Catherine and Vincent cast a worried glance at the young man, not sure if they were supposed to step in and help or if they should leave him and this Lucifer alone to battle it out.
"Vincent, my heart tells me he needs strength from friends. But my head tells me that he will be fine because this isn't a logical situation and has nothing to do with us. This is a battle of worlds that we typically don't get to be a part of. It's such a strange thought."
Vincent laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, watching the self-proclaimed angel limp toward the passageway. "You must listen to your heart, Catherine. It is the one that will shape you with regret and sorrow. The head can be easily persuaded once logic is involved. Besides, this Lucifer fellow is in our tunnels. It is our problem now."
She smiled up at him. "True. You never could resist helping someone in trouble, could you?"
The lion man gazed down at her fondly. "I am glad that is my weakness."
With his cloak swirling behind him, Vincent moved quickly to catch up with the young angel.
"You are sure you should face him?" He asked quietly, moving naturally to support the man's arm as he limped through the rocky tunnel.
"Have to," Jason responded through clenched teeth. "He is looking for me and I will not let him hurt anyone here. It's me he wants."
"Can he hurt you?" Vincent asked, worry pricking at his heart. "What is he? An angel like you?"
"Not like me," Jason replied in frustration. "He is the devil. He is here to take my soul, if he can. I must stand up to him." His voice dropped to barely a whisper and he added, "Somehow, I must get back to the Father."
"Can you actually stand up to him?" Vincent glanced down at the man's shaking knees. "You are still not well from your - fall. You can hardly stand at all."
Jason stopped moving and turned a stubborn frown to face Vincent. "I must. I must show him that I am not afraid of his lies and manipulations."
"But you are," the tall lion man countered, "You are very much afraid. I can sense it."
Jason stopped again and took a deep breath. "Vincent, I am trying to be brave. Please let me battle this Lucifer alone. You do not know him like I do."
Images of Catherine lying in the ditch when he had found her so long ago flashed through Vincent's mind's eye, the dying old lady from earlier, followed by other horrors that he had seen and experienced in his life - both Above and Below.
"I do know him." he replied softly. "I have not met him but I know the darkness he leaves behind."
The angel shook his head. "It is worse than that, Vincent. Imagine the worst darkness and evil that you can possibly think of. Then don't even bother. It's exponentially worse than anything you can imagine. I have seen it in it's blackest."
Vincent set his teeth together in fury, and continued holding up the young man next to him as he began walking once again toward the dark blackness that stretched before them. Both men realized at the same time that at some point, the flickering candles along the hand hewn walls had gone out.
"The candles," Vincent pointed out thoughtfully. "They have gone out."
"He has us where he wants us." Jason spoke barely above a whisper. "We have entered the blackness of his soul. He can not abide in the light."
"Then where is he?" Vincent asked in an equally quiet tone, glancing around them. He could no longer tell where the walls began and the floor ended. Looking back, there was no way to tell where they had come from. "How can we see him in this darkness?"
"He is all around us," the young angel replied in a tone that betrayed the fear he felt. His hands were firm upon Vincent's supporting arm. "He is the darkness, Vincent."
"JASON!" A cheerful voice rang out ahead of them. The darkness parted as if it were a curtain, and a tall man stepped through. His face was lean and chiseled, his black hair slicked back in a shiny undercut hairstyle. His eyes glittered from a light they could not see, a strange phenomena in the total blackness. It was as if an unseen light let them see him in the misty blackness. it was not a friendly light. "I have been searching for you, jason, buddy, ole pal!"
"I am not your pal, Lucifer," Jason spoke angrily at the dark visitor. "Nor am I your buddy."
"Pal, enemy, who cares?" Lucifer replied, waving off the young man's retort. "I have been searching everywhere for you, portraying myself as your rescuer ever since I hear that you had stepped off the clouds. Had to insist that I was from a mental institute just to get people to talk. You wouldn't believe how sympathetic these humans can be. Sooooo! What happened, did ol' Chester finally kick you out? You mess up a mission or something? Welcome to the world, little angel. I do apologize for the dramatic entrance, I can't help it, you know."
"I am sure you can't" the angel muttered under his breath. "I didn't get kicked out. I - fell."
The dark eyes that switched back and forth curiously between Vincent and Jason widened in surprise. "Fell? My, my, what did you do? Set your sights on the throne? Tell the big guy no? Wouldn't have thought it of you, Jason. So you are a fallen angel now?"
"There is a big difference in an angel that fell and a fallen angel, Lucifer," Jason retorted. "You should know that."
The dark character smiled, sitting down on an invisible chair with a flourish of his dark grey suit jacket. "Oh, yes, I do know that, little angel, but I don't agree that there is a difference. You are either here or there. Not both. But please do explain the supposed difference for your - friend - here."
Vincent felt the young angel stiffen next to him. "I do not wish to discuss our dispute with him. This battle is between us, Lucifer."
