As Azrael flew down to Hell, she felt a deep sense of foreboding as her heart rose up in her chest, almost as if it wanted to fly up and escape this dreaded place. As the Angel of Death, Azrael had been to Hell many times throughout her lives, but she had never really ventured past the gate.

Would Lucifer be happy to see her? The last time they talked, on Earth, they seemed to get along pretty well. He was mad at her for not talking to him or helping him while he was stuck down in Hell for thousands of years, but he sort of forgave her, didn't he? And she would be making everything right by talking to him, and telling him her plan, even if it wasn't well thought out.

As she flew over the dark, creaky gates that guarded Hell, she tried to think happy thoughts, which is what she had been doing for the majority of her life. She imagined what it would be like if Ella was down here with her. She imagined Ella's bright smile, and how it could light up the room. But Azrael knew that Ella would never be going down here.

She kept on flying until she saw a tall mass in the distance. As she approached, the warm air stifling her, she realized that it was Lucifer's throne. But when she came up to it, floating in the air beside it, she saw that Lucifer wasn't there.

Where could he be? There were billions of souls he could be torturing right now, and she had no hope of finding him. Should she just wait here? Something stopped her. She wanted to stay down here for as little time as possible, and she couldn't just wait for him to return. She had to find him.

She soared back down, her sharp eyes looking for any sign of life beneath her. But a screeching, hollering sound reached her ears from far below. She pulled into a controlled dive, heading towards the noise.

Demons. A big crowd of demons. Demons of all shapes and sizes, and varying degrees of loud yelling voices. There faces were torn up and bloody, their bodies crooked and misshapen. One of them looked up and saw Azrael, and shouted something in an unfamiliar, rasping language as it pointed up at her.

The demons won't hurt you, she told herself as she floated closer to the ground, but she knew that wasn't true. Angels could be hurt by other angels and by demons. She wasn't safe landing on the ground.

"Do you know where Lucifer is?" she asked loudly, but her question was only answered by more of the rasping language and shouts of… anger maybe? It was hard to tell.

"Come to crash my party?"

Azrael looked down in shock. Among all the demons, was none other than her brother Lucifer. A smile spread across her face as she flew down to meet him.

The demons hissed and several took out their cruel curved knives, but Lucifer waved them off.

"I don't remember inviting you to my Welcome Back to Hell party," he said, his voice full of bittterness.

Azrael bit her lip. "Lu, why are you down here?"

"This is where I belong," he said, his smile full of pain.

"No, it's not," Azrael said, trying to sound authoritative. "You belong in Heaven."

Lucifer laughed. "In Heaven? I think dear old Dad made it clear that he didn't want me there anymore."

"But I want you there, Lu! And our siblings, too!"

He shook his head. "Well, they've had thousands of years to tell me that, yet none of them seem to want it that much."

He did have a point. All of his siblings had abandoned him when he was thrown out of Heaven. Not even Azrael, his favorite sister, went down to visit him.

"We were scared!" she said, but deep down in her heart she knew that wasn't the only reason. "You know how Dad gets."

"Well, I'm glad to know that you all care about me so much," he said. "Thanks for dropping by. I can't say that it was a pleasure."

"Lu, don't be mad at me!" Azrael exclaimed. "I know you're upset, I know you're angry, I would be too if I ended up back here! But you need to understand that I'm trying to help you."

The smile slid off of Lucifer's face. "I'm afriad I'm beyond your help, sister."

Azrael shook her head. "No. You're going to come back to Earth right now, or… or…"

"I can't," he said simply, leaning back slightly. "I can't go back. The demons need a king."

"Then let's go talk to Dad," she said.

Lucifer laughed. "Talk to Dad? Are you out of your mind?"

"I mean it, Lu."

"Where did you get that preposterous idea?"

Azrael struggled for a minute, then finally decided to tell him. "Ella gave me some advice."

"Did you tell her about everything?" Azrael couldn't understand why he looked so scared. Was her brother actually afraid of Ella?

"No," she said. "I just told her we were having some issues."

"Well, I'm sure a family reunion would be a big help here," Lucifer said sarcastically.

"It might actually be," Azrael argued. "You never know unless you try."

"I'm sorry, but no," he said abruptly, before turning and walking off. "Have a safe flight!"

Azrael grabbed his shoulder, much harder than she intended, spinning him around and glaring up at him. Her voice was surprisingly strong for somone so small. "You don't have anything else to lose, Lu, and everything to gain! You don't belong down here, you never did, and I'm not going to rest until we fix that!"

He looked at her sadly for a moment, unaffected by her strong grip and fierce voice. "I'm afraid you're wrong there, sister. I still have a lot to lose."

Sudden understanding hit Azrael. "You mean Chloe."

He grunted, turning away from her. "Listen, sister. When I came down here, I had a plan to escape."

"I'm listening."

He continued. "But being down here made me realize how much I shouldn't go back. I'm miserable here, but… it's better than others being miserable in my stead."

Azrael scoffed. "Come on, Lu, we both know that doesn't make any sense."

He looked at her curiously. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Nobody's going to be miserable with you around, the demons aren't going to hurt anyone. We just have to go talk to Dad, and we can arrange-"

"I SAID NO!" Lucifer's eyes burned bright red and his voice deepened several octaves, and Azrael instinctively stepped backwards in horror and shock. He took several deep breaths, and seemed to immediately regret his outburst. "Azrael-"

"I don't care if you're scared of him," she said stubbornly. "I don't care if you think you deserve to stay down here forever, because I'm going to get you out whether you like it or not. You can't lose hope, Lu. There are so many people rooting for you."

He laughed. "Please. As if they're not all rejoiced that they can finally get along with their lives without me ruining it."

Azrael studied his face closely. "You're hurt that they haven't contacted you."

He grunted again, but didn't respond.

"What about Amenadiel? Has he visited?"

"No," Lucifer said, a bitter edge to his voice. "I doubt he ever will."

Azrael gave him a hug. He didn't hug her back, but just stood there, his face still turned away from hers. She could almost feel the sadness, the hopelessness, seeping out of him.

"I love you, Lu," she whispered. "I really do. I'm sorry that I didn't visit sooner, but I'm going to make everything right again. Because I would do anything to help you out of this."

Her arms still tight around him, she could feel his body shaking with unmistakable silent sobs. She held on tighter, not wanting to ever let go.

"I'm sorry, sister," he said, his voice full of emotion. "But it would be best if you left me right now. I don't want to hurt you too."

"I don't care," she whispered. "I'm not leaving you."

The two of them stood there, embracing each other, surrounded by a crowd of demons who had turned away from this spectacle. And as Azrael held on to her brother, she knew that he deserved to get out of here, no matter the cost.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Azrael landed softly on the roof of Lux, staring down at the sparkling city below, crowds of people rushing to get from one meaningless place to another, all wrapped up in their own little worries, without a clue of everything that was happening.

Before she could confront God, she was going to need some backup. And what better place to start than here on Earth?