Disclaimer: I don't own Lucifer in any way, shape or form, this work is entirely fictional, any resemblances to real people and/or situations are no more than a coincidence. Also, English isn't my first language, and I don't have a beta, so I apologize for any mistakes you may encounter while reading.

Part 2 - Born among the dead.

"For all of the light that I shut out

For all of the innocent things that I doubt

For all of the bruises I've caused and the tears

For all of the things that I've done all these years

For all of the sparks that I stomped out

For all of the perfect things that I doubt"

Lying on her bed with bright brown eyes fixed on the star-shaped stickers illuminating the ceiling of her room, she was unable to sleep after receiving the, pretty shocking, information that the piano man in her dream was actually the Devil himself. After all, how the hell do you react to that kind of news?

Was he going to take her soul?

Elaine felt conflicted, a part of her was thinking about all those stories that people tell about the Devil, about how he hates humanity, how he is the father of lies and, basically, the reason for everything bad that happens in the world. However, another part of her was thinking about the talk she had earlier with Reverend Chris. And well ... Her parents have always taught her that she shouldn't judge people without getting to know them, and maybe the Devil in her dream isn't even as bad as people say he is. Maybe he's just like her. Some of the kids who don't like Elaine sometimes will tell lies about her so that other kids don't try to befriend her, so who was she really to judge the piano man?

Decision made, during the next nights when she was in that same room Elaine hid among shelves, statues and other decorative objects while watching the man her grannies said was the devil, and in these observations of hers, the girl discovered some things about the piano man: he seems to have a preference for three-piece suits, but an almost total disregard when it comes to ties; he drinks a lot, maybe he has a drinking problem just like Mona's dad, Elaine remembers when Mona told her that her parents were going to get divorced and that she was going to live only with her mum because Mona's dad drank much; he hardly repeats the songs he plays (at least not when she is hiding in the room watching him), however, every now and then he will play a song that makes her feel a little sad, as if she could start crying at any given moment, and in those moments she knows that the music reflects his feelings and that makes Elaine want to leave where she is hiding and hug him. After visiting that same room for the third time, Elaine's fascination with the piano man's wings has already diminished, she still thinks his wings are the most beautiful thing she has ever seen in her life and she still wonders if they are as soft as they look, but now she no longer feels the urge to touch them.

...

Elaine was sitting in the garden. She didn't have any chores to do, her parents considered her too young to have any other responsibility besides tidying up the toys when she finished using them. Not that she has anyone to play with since they moved. Her only constant companions were her grannies. And most of the time they spent teaching things that no one else would think was important, Grandma Dickman believed that Elaine was old enough to learn to behave like a young lady, and since then has been bothering her with things like sitting up straight and pronouncing the words correctly (she even policed herself to stop lisping because of how much Grandma Dickman would bug her about it). Grandma Shaw was a more modern woman than the other two, well... Modern for the time she was alive at least, so she tried to teach Elaine the importance of speaking her mind, the ghost seemed constantly in awe about how far women have come since she was alive (they could work, vote and wear pants! A true marvel!). But none of these classes was as fun and interesting as the times when Grandma Furness tried to teach her witchcraft.

"Tha's righ', lass.", Grandma Furness spoke as Elaine tried with all her strength to make some dry leaves levitate, managing to only raise them a few millimetres from where they were lying on the ground, after a few more minutes of trying Elaine gave up feeling the tell-tale smell of copper and salt and wiping the blood that dripped from her nose on the sleeve of her sweater, "Do ye understan' now why we need spells, jujus and som'times even witches' bags?", the woman asked.

Elaine had even learned to ignore how strange it was to see ghosts during the day, at least those who are like her grandmothers and take on those spectral shapes that seem to fall apart and remake themselves with absolute disregard for how the living world works. Other ghosts are still trapped at the time of their deaths, especially those who die suddenly as in the case of accidents victims, they are the most difficult to look at, and there are also those few who know that they are dead and decide to just stay the same way they were when human, those are more difficult to differentiate, but for some reason, they always seem to be able to find Elaine and didn't leave her alone, like the spirit of a young woman who had been watching her for almost two hours over the fence that separated the garden of her house from the neighbour's garden.

"No...?", her answer was more of a question than anything else.

"An'one with a lil' talent for witchcraft can move stuff and set things on fire, but wi'out really knowing how to cast a spell yer'll never be able to do the most delicate things or the strongest spells. In this way a spell is like a cake recipe, I can give ye the eggs and flour and explain step-by-step how to make the cake, but it will only be ready if ye already 'ave the talent for magic, to begin with.", the woman explained while trying to make her eyes and mouth remain attached to her head, "Otherwise ye'll just 'ave a disgustin' mixture tha' will give ye salmonella."

