Safe and Sound
Zooey looked longingly at the sea. It reminded her of the first summer she had spent with the captains, Lyria and Vyrn, filling her heart with nostalgia. How much she missed those happy moments, especially at that moment when she was feeling down after everything that had happened the previous night.
But, at least everyone was still alive.
Following their more or less successful escape from Nightmare's base, she and her companions found themselves chased by the villain's demon beasts. During the flight, she and Sandalphon had managed to eliminate several of the monsters, and some others fled when they saw the superior power of the two primal beasts. Yet, many of the beasts continued chasing after the group, compelled to fulfil the order their creator had given to them.
Although her original idea had been to retreat to the Grandcypher, neither she nor Sandalphon wanted to lead these dangerous creatures to the ship they called home. Besides, it was urgent to properly attend to Dedede's wound and check on Phoebe's condition. So, in the end, they had no choice but to go to the closest place where they knew someone who would help them take refuge. And that place was Auguste.
At that time of year, hot because of its proximity to summer but more humid, fog covered the maritime island's nights and mornings until the bright midday sun dispersed it. That was convenient, since it would allow them to hide in it and mislead the beings that were chasing them. Luckily, the demon beasts in that group didn't seem to be very intelligent. Either Nightmare had woken them up too early, or he hadn't even programmed any intelligence into them.
As soon as she landed on one of the island's beaches, and after her "passengers" got off, Zooey returned to her usual form, and both she and Sandalphon hid their auras just in case the monsters could track them down. Sandalphon had protested under his breath at having to do it for the second time in a matter of a few hours, but he had no other choice given the situation they were in.
Dedede seemed to be in pain due to his injury, while Phoebe was totally unconscious. What had Nightmare done to the poor girl? Clearly, it couldn't be anything life-threatening; she could sense that the core of the primal beast of dreams was in perfect condition. Moreover, Morphe, being a manifestation of his sister's power, should have disappeared if that was the case. But Zooey didn't have time to think about it: they had to get out of there and slip away before the demon beasts found them.
"What a protector I am..." she reproached herself, frustrated. She hadn't been able to prevent those two from coming out badly from their encounter with the villain.
Dedede seemed to be having a hard time moving, so Sandalphon let him lean against him. Zooey, for her part, picked up Phoebe and carried her in her arms. Morphe thanked her while he looked at his sister with eyes full of concern. They immediately began to move towards the city, careful not to be followed by any of Nightmare's creations. They needed to find help, and she and Sandalphon knew the right person. But how to find her at that time of night?
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on who you asked), that person was a magnet for all the troubles that happened in Auguste. And, of course, this situation was no exception. They had only been walking a few minutes when she encountered them through the mist.
"Halt! Who is there?"
"You don't know how glad I am to see you, Meg," Zooey greeted when she recognised the voice. "You're just the person we need."
Out of the mist came a girl with magenta hair and very bright red eyes, carrying a lantern with one hand and wielding a huge machete with the other. She was wearing what appeared to be a black water-proof jacket to cover her body from the humid air. A strange and yet adorable-looking little winged shark floated alongside her.
"Zoey? Sandalphon? Morphe?" Meg asked as she recognised them, stunned to see them in such a sorry state. The little shark was looking aggressively at Sandalphon, but it stayed with Meg. "You all look terrible. Why is Phoebe unconscious? And what is that thing that accompanies you?" she asked, worriedly.
"Ah, just what I needed. I've been deranked from king to 'thing'," Dedede complained, annoyed. "Who is this cheeky girl?"
"This is Meg, a fellow crewmate. When she is not travelling with us, she acts as one of the protectors of this island," Sandalphon introduced the girl to Dedede. Then, he turned to Meg and said to her: "This is King Dedede, and he comes from another world." Upon hearing that, Dedede's eyes lit up, as Sandalphon had finally recognised him as a king. "Although if anyone outside the crew asks, we'll say he is a primal beast to make things easier," the angel added.
A look of surprise appeared on Meg's face because of those news. The young woman had already heard stories of the Grandcypher crew's encounters with beings from other worlds, but she did not expect that one day she would have to deal with one of those encounters.
"And about what has happened to us, it's a long story..." Zooey said. "We urgently need a place to spend the night, preferably far from the city. Can you or Mari help us find shelter?"
"Sure. Just follow me, I know the right place" Meg instructed, determined to do whatever she could to help.
The young woman led them across the beach towards a touristic compound of various luxurious-looking huts arranged in a row, with large glass windows looking directly out onto the ocean. On the way there, the goup told her about their encounter with Nightmare.
