemical and magical process that I use to turn them into Nessian Hellhounds.
"Then, there's the training process that takes over three years of training from basic boot camp to general training to specialized training before they're ready to be inducted into my private guard and military force. And then it's not only the investment, but the knowledge that each guard has that could put you, Lilith, Evanthos and me at risk. Secrets that each Nessian Hellhound has. I've enchanted them so that they'll die before they can betray any secrets. But that doesn't stop someone who's able from stealing the secrets. Magic is hardly unheard of in Hell." Lucifer said.
"I appreciate what you're trying to do for them. But I simply can't afford to let them just go off like that." Lucifer said. Charlie sighed. She really did want the guards to be able to see their family. Some had been with the family for longer than Charlie had been alive. But others were fairly new. In fact, Charlie noticed a few that had obviously come in after she left the palace. That had been about 20 years ago. So some were relatively inexperienced. Lucifer sighed. He wanted to make this agreement with Charlie. But he was a man of his word and he couldn't promise that he would do it when he knew he wouldn't.
"You know I can't, sweetie." Lucifer said.
"But I strongly recommend that you allow Vaggie to take this treatment." Lucifer said. Charlie looked meaningfully at him.
"I'm not allowing her to do anything. She makes her own decisions." Charlie said. Vaggie sighed. She understood where Charlie was coming from. But she wasn't going to take any risks with her pregnancy. She nodded to Lucifer. She would take the treatment.
"Good. I'll take you down to the laboratory." Lucifer said, taking Charlie and Vaggie down to the lab, where there was a young man.
"Hello, Charlie, Vaggie. My name is Lexthos." The Salamander Demon said softly, smiling lightly. His smile didn't seem genuine though. He looked tired too. He'd been working for days on his latest project with Lucifer. They were working on a project to enhance certain traits in babies. Part of it was because he could then demand favors from the enhanced progeny and from the parents.
But part of it was also just to see if he could.
"Vagatha is pregnant with Charlotte's baby. We're not entirely sure how that's possible. As you know, the only other Demon who's ever been able to impregnate a sinner was Asmodeus. But if this is what's happening, we're hoping to help Vagatha in any way we can." Lucifer said calmly, going around and drawing up a complex alchemical circle while Lexthos started mixing chemicals and pouring a small amount of blood into each vial, mixing and tapping them with his finger.
The two women watched as the liquids glowed a strange silvery blue color and bubbling before calming down and turning into their normal color. Lucifer smiled and guided Vaggie to the transmutation circle.
"This circle is the transmutation circle. It gathers the energy from all the circles surrounding and intersecting it and imbues it into you and thus into the embryo. This one intersecting it to the East is the Body Circle. It enhances the strength of the Embryo and your reproductive system and. This is the Earth Circle intersecting to the South. It enhances the Demonic powers of your child or children potentially.
"This is the Heaven Circle intersecting to the North. It enhances my side of the child's power. I'm sure you know that I was an Angel at one point. I'm not sure how the Demonic and Angelic powers will interact, which is what I meant when I said that this is highly experimental. This is the Soul Circle to the West. It enhances the baby's internal power source to fuel the potential powers that it will inherit. It will also inherit your own natural source of power. This smaller circle intersecting the Body Circle is the Symbiosis Circle. It's complicated to describe. But it ensures that your body isn't sucked dry by the baby.
"Do you understand so far?" Lucifer asked. Vaggie nodded, noticing a Symbiosis Circle on the Soul Circle as well.
"Does that mean that the baby is feeding off my soul as well?" Vaggie asked. Lucifer tapped his nose.
"Yes. In a sense. It requires spiritual energy in order to sustain the pregnancy in a body that isn't designed to sustain pregnancy. That is part of what enhances your chances of carrying to term." Lucifer said, pointing out the other circle that intersected the Body Circle.
"That one is a second lesser Power Circle. It enhances your body for the purposes of ensuring that your body can withstand this pregnancy. Even with these safeguards, there's every chance that this pregnancy could kill you, leave you truly sterile or cause a number of other unforeseen complications. As a result, I would appreciate if you would come to see me twice a week until you give birth." Lucifer said, giving Charlie a card that would get them onto the estate whenever they needed to.
"In addition, come any time you feel you need to. Day or night." Lucifer said calmly.
Vaggie nodded and stepped into the transmutation circle.
"Now, this is the Caster Circle. I'll stand here and recite the incantations that will affect the changes that I believe are needed. First, drink the elixirs that Lexthos gives you." Lucifer said. Lexthos gave her a series of elixirs, explaining each of them. One was simply a catalyst that would allow the ritual to work to its fullest potential effect. One had Lucifer's blood in it and was designed to draw out all that it could of the Angelic side of the baby.
One had Lilith's blood and was designed to draw out all that could be of the Demonic Side of the Baby. One had Evanthos' blood and was merely a balancer. Evanthos had shown both his father's side and his mother's side in his powers. And while Evanthos' current whereabouts were unknown, he was even more powerful than Charlie and Lucifer knew that Evanthos was even more powerful than him.
One word that had been used by Lexthos to describe Evan was 'Nephalem', though Lucifer demanded that nobody use that word in public for fear of the panic that it might cause if knowledge of such a powerful being became common knowledge. Lucifer had heard that Evanthos was causing a bit of a ruckus in places, playing an active role in Hell's politics by meddling in Overlords' business. Lucifer couldn't do anything about it, and he didn't really care enough to do anything. But in Lucifer's mind it was highly uncouth of Evanthos to behave like that, given his power.
Lucifer watched as Vaggie drank the elixirs and stood in the Transmutation Circle. Lucifer stood in the Caster Circle and began chanting in a language that Vaggie didn't recognize. It was an ancient form of the Abyssal Language. This was the language that was spoken long, long, long ago when Lucifer's Celestial form was first corrupted. A result was that his language was corrupted. He could still speak the Angelic Language, but he also gained the Ancient Abyssal Language, which evolved over time into Modern Abyssal. In the room, Lucifer and Lexthos were the only ones who understood the incantation.
The circles began lighting up. North, South, East and West started lighting up first in that order. Then the attachment circles on East and West started lighting up. Soon, they started closing in on the Transmutation Circle and Vaggie felt a strange burning sensation filling her, radiating from her stomach, causing her to cringe in pain as her stomach lit up and a shadowy form in the center that was the beginnings of the baby was surrounded by the halo of light. The halo radiated out and soon, her entire body was lit up, casting a powerful light across the room, a corona of light circled around her.
As Lucifer finished the incantation, the light filling her body began to die down, and the light retreated from the central circle, going outwards from the intersecting circles, down the line to the Caster Circle. The light surrounding Lucifer began to die down as well as Lucifer closed his mouth, smiling at Vaggie.
"You should be ready. I recommend you rest for a while. I'll take you up to a bedroom where you can sleep. When you wake, you and Charlotte can head back to the hotel." Lucifer said. Vaggie felt strangely revved up though. She wasn't sure she could go to sleep.
Lucifer seemed to notice this, so he handed her a small vial.
"Drink. It will help you rest while the transmutation fully sets in." He said. She drank it and allowed Zillah to take her upstairs to a bed, thanking her as she laid down, yawning and falling to sleep almost immediately.
A/N: The character, Evanthos "Evan" Magne was originally conceived of by KillTheBatman. He and I corresponded on his creation. His portrayal of him may be slightly different than mine, but he was the original creator of the character.