"So... magic is the oven?", the girl asked uncertainly, her body exhausted from exercising a muscle she normally doesn't use (at least that's how she perceives magic in her body, like a muscle you don't realize is there until you need to use it and only then realizes that you are almost stunted) she lies on the grass looking at the clouds above her head with different shapes forming curious drawings in the blue immensity.

"Tha's righ', girlie! Magic is the flame within each witch's soul."

"Hmm...", it seemed like an interesting concept, and it would explain why not everyone uses this craft.

Inside the house, Barbara watched through the window as her daughter talked to herself about things that made her feel sick and asked herself if she should seek help from a child psychiatrist, although she was sure that Matthew would never accept that Elaine needs that kind of help.

...

"She's not going."

"Matthew... Elaine needs help."

"My daughter doesn't need a shrink."

Elaine knew very well that she should be in bed by now, but she was thirsty and was sure that if she didn't make any noise, no one would find out and she wouldn't be scolded by her parents for being up so late. What she didn't expect was eavesdropping on her parents' conversation, let alone that they would be talking about her. The girl's small feet moved slowly on the steps of the stairs, knowing that there was a step down there that always creaks. Why do her parents think she needs to talk to a shrink?

"You don't understand. You don't stay with her for almost the entire day if you stayed..."

"So what?", Matthew didn't even let her finish speaking, "You don't want to be with her? Is that the problem?"

"No! It's not, and you know it.", she was angry now. Elaine knew when her parents were getting mad and a conversation was heading towards an argument, "Elaine... She's not like other children. She talks to herself. Whole conversations with people who aren't there. Speaking of the Devil and witchcraft, so it's obvious that I care about her.", Barbara was beyond just a little mad and annoyed by her husband questioning how much she cares about their daughter.

Elaine took another step down, stretching her head a little to get a good view her parents in the living room, her father was sitting in the armchair, without shoes and with his pants unbuttoned, her mother was already standing, clearly angry and ready to start pacing the room. From Elaine's experience, this was never a good sign.

"And she... She does things I can't explain.", Barbara said and it was clear on Matthew's face that he wanted to roll his eyes, having to listen to it for the millionth time, "Playing with dead things... She... It's weird... Elaine doesn't act like children her age. Sometimes she looks at me like she knows..."

"She doesn't know. And won't ever know.", Matthew cut her there, "Elaine is our daughter. Ours.", he said getting up, his bulging stomach forcing the buttons on his shirt, "And no daughter of mine is going to be a freak."

Freak.

Elaine heard that word a lot at school.

You see, people think children are innocent and pure, but the truth is, they are cruel little bloodthirsty demons. And hearing from her own father's mouth that word made Elaine feel as if something inside of her was breaking and tears were forming in her eyes that the girl tried in vain to prevent from spilling, but she could feel one of them running down her face and it was enough for all others to do the same without her permission.

She ran up to her room, closing the door and getting into bed, she must have made a noise because minutes later her bedroom door opened and she heard footsteps entering the room, a hand in her hair moving a few of the dark strands.

"Elaine...?", it was her father's voice.

She chose not to answer because if she opened her mouth she would start crying out loud and it would only confirm that she was listening to their conversation. Her father left the room after about five minutes of the girl not answering, and Elaine cried herself to sleep.

...

Elaine's fingers roamed over the elaborate carvings of a painting frame, the painting there made the girl sigh at the bucolic image that causes a nostalgic feeling for something that never even happened, Elaine was never a little orphan who found a locked garden and made it in her own kingdom, but looking at the painting made her miss flowers she had never seen before, a Robins' trill she never heard and the wonder at the arrival of spring that she never felt before while living in London and that she had yet to experience in Liverpool.

She still felt her heart sink, the more she tried to forget her parents' words the more they came back to her mind forming that lump in her throat that made her swallow sobs that weren't welcome. Being in that infinite room helped. She felt that she could walk around and explore this place forever without having to worry about going back, walking until she forgot the cruel words spoken by the other children, the fear in her mother's voice and the surreal expectations that her father placed on her shoulders. She just tried not to think too much about the tears she shed hoping that at some point they would stop, like when she fell off the swing on the playground and hurt her knee, at first she cried because it really hurt, but after a while, the tears stopped. It's how life works: scraped knees and broken hearts.