"I knew that something bad was going on with everyone having nightmares, but I had never expected them to be caused by a being from another world," Meg commented. "Do you guys need any extra help to fight that evil wizard?"
"Actually, I think that the best course of action would be for you to stay here to defend the city from that villain's monsters. The fewer islands that fall under his influence until we get rid of him, the better. After all, it is useless for us all to mobilise against the same enemy if there is only one weapon that can hurt him." Zooey explained.
They hadn't told the whole truth to Meg, even if it made Sandalphon feel like a hypocrite for being the one withholding information now. The angel had convinced the rest of the group that the best thing they could do was not reveal that Nightmare was (or rather had been) an Astral until they could meet with Gran and Djeeta to discuss how they should proceed, in order to prevent panic from spreading.
Besides, Meg had grown up on a peaceful island, where she had led a comfortable life. There, the Astrals and the Great War were nothing more than paragraphs written in history books. Although they knew that she had become a skilled warrior, able to deal with monsters with ease, she had not travelled with them long and had not faced any of the greater dangers they had fought against. So for now, Meg would be left to believe that Nightmare was just another of the many villains the Grandcypher's crew had faced, with nothing special beyond his particular power to cause nightmares and his weak point. They didn't want to involve her unnecessarily in a battle that wasn't hers.
Because, in the end, Zooey's fear had come true: after learning that Nightmare had met Lucilius and Belial, Sandalphon had decided that this was now his battle. And he would keep as many people away from it as possible.
"Mmm, I guess that makes sense." Meg finally conceded after thinking for a bit. "Don't worry, I will protect my beloved Auguste with my life," she swore. "And when this all is over, we are going to have an amazing summer with no zombies, no evil sharks, and no gigant sea creatures!" she added, a statement that puzzled Dedede.
When they reached the resort, Meg took a key from her pack and unlocked the nearest hut. The young woman quickly explained that due to how close these huts were to the sea, their owner had hired her to make sure that no sea monster had made a nest in them before the arrival of the summer season.
"Won't you and Mari get in trouble for this?" Morphe asked Meg as she opened the door.
"I doubt it. This place hasn't even been inaugurated yet, so, as long as you don't break anything, it will be okay. Besides, no one would ever deny shelter to the Supreme Primarch, the one who valiently saved Auguste from the evil mutant sharks," she replied, winking at Sandalphon, who snorted in exasperation. Meg's little shark smacked her in the back with its nose. "Calm down, Ursula. Everyone knows you're a good girl" Meg reassured the strange animal as she caressed it. The shark let out a sound that sounded vaguely like a purr.
"Seriously, you guys have to tell me what the deal is with that shark stuff one of these days," Dedede insisted. "I need to know that story."
As soon as they entered the hut, Zooey placed Phoebe on one of the two beds that were inside. Morphe then lied down next to his sister and took her hand. Ursula noticed that the child seemed a bit sad, so she started to nuzzle against him to try to cheer him up. At the same time, Sandalphon helped Dedede onto the other bed.
Dedede was quite pleased. Despite not being particularly large, the hut was quite natty and had several amenities. Apart from the two beds, there were two sofas, a coffee table and a big wardrobe, all made of wood that was obviously of great quality. In addition, there was an inner door, which would surely lead to a bathroom.
"Now this is worthy of a king," Dedede claimed, lying down on the bed. "How lucky is to have friends who work in the tourism business," he told his companions with a petulant smile. However, that smile was soon cut short by a groan of pain.
"Please, don't start rambling with your kingly nonsense," the angel snapped. "We have to look at the state of that wound, so we need to undress you."
Upon hearing that, Dedede's face turned red.
"No way. I refuse to be naked. What about my dignity? Also, there is a child in front of me!" The king refused, pointing at Morphe.
"Hey! Don't use me as an excuse!" Morphe quickly said as he petted Ursula. "I wasn't going to look anyway."
"Dedede, you have been hit by a very powerful dark magic spell, and if we don't treat that wound correctly, your life may be in danger," Sandalphon reminded him, frustrated.
"Whatever! I'm not going to undress in front of you all!"
"You are a bird. Your body is covered with feathers. You're not going to be naked," Zooey pointed out.
"I know. But it is a matter of status!" the king replied. "If you take my clothes off, what would differentiate me from an animal?"
"The fact that you can speak, maybe?" Morphe said.