Lucifer propped his chin in his hand, a wry smile on his face. "Tut, tut, little angel, chill. Don't get your wings in a knot. Oh. I forgot. Ha! You don't have any."
Jason took a stumbling step forward as if to intimidate the dark man, his chin held high. Lucifer chuckled.
"I did not come here to fight with you, Jason. Merely to welcome you to the earth. I do apologize again for the drama, can't help it. it's how I get the ladies." He waggled suggestive eyebrows at the young man. "No, really, really I do apologize. I didn't mean to be aggressive. So you down here for good?"
Jason's teeth set firmly in his jaw and Vincent could see his strength was rapidly failing. The man had still not recovered from his injuries, and it wouldn't be long before he collapsed.
"A fallen angel, Vincent, " Jason spoke tensely, his fingers digging into the cloth of the cloak on Vincent's arm, "Is an angel that has assumed superiority to the Father, and has decided to go above or beyond His bidding. I simply fell."
Lucifer crossed one leg over his knee and clasped his hands. "Really, Jason. What were you doing on the edge of whatever you fell off of?"
"I was looking down through the clouds," the angel replied quietly, stumbling sideways. Vincent wrapped one arm around the young man, concerned showing in his eyes. "Jason, you need to rest," He spoke softly. "You are exhausted and this is no time for you to be vulnerable."
Jason half turned to look at the lion man, his face visibly pale in the darkness. "This is war, Vincent. I can not back down now."
"No, you can't," Lucifer spoke matter-of-factly. "Backing down just isn't a manly thing to do. I agree with you there. You are dodging the question, dear Jason. Why did you fall?"
"I was looking down through the clouds, Lucifer. I said that already." Jason replied, his voice audibly weaker in the darkness.
The dark angel chuckled. "I will clarify for you, boy. You fell because you didn't listen, am I right? No way in the world that they would let an angel who had not yet earned his wings go anywhere near the edge of the clouds."
"Chester warned me," Jason replied softly, brows furrowed in understanding. "I- I just didn't listen to him. I wanted to watch the people."
Lucifer pointed at the distressed angel and winked at him. "Catching on, you are. I knew you had a brain in there somewhere. Face it, kid. You didn't listen, so they aren't taking you back. Look at me, and what happened. Permanently banned, I am. Well, except for accusation day. I created it myself. I'm a genius, love those. I get to go up there and try to explain to the Almighty about why these peasants down here are not worth wasting His time on. Somehow, He never agrees with me. Something about divine redemption or whatnot."
"They wouldn't leave me here forever," Jason growled at the dark man. "Chester said that I have to earn my wings through pain and suffering, and sympathizing with the people that I will be sent to take home someday. He did not say I was fallen."
"Ah," Lucifer spoke, rising from his invisible chair. "That's because he wants you to believe in false hope, Jason. The whole idea is built on false hope. Angels are sent to take people to the great beyond. What makes you think they are going to want an angel that can't listen to orders. Face it, kid. They booted you."
Jason opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Concerned, Vincent raised a hand and felt the young man's forehead. He was running a fever again, and he was beginning to shake as the strain of standing was wearing down the last reserves of energy that he had.
"Look, this isn't my argument," Vincent spoke. "It's between you two. But you, Lucifer, are in our tunnels. Be it known that you are not welcome here. This young man is in our care, and we will protect him at all cost. He is quite ill, and must be put to bed. Do not come into our tunnels again. You are not welcome." He took the young man in his strong arms, and turned away from the dark angel.
Lucifer grinned and called after him. "You can't stop me, lion man. I can come and go as I please. Jason is just like me now. Fallen, alone. I will take him off your hands. You can't possibly want someone like that in your little world."
"He is in our care." Was Vincent's calm reply. The spark of flame in Lucifer's eyes glowed brilliantly and he stepped forward. Billowing behind him, a pair of dark wings spread out into the tunnel, unhindered by the narrow walls.
"I will take him, Vincent. Seriously. The poor man will never survive in this kind of life."
"What kind of life?" Vincent growled, turning again to face the dark intruder. "A life of lies, and manipulation. No, he is not fallen, Lucifer. And we are here to make sure he doesn't get to that point. Be gone. You are not welcome."
"You can't make me leave," Lucifer chuckled, crossing his arms, head tilted sideways in amusement.
Wordlessly, Vincent removed a match from his cloak pocket and shifted the limp young man over his shoulder.
"Don't you dare," the evil angel warned. "Fire is my home. It will not scare me. It is useless to try."
"Fire may be your home," Vincent spoke in a low, angry tone. "But light is not."
Fury twisting his face, the angel stepped forward quickly as if to stop him, but Vincent was not afraid. He reached up and touched the flame to the candle on the wall. The glow of its beam spread quickly through the tunnel, revealing that its corridor stood empty and quiet.