"May I inquire, little mouse, what is a small creature such as yourself doing within my dream?", the deep voice of her Guardian Angel made the girl look up from where they were in the painting, looking around until she focused on the piano man standing by the fireplace where she liked to take naps, a glass in his hand half-empty of amber liquid, "I've noticed you around here, on and off this room, little... Creature.", this was the first time he had spoken directly to Elaine, largely because in all the other times she did her best to hide from him.

"I am not a creature.", she sniffed, "Or a mouse. I am Elaine.", the girl tried to introduce herself despite the tear-tracks staining her face. He was weird, but not in the way the teachers told her to be wary of, and more like he was scared of her or just caught off guard, "And this is my dream too."

"I don't think so, little creature... Being...?", he wasn't sure of what to call her and apparently decided to dismiss her early introduction.

The girl shrugged without really having a good answer for that. Elaine has no idea how she gets to this room almost every night, she just accepted it as normal and compared to the things that usually happen around her, it was pretty ordinary when you put it side by side.

"Now...", he said after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. Lucifer definitely doesn't know how to interact with children, and it's not like there are many in hell, to begin with, "Do you mind explaining why are you leaking through your eyes, little mouse?", he asked with a smirk forming awkwardly on the man's lips, who exhaled relieved when he saw the girl giggle slightly by the way he referred to her crying. It was easier for him to deal with living beings when they were not in distress.

Elaine's laughter died little by little as she continued to dry the few tears that remained in her eyes.

"Because I'm a freak.", her reply shocked the Devil who didn't expect to hear that from a child.

"And why would you say something like that?", he asked looking at the girl who was shorter than his knee, deeply confused about how someone so young could think that.

"The other kids call me that.", she said, brushing a few tears away from her brown eyes, "Mommy and Daddy too, not in the same way the other kids in school do, but they look at me that way, you know? Just like my teachers. They are afraid of me. Because I'm not like other children. Because I do things that others can't.", she was aware of how different she could be from other children, Elaine is not an idiot.

"And what exactly can you do?", that attracted his attention more than a being so young invading his dream in the last weeks.

"Grandma Furness said that I have a talent for witchcraft.", she wrinkled her nose remembering how difficult the lessons on witchcraft were and how she almost always ended up with a bleeding nose, "And I..."

The way she drifted made the Devil impatient. Probably the lack of contact with any other being other than demons and tortured souls were affecting him to the point that a conversation with that little girl was one of the highlights of his last few years, "And you what?", he urged her.

"I see... Things. Dead things.", was her vague answer, "People... Animals... Anyone who's dead. They always come to talk to me, I think sometimes they don't realize that they died and that they are not supposed to talk to me. And sometimes I even manage to fix them. But when I showed it to my mom she got mad.", Elaine confided, "I think she was scared. But Mr Birdie wasn't going to hurt anyone, he just wanted more worms. "

That little creature in his dream was actually more interesting than he thought the first few times he noticed her there. And Lucifer could see perfectly well why the dead were drawn to this little being and tried to talk to her. His little mouse shone like one of the stars he created so long ago, the fabric of her being radiates a comfortable light that makes it almost impossible to keep his distance. Lucifer could never compare a being like his little mouse to something dull like a human. That little girl was like a little mystery, and yet he felt a familiarity that he was unable to explain.

Lucifer crouched down until his eyes were level with hers.

"Don't pay attention to the people who call you a freak.", He said, "They only say that because they can't deal with the fact that you are better than them.", And maybe his opinion was more based on his relationship with his own siblings than he wanted to admit, "You are not a freak. You just aren't like everyone else, and that's a virtue. Being able to think for yourself. To be yourself. Being normal is overrated, when you get old you will realize that it is not fun to belong to a group of sheep. So stop crying or your eyes will melt and run out of your skull.", he said as if trying to scare her with the idea, but that just made the girl laugh.

"You're funny.", she said with that huge smile showing the missing baby-tooth, "Thank you... For being my Guardian Angel."

That made Lucifer take a step back, torn between being scared and annoyed at being compared to something like a Guardian Angel. He's the Devil!

"You are clearly confused, little mouse. I am Lucifer, the Morning Star. The Devil. ", he introduced himself while standing and adjusting his posture, his fingers moving nervously on his cufflinks.

"I know.", Elaine again took him by surprise with her honesty and direct comments, typical of children who have not yet become cunning like many adults, "Grandma Furness told me. She said that you are the father of all lies and that you were going to take my soul."

That really displeased him.