"Oh, please. Most animals on Dreamland can do that," Dedede dismissed.
Before the discussion could continue, Meg threw a big swim trunk directly in the monarch's face. She had taken it out of the closet while the rest were arguing. Dedede took the swim trunk off his face roughly and glared at Meg, annoyed because of the gesture of disrespect.
"It was the only way I could think of cutting your absurd agurment down," Meg claimed. "As for the trunk, it's brand new. The owner of this place has a few stored for future sale. I have picked one that is male draph size, so I think it should fit someone of your volume," she informed the king.
"Fine. I'll take my clothes off and use this" the king finally conceded. "But seriously, the wound can't be that bad..."
But it was. Once the king had his clothes removed, the severe damage that Nightmare's spell had caused him was exposed.
Though Sandalphon had managed to stop it from bleeding any further, the wound was still open. It was a vibrant red, but the skin around it had turned a dark poisonous looking purple and had scabs all around it, making it look rather disturbing and disgusting.
Sandalphon swallowed hard. If the king hadn't pushed him away, that dark magic spell fueled by Nightmare's apparent hatred towards him would definitely have destroyed his core. Well, another thing to add to the very short list of things that could truly kill a primal beast. They had to thanks to the God of the Sky Realm that that magical spear had only wounded Dedede superficially. If it had pierced through his body, the damage would have been mortal.
"Okay, I was wrong: it looks very bad," Dedede admitted, looking a bit anxious. "That is going to leave a mark."
"I'm not a doctor, but I can easily see that it is a very terrible injury," Meg commented, dismayed. "I don't know how you are not screaming in pain."
"Well, I've developed a high tolerance to pain after all the messes I have gotten into," he replied, somewhat smugly.
"Tolerance? When Dyrn bites you, you scream as if you were being stabbed," Sandalphon blasted him.
"Well, it is not because it hurts that much, but because I didn't expect it," the king excused himself. Then, he looked once more at the wound and added: " ugg, I have never suffered an injury that looked so disturbing. It even looks like it is cursed or something. "
"That spell probably had some sort of corrosive effect. We'll have to purify it first," Zooey informed him. After saying that, she turned to Meg and asked: "Do you think we could wake up Leviathan somehow? Its power can clean up whatever residual dark magic is causing this."
"There is no need to bother it. I have what we need," Meg said as she took a small vial of water from her pack. "This is water blessed by Leviathan, very rare unless you are Lyria and can summon it at will." Meg explained. "It was a gift from the islanders for helping them to protect the island. I was saving it for an emergency, and, honestly, this seems like an emergency. I also carry bandages, a healing potion, band-aids, and duct tape, among other things."
"Heh, you seem to be very prepared for this kind of situation," Dedede commented, amused. That excessively cautious attitude reminded him of a certain dark blue puffball.
"When sea monsters ruin your life-long dream of spending the best vacation ever on this island for several years in a row, you end up becoming a master at getting ready for the worst," she revealed, with a rueful sigh. "Anyway, should I go to seek a doctor to treat him or are you going to do it yourselves?"
"We'll do it," Sandalphon answered. He didn't want to involve another person in their problems. "Although I'm not very good at healing, if Zooey and I join forces, we'll be able to fully heal him once the wound is purified. Well, let's get down to business."
Just as Zooey had said, Dedede's body was covered with blue feathers, so small and close together that only at a close distance could they be distinguished as such. Cautiously, Zooey pushed the ones around the wound away to clear the area, so Meg could pour the medicinal water in it. Black smoke began to rise from the wound as the water brushed against it. Dedede grunted a bit as he feel an stinging sensation.
"Once the smoke stops coming out of the wound, you should be able to heal it with no problems," Meg said once the bottle was emptied. "Is there anything else I can do? Can I help Phoebe somehow?"
"Nothing can be done for my sister at the moment. Her body and core are fine, but her mind and soul are trapped in the dream world," Morphe replied, a bit saddened, as he stopped petting Ursula. "Nightmare has cast a dream curse on her. He was aiming for the whole group, but she absorbed all of it," the kid revealed.
Morphe let out a sigh before continuing.
"If only I could go into the dream gallery and free her... but without her I can't even enter there. All I can do is stay by her side so she can feel my presence. That way, she won't feel alone," he added while playing with her hair.
"Will she be okay?" Meg asked, concerned about the sleeping primal beast.
"I doubt that Nightmare can do much to her," Zooey assured. "For what I know, Oneiros's power in the dream world is a force to truly fear. I'm pretty sure that is the reason why that villain tried to convince her to join him."
