Chapter 3: Perfectionism

Hello~

Welp. Since I was a week late on updating and I'm out of school for the week, I decided to write an extra chapter for y'all. Plus it's Thanksgiving so Happy Thanksgiving and here's another chapter.

I may or may not post another chapter this week. (We shall see.) Hopefully I will have something for you on Sunday.

Today's theme: Perfectionism.

Alciel gritted his teeth and he slowly cut into the meat. Each slice had to be flawless, for his King was a really, really picky eater. He blamed Lucifer for that. (He actually blamed a lot of things on the fallen angel.) It's his fault for spoiling Satan as a child.

Sighing to himself, he continued to slice the blood covered flesh of the Devil's next meal.

Then his hand slipped, causing him to cut slightly, ever so slightly, to the left instead of straight down.

Alciel groaned in frustration as he flung his arm to the side, throwing the knife across the room, nearly hitting Lucifer in the head.

"Watch it!"

Alciel eyes widened when he realized his mistake.

"My apologies, Lucifer."

Lucifer clicked his tongue in irritation and yanked the knife out of the doorframe. He glanced at his fellow Demon General, before letting out a sigh.

"Honestly, Alciel," he said, gentleness masked by faked annoyance, "you are way too hard on yourself."

"Am not."

"Are too."

Alciel glared at the smaller demon, who simply looked at him with a bored expression.

"You are such a perfectionist."

"Excuse me?"

"You. Are. A. Friggin'. Perfectionist." Lucifer drawled as he walked over and placed the knife on the counter. He let out a sigh and looked at the taller demon and Alciel saw something he thought he would later wish he could see again in Lucifer eyes: Compassion.

"I am not," he snorted, half-heartedly.

"Look, I know you are worried about Satan and the war that is going to begin in a few weeks- I am too," Lucifer said, "and you have been preparing tirelessly and planning your flawless tactics, making sure everything is perfect. However, the stress has been getting to you. You try to be perfect in every aspect you possibly can-even when cooking the King's dinner- but perfection is not possible. There is no such as thing as perfection or perfect order-take it from someone who was born and raised in Heaven."

Alciel stared at Lucifer in confusion.

"Nothing will ever be flawless, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try," Lucifer continued, "There is always room for improvement. Trust me when I say this, being perfect has its strengths but comes at a price. It wears you out. It wears you down. So if something goes wrong, if something doesn't work right, if things don't go the way you want them, if something bad happens to you, to me, to Satan, or any of the others, just get up, dust yourself off, and keep going. Just because something isn't perfect, doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Alright?"

The fallen angel looked at him sternly,yet kindly, wisdom shining in his eyes. Wisdom that Alciel did not understand, but he nodded.

"Alright."

The years flew by as the war against the humans raged on. The demon army was falling apart. Malacoda had fallen and Alciel was the only Demon General left.

I can not make any errors. Everything has to be perfect.

Only trouble was, nothing went perfectly. The Hero Emilia had broken through his defenses, his flawless defenses!

How can this be! How can the humans, those scum, overpower us demons!

To say he was outraged was the understatement of the century. He would find this "Hero" and separate her head from her body once he was done her allies.

He sent a series of green orbs of energy at the white-haired human, knocking him into one of the castle's stone towers. He heard a voice from above and saw a mage surrounded by symbols, muttering a spell. Before he knew it, he was turned to stone. Growing more furious by the second, he broke free of the spell and cast his own, sending blood red and black energy at Emilia's friend.

I have to protect King Satan.

Flying down, he saw a large hole in the ceiling of the throne room. He pushed himself to fly faster, urging his body on, almost to his breaking point.

Damn these humans. Damn them all to Hell!

There was no chance of winning this battle. Deep in his heart, Alciel knew this. He knew it the minute he had heard of Lucifer's death, something that struck him to the very core. It was part of the reason he was so furious, he supposed. Because of the humans, he had lost someone he dared call a dear friend. Although part of him wondered why Satan did not search for Lucifer, even though he doubted the fallen angel's demise. Why did he himself search for Lucifer?

Satan's generals were definitely divided. Alciel and Lucifer, who concerned themselves largely with their king's safety, on one side and Adramelech and Malacoda, who mostly concerned themselves over the their king's success, on the other. Then the army split up. The only thing that kept the generals together was their loyalty to the Demon Lord. However, dividing the army severely weakened their forces, allowing the Hero to overpower them. Alciel should of put up more of a fight to keep everyone together.

He enters the room just in time to see one of Satan's horns shatter on the ground.

"Out of my way!" he cries out in fury, casting a spell that blasts everyone away from his king.

I will not fail you, my Lord.

"Sorry, I'm late, sire," Alciel stood tall beside the Devil, "I regret to inform you that the humans have overpowered my defenses."

At that moment, the Hero launched herself at the Devil, eyes burning in hatred and anger.

Such emotions are unbecoming of a Hero, Alciel thought wryly as he swung out his arm and blasted her away.

Satan glowered, knowing he was defeated.

"Alciel," he says coolly, "buy me a few minutes and follow me."

"Yes, Milord."

Alciel sized up his opponents and in a snap judgement, cast a powerful wind spell, pushing the Hero and her comrades back. Satan blasted his way out of the castle and opened the Gate.

"Humans!" he called down below him, "I grant you Ente Isla for now. Enjoy your little victory while it lasts, but know this: I shall return and conquer your world."

The Hero stood, a silhouette in the darkness, glaring at Satan, the desire to kill in her eyes, as he flew into the Gate. Alciel flew out of the hole in the ceiling and followed.

They had lost the war. They had lost everything to the Hero. He swore to himself that he would make her pay dearly for this.

Nothing went as planned. Everything fell apart when that damn Hero came around.

"Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it's the end of the world."

Yes, they had escaped with their lives. It was not over just yet.

"So if something goes wrong, if something doesn't work right, if things don't go the way you want them, if something bad happens to you, to me, to Satan, or any of the others, just get up, dust yourself off, and keep going."

Welp. I did my best with writing Alciel. I think he is a little OOC. (And maybe Lucifer too.) Sorry bout that. I also feel like Lucifer predicted that the war was not going to end well for them in this, haha. But you have to admit, Alciel is bit of a perfectionist. Actually, he is a serious perfectionist, especially when it comes to Satan.

I also want to say some stuff about Lucifer's advice.

When he says "Trust me when I say this, being perfect has its strengths but comes at a price. It wears you out. It wears you down." is actually supposed to be a reference to when he was an angel in Heaven. (Lucifer, before he fell, was said to be the most beautiful, most powerful, wisest, and strongest of the angels in Heaven. Basically, perfection personified.) When he says it wears you down, he means that it is exhausting and tiring, whether it be because of high expectations placed on you or constantly hating yourself (which I am sure Lucifer did when he was in Heaven), or pushing yourself too hard. (This is actually coming from my own personal experience.)

I don't know why I am explaining this. For fun, I guess? Meh. Make it as you will. I mean, it is kinda open ended. Everyone has different views and ideas. Anyway, deep question time!

I want to know. What do you think of Lucifer's advice to Alciel?

Thanks for reading! Please review!

-Fallen