"Why does everyone think that?", he was obviously angry at that, "When did I ever say I wanted human souls or any of that shit? It's not like I have to do a lot for them to end up in hell, anyway.", Lucifer didn't even know why he was explaining himself to that pint-sized being in front of him, but he felt he couldn't let her continue believing in what people talked about him, "Besides, what exactly do people think I'm going to do with all those souls? Open a stand and start selling and buying souls like its a fish market? Do you have any idea how much paperwork I have to deal with on a daily basis because of the flow of souls in hell?", Elaine shook her head, the girl seemed to have forgotten what made her cry earlier while watching to the Devil in catharsis, "A lot! And it's not like I have skilled workers to deal with it, all I have is a bunch of demons that wouldn't know how to differentiate a human from a goat.", just thinking about what awaited him when he returned from that dream was enough for a headache to settle behind his eyebrows.

"I'm sorry.", Elaine said, her small hand holding his fingers, "Dad says there's nothing worse than being surrounded by incompetent people."

Lucifer's entire face indicated how uncomfortable he was with any physical contact, however minimal it may be, "Your father is right on the money.", he replied as he de-attached the girl from himself.

They both seemed to have forgotten the comment that caused all of this discussion as Lucifer walked back to where the grand piano was and placed his glass on it, trying to decide whether he should get a little more information about the little squatter in his dream.

Elaine looked around the place, like the other times she dreamed of that room it was... Vast. She knew they weren't outside, but the room seemed endless, she could run during all her life and she would never reach the end. The same went for the ceiling. It inspired a feeling of loneliness inside of her, and Elaine was glad that she had her Guardian Angel with her otherwise, she felt like she could just crouch down and cry for hours. And she had no idea how he could just stay there like that. Perhaps the piano he was playing helped with the feeling of utter desolation.

He watched the girl sending a curious glance at the piano every time she thought he wasn't looking, and that made him sigh thinking of how much she reminded him of some of his youngest siblings.

"Come over here, little mouse.", he said, patting the space on the piano bench by his side, and Elaine took less than a second to sit there. Her doe eyes brightening in joy when the Devil started to play again. Momentarily forgetting what had made her cry.

"I know this song!", she said excitedly for being able to recognize it. Her music teacher was trying to teach them how to play it and her father was a tad bit mad at her when she said she didn't want to go to those classes anymore, but it was just because her teacher made everything sound so boring, while Lucifer was able to inspire her with the same song. Elaine reached with her tiny hand, touching some of the white keys, completely out of timing with what Lucifer was playing, however, sounding off did nothing to extinguish her enthusiasm.

"That sounded awful.", the Devil looked affronted by her lack of talent, "Inexcusable.", Elaine looked a bit lost, not sure of what to make of his reaction to... Well... Everything. It was, after all, the first time both of them ever interact inside her dreams.

"I don't really like my music teacher.", she replied with a shrug, as if it explained it all.

"Well... New rule: from now on you don't touch the piano until you learn enough to not sound like some hellish punishment for my ears.", he said, making her pout.

...

"Lucifer."

Just from the tone of voice, it was clear that Mazikeen was far from happy.

"Maze.", he sighed knowing that whatever his right-hand wants to discuss with him would not be pleasant.

"You've been spending too much time... Absent.", the Lilim said as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth, "Other demons have noticed this too."

"The other demons have nothing to do with my personal affairs.", Lucifer spoke defensively and Mazikeen could see it from miles away. He was hiding something from her, and well... Maybe Lucifer wanted to keep his little mouse secret for as long as he was able to. He couldn't risk one of his siblings finding out and taking from him the closest thing that could be to something so similar to his stars. To his creation.

Not that he cares about the little creature.

As if.

But he had to admit that having someone to talk to who wasn't a demon was a welcome change.

"Since Morpheus paid the deal you have been spending more and more time in The Dreaming.", Lucifer had no idea if Maze was worried about him or if she was just mad at her master's tendencies to go astray, farther from hell, every blood time, "What are you doing in that place, anyway?", she was definitely mad.

"You should take care of your own business and leave mine alone.", Lucifer's patience was also running out. He just didn't like to think that anyone could find out about his little mouse.

"You are my business."

"I AM your King.", his voice was final, and even if it wasn't, his red eyes burning with the fury of hellfire was enough to make the Lilim submissive, for now at least, "And you will do well to keep that in mind."

AN: Once again: thanks for reading until the end of another chapter. I could finally write an interaction between Elaine and Lucifer, but that is just one of many more to come inside The Dreaming. If you liked (or not) leave a comment. And I'll be seeing you guys again next week!