"Your sister is strong, Morphe. We have to believe in her," Sandalphon claimed.
"I do, but still, I can't avoid being worried about her," Morphe replied.
With that said, everybody else understood that at that moment there was not much more they could do for the two kids, except to be patient and take care of the girl's body as Morphe had said.
"Well, if you don't need me anymore, I have to go to explain to Mari and the owner of this place everything that has happened," Meg said suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had followed Morphe's words. "I'll be back as soon as I can, to help you watch out for any creature that guy sends after you. See you all later," she added before waving goodbye. Ursula quickly followed her.
"Thanks for everything, cheeky girl," Dedede said to her with a grateful smile before she left.
Once all the dark magic had been expelled from the wound, Sandalphon, empowered by Zooey, used his healing power again to fully heal it. But as he did so, something caught his eye: a horizontal scar running from one end of Dedede's body to the other, disappearing under the feathers on his belly. Such a strange scar caught his attention as he wondered where it ended.
Both primal beasts finished healing Dedede's wound, covering the area with a bandage so it could cicatrize properly. Sandalphon then decided to check the weird scar that he had noticed before. He brushed a little more of the plumage aside and saw that it marked the king's belly from side to side across his belly. It was as if Dedede had been cut horizontally.
"How did you get that scar?" the angel asked Dedede, without being able to contain his curiosity.
"Oh, is it still there? It's from when Dark Matter possessed me for a second time a few years ago," Dedede answered, a mix of resentment and guilt reflected in his face. "When my body was under their control, they opened an eye on my belly and also turned my stomach into a mouth, with teeth included. Even if it wasn't a real wound, I mean, it didn't make me bleed or anything; things like that leave a mark, and not only on my skin..."
Upon hearing that, a grim of horror appeared on his three companions' faces. What kind of creatures were those Dark Matter to have such an effect on someone's body?
"Come on, why the long faces? I swear that it's not that bad. I've been in worse situations," Dedede tried to calm them down. "See this burn mark? That was made by one of Magolor's magical laser beams from that time he lost himself to the Master Crown and almost conquered the universe. And this other cut was caused by that god of destruction I told you about," the king enumerated as he pointed at different scars that were hidden under his plumage. They were a living testimony of all the battles the penguin had fought along with his friends. "They look cool, right? It's a shame I can't show them off often becuase of my feathers covering them," Dedede presumed after he was done.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault that you have a new scar to 'brag' about," Sandalphon profusely apologized.
"Hey, I don't want to see you blaming yourself for that!" Dedede reproached him. "What happened to you back there was Nightmare's doing. Beings made of negative energy like him or Dark Matter can use your negative emotions to get into your mind and possess you or make you lose control."
Sandalphon stared at Dedede in doubt. He didn't know whether to believe his words: maybe he was just saying all that to make him feel better.
"Believe me: I know it from experience," Dedede insisted, noticing the angel's feelings. "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've seen myself in that situation way too many times," the king revealed, his frustration with himself for being someone so easy to control reflected in those last words. "I did mention that the scar on my belly was caused by my second Dark Matter possession, right? Well, there was a third one. And those beings haven't been the only ones to take over my body or my mind by taking advantage of my negativity. So yeah, I know exactly how you are feeling right now, and believe me: blaming yourself for those kinds of circumstances will only throw you into a spiral of doubt and depression that will make you more susceptible to ending up under the control of beings like Nightmare. It's like a viscous circle."
"I think you mean 'vicious'," Zooey interrupted to correct him, as it sounded way too strange.
"That is besides the point!" Dedede replied to her. "As I was saying, I learned to cope with all of this the hard way. I am lucky to have a rival with a heart too big, a loyal and gentle assistant, subjects who are cinnamon rolls too pure for this world, and a knight who is always honest, or I do not know what would have become of me."
Once again, the warmth with which Dedede had spoken of these people was not lost on his companions. It seemed that the king and his friends had had all sorts of adventures together. Zooey couldn't help but smile as she compared the king's ties to his friends to the ones she shared with Gran, Djeeta, and the others.
However her smile faded as she remembered something the king had just said.
"Hold on. Did you just said that Nightmare is made of negative energy?" she asked.
"Yes. He is made of both negative energy and nightmares, or so it is said," Dedede confirmed.
"So, if what he told Phoebe was true and his original Astral body was destroyed in that explosion, could negative energy be the reason why he took such an unnatural form?" Zooey inquired.
"Mmm, that makes sense, I guess," Dedede agreed. "Finally something that does since that villain opened that portal to this crazy world."
"Well, you are not the best person to call this world 'crazy,'" Sandalphon said. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror, King Dedede? You are blue talking penguin!"
"I have been thinking and, after everything we've been through these last couple of nights, I think you and Zooey can get into the VIP club. Also, 'King Dedede' sounds really weird coming from you, so please don't say it ever again," Dedede replied in a mischievous tone.
"Are you serious?" the angel asked, a bit angry. Dedede's playful laugh was the only answer he needed to understand his intentions. "Stop teasing me!"
"Nope. It's too fun," he refused, between laughs.
"Come on, guys: stop messing around," Zooey interrupted them. "You both should rest. Morphe was so tired that he fell asleep despite all the noise you were making, so I can't imagine how exhausted you two must be after all of this."
"While you are right, I am not looking forward to tonight's sleep," Dedede confessed. "Who knows what Nightmare has in store for tonight's nightmares." Dedede then looked at the boy who slept in the opposite bed, who stirred uncomfortably while he slept. "Poor Morphe: I wonder what he's dreaming of."
Dedede let out an exhausted sigh. He needed to reunite with Kirby and Meta Knight as soon as possible to hand them the shards of the Star Rod that he had. He wasn't going to allow Nightmare to turn that world into a demon beast breeding ground. They had to stop him, no matter what.
After thinking of the villain, Dedede mentally reviewed everything that had happened when they had confronted him a few hours ago. There was something that Nightmare had said to Sandalphon that he couldn't let go, but was it a good idea to ask him? After all, it was what had prompted the angel to fall under Nightmare's influence and be consumed by his own rage.
"Hey Sandalphon, who's Belial?" Dedede finally decided to ask, hoping he wouldn't regret having done so.
Sandalphon's blood ran cold. It was clear that Dedede's question had caught him completely off guard.
"If you don't want to talk about it, it's not necessary," the king tried to calm him down quickly upon noticing the change on his behavior. "But you and Nightmare know that person, and you both seem to hate him. I feel like I need to know about who this person is to have a better grasp of the situation," Dedede explained.
Sandalphon shook his head out of his stupor. It made sense that Dedede would want to know more about that serpent. In fact, the angel himself was also interested in knowing what kind of relationship Belial, Lucilius, Lucifer and, probably, Beelzebub had had with Nightmare. How involved would the former Astral have been in Lucilius's sinister plans?
"Your entire damn species is treacherous by nature! Just like the detestable man who discovered how to create all of you!"
Those words of Nightmare echoed in his head. It seemed that the villain had been betrayed by Lucilius (something that was to be expected). But there can be no betrayal without a previous alliance. So, at some point, Nightmare and Lucilius worked together. But why? Sandalphon doubted that anyone could give him an answer. Lucilius and Belial were trapped in the void between dimensions, Beelzebub's body had been destroyed, he would have to be insane to go back to Dormitia to ask Nightmare about it, and Lucifer... the current Supreme Primarch, could only meet again with his predeccesor when his purpose and his life came to an end.
"Sandalphon? Are you okay?"
Zooey's question brought him back to reality. She and Dedede were looking at him with concern. He had gotten so lost in his musings that he had left Dedede waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry, I was just thinking," Sandalphon said to his companions. He then began to answer Dedede's question. "Belial is someone that, luckily, you will never meet," he said hesitantly. Belial was someone very difficult to describe. "He is one of the original primal beasts and, just like his creator, he yearns for the destruction of this world. He is a manipulator, a liar, a pervert, and a degenerate."
"So the guy is full of virtues," Dedede remarked with sarcasm. "And what could he have to do with Nightmare?"
"That was what I was thinking before, and my conlusion is that Nightmare must have worked with Lucilius at some point in the past,2 he shared his deduction with his companions.
"Oh yeah, you mentioned that Cilius guy" Dedede remembered. "I have the feeling that he is quite a bad apple too."
"Those two are actually the rot that corrups the whole tree," Sandalphon specified. "Lucilius is the Astral who discovered how to create the primal beasts during his studies on evolution. Belial and Lucifer were his first creations."
"Because the Astrals feared that Lucifer would gain too much control over the Sky Realm, the Council created Cosmos, the primal beast from which I came from, behind Lucilius's back to balance the scales," Zooey exposed.
"So let me get this straight. This Lucilius guy basically created your whole species because he wanted to study something as basic as evolution, am I right?" Dedede asked after assimilating that information dump, confounded.
"The concept of evolution is alien to Astrals, as they can't evolve as species," Zooey clarified. "Well, not by natural means, at least. Lucilius, another Astral named Beelzebub, and even Nightmare himself appear to have managed to transcend their biological limits, though with different results in each case."
"But why go to such an extent? Couldn't this Lucilius guy just study how some species of animals have evolved or something like that instead of creating super-powerful beings to do so?" Dedede insisted.
For a few seconds, Sandalphon pondered Dedede's question. He doubted the king would understand the complexity behind Lucilius' actions. He didn't even understand them himself. The only one who ever understood Lucilius' true intentions was probably Belial.
"To be honest, I still don't comprehed his reasoning," the angel finally answered. "The important thing is that, in the end, the conclusions he got from his research were that he had to destroy the world to undo the gods' design. To put it simply, as Cagliostro once said, 'he wanted to flip God the bird.'"
"Are you telling me that this guy wanted to destroy the world just because he doesn't like whatever gods exist around here?" Dedede guessed.
"I think that it is a bit more complicated than that, but basically yes."
"Heh, and I thought that Hyness was insane before Kirby purified his heart," Dedede commented.
"Well, if we are done talking about those two, I'll go outside to watch out for monsters," Sandalphon said. "I think it's my turn to do so."
"I insist that with everything that has happened today, you are the one who should rest. I don't mind taking care of it again," Zooey offered.
"Zooey, it's okay to worry about us, but you should also take care of yourself. You were the one watching out last night, and today you used your true form to get us out of Nightmare's lab safely, so you must be exhausted too," the angel replied to his companion. "Also, I need to get some fresh air. I feel kinda overwhelmed when I hide my aura, and standing here doing nothing but chatting about the past doesn't help."
The arbitrator and the angel exchanged an intense look. Zooey then realised that it was a lost battle and had to give in.
"Fine. But we don't know if any of the creations of Nightmare have followed us, so be careful, okay?" she asked him.
"I am the Supreme Primarch. I would be ashamed to be defeated by a cheap copy of the primal beasts," Sandalphon replied, thinking disdainfully of the demonic beasts, before waving goodbye and leaving the hut.
The darkness of the night, the sea breeze and the humid air greeted Sandalphon as soon as he set foot on the beach. Visibility was almost nil without a lantern to light the way, the lights from the area of the vacation huts being the only thing he had to guide him, but still the angel entered the mist and walked towards the sea. When he reached the shore, he closed his and eyes amd took a deep breath. He then let the smell of salt water and the sound of the waves wash over him to calm himself.
When he left the Grandcypher with Zooey, he couldn't even imagine that all of that would end up happening. He found himself wondering once more about their current enemy. If Nightmare had worked with Lucilius when he had been an Astral, did that mean that he had been to Canaan? It was very likely, but he had no way of knowing. Lucifer had always kept him well away from the laboratories, his habitation in that place having been limited to the gardens. But what about the other angels? Had any of them met him? What had been the former Astral's role in Lucilius' plans? Maybe he had just been one of the many Astral researchers that had worked for Lucilius unaware of his intentions, but he also did say that he was there when Lucifer and Belial opened their eyes and seemed quite familiar with those two.
"Nightmare, who were you?" he asked aloud, even though he knew no one could answer him at the moment. If only Lucifer was there...
It was then that he noticed a presence behind him. The angel opened his eyes, startled, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew that presence all too well. But it couldn't be real. It was impossible: that person was dead. He himself had held his head in his arms and received his last message and will. He himself had said goodbye to him when death had almost claimed him, and that person had promised him that he would be waiting for him.
And yet, his senses told him the opposite: that person was there and he was real.
Unable to describe what his heart felt at that moment (Bliss? Doubt? Hope? Uncertainty?), the current Supreme Primarch turned to look at him. There he was: a ghost that had come back from the dead. His body shone with its own light, with his white hair shining like moonbeams and his sky blue eyes looking at him tenderly. If it wasn't for his senses keeping him fully aware of everything around him, he would have thought that he was dreaming or even dead.
Because, as if his wishes had been answered, the one standing in front of him was Lucifer.
Even if this story is an AU at its base due to the Gran and Djeeta coexisting thing, I like to keep things in my fics as canon-compliant as I can. I once completely rewrote one of my Team Fortress 2 fics to update it to the game's current canon! Please, take this into consideration when thinking about why Lucifer is suddenly there.