"Now who is causing a stir?" Lucifer asked as he walked up behind Oriel. She stood on a sandy beach looking out over the expanse of the ocean. It was an area not far from where Lucifer arrived when he first came to Los Angeles. She had been there for some time enjoying the sound of the waves against the shore while she tried to make sense of everything she knew about the recent events – which wasn't much at all she realized.
"Since we're the only ones here and you take great delight in causing an uproar, I'll assume you mean me," Oriel replied without turning around. "What did I do? No one knew I was at Lux except for you."
"You have Detective Decker thinking that you are delusional," he explained.
"Aside from telling people you're the devil, you ask to be shot and yet I'm the one who is called delusional? How is me telling her what I am any different?" she said coolly and turned to look at him. "Should I have lied? Maybe I should have said that I was in town to audition to be a dancer at Lux and asked if she wanted to see my moves."
"We should try that out some time," he answered thoughtfully while picturing the scene in his head. This caused an exasperated look to appear on Oriel's face. Lucifer then told her, "You wouldn't lie anyway; you enjoy seeing the shock of the truth too much."
"What was the end result of your conversation? Are all the police in L.A. looking for me now and ready to lock me away?" Oriel inquired.
"I assured her that you were what you said you were – to the best of our knowledge, and if necessary that you could prove it," Lucifer told Oriel.
"You said what? I'm not a circus sideshow and I do not need to prove anything," Oriel argued. "It is not my problem that Chloe wants to rationalize away everything, including what she sees with her own eyes."
"If she sees it right in front of her she will believe," he countered.
"I don't care if she believes or not!" she declared firmly. "Unlike you lately, I don't need constant validation from everyone."
"Eavesdropping on my therapy?" he questioned her seriously.
"I've been listening to you for over one thousand years, Lucifer; I think I could work through your issues just as well as your therapist does, maybe better. Of course when you meet with me you don't always get what you want when you smile," Oriel recounted as she watched his begin to eyes glow red.
"You are not exactly a shining example of a non-dysfunctional existence," he retorted.
She shrugged refusing to get caught up in an argument with him, "And since you've been listening to me for over one thousand years, I'm sure you can tell me exactly what my issues are."
"You are stubborn, have unresolved anger issues, plus you tend to be defiant to the point of vexation," he listed much to her chagrin. While he was talking, Oriel suddenly glanced over her shoulder. Despite not seeing anything, she turned and began walking away from him sensing a presence nearby. She only got a step or so away when Lucifer muttered, "Your lack of respect when others are speaking also continues to astonish me."
Angered at his seeming lack of ability to sense that something was watching them, Oriel spun around to face Lucifer again her blue-green eyes shining brightly. Upon seeing her expression, he stopped talking immediately and looked over the shoreline in the direction she had just been facing.
"That is it," he whispered despite the fact that there nothing was visible.
Oriel started to turn back around to face the area where the unseen entity had been. Before she was able to turn around or even raise her own defenses, an invisible force slammed into her back before vanishing. The strength of the blow forced her into Lucifer and they both ended up in the sand; Lucifer on his backside and Oriel half on top of him. She jumped back up to her feet almost immediately ready to defend herself should the presence return. Lucifer was slower to rise and then fastidiously brushed sand off himself as he glanced around. Oriel stared off down the shoreline in the direction the demon had disappeared, her temper flaring.
"Oriel," Lucifer said trying to get her attention; he then repeated louder and more sternly, "Oriel!"
Jarred out of her thoughts, she turned around to face him, eyes blazing. "I don't like being played with."
"I beg to differ," he replied with a glint in his eye.
"Can you act your age for a minute or two?" she asked her face filled with annoyance. "This is not the time to be a wiseass."
"Oriel, it has gone and we are fine," he said slowly hoping to calm her temper and the fire in her eyes. "For the moment enjoy my boyish charm."
"For the moment the score is demon one, devil nothing," she said angrily. "We know nothing about it but it knows that I'm here now. You may be okay with that but I am not."
"Maybe next time it will show itself and we will know what we are dealing with," Lucifer answered calmly.
"It is not going to show itself, Lucifer. It had an opportunity to do that just now and all the times you felt it watching you before now," she fumed. "It was sent to watch you and report back."
"To whom?" he inquired.
"You tell me," Oriel retorted. "You've pissed off quite a few beings, of all kinds, over the years."
"Yes, there is that. You've got your work cut out for you," he said with a wink as she nodded with annoyed agreement. They began walking back up the beach towards his car in silence. After a few steps, Oriel started chuckling quietly.
"While I'm working on this problem of yours what will you be doing?" she asked.
"Whatever you tell me to, of course," Lucifer replied sincerely.
"Go to hell," she said clearly. Oriel knew it was a useless request and would most likely anger Lucifer, but being pushed around by a demon had brought an end to any good-natured banter on her part.
"You know that is not going to happen," he told her plainly. "Why ask?"
"It will put an end to this before it gets worse," Oriel replied somberly.
"There you go overreacting again," he said. "It was just a bit of mischief by a bored, lower demon."
"Uh-huh," she said unconvinced. "Going to a nightclub fits into your schedule, I suppose?"
"Oriel, I do have to run Lux," he told her and then changed the subject. "Are you going to speak with Detective Decker again?"
"You're leaving me a choice in the matter?" Oriel asked surprised. "I didn't think I had one since you also "work" with her and we wouldn't want things awkward for you."
"I know better than to try and force you do to anything," he said. "I have learned a few things over the years."
"Lucifer, I will answer any questions she may ask, but I will not perform parlor tricks for her benefit," she told him and then added, "And I can't stay with Chloe any longer."
"Oriel, why must you take such delight in being difficult?" Lucifer lamented.
"This has nothing to do with being difficult. I'm being practical; this thing knows I'm here now," she replied. "Chances are it will look for me again; you don't want demons hanging around her home, do you?"
"Tell me you are not going to find a cave somewhere to stay," he said knowing that Oriel's reasoning for not staying with the detective was sound.
She looked at him and only smiled in reply as she got into his car.
Back at home, Chloe sat with Trixie looking up things on the internet. Some of those things included the terms aos sÃ, fair folk, and fae. While they were surfing, Chloe's phone rang. "Lucifer said he would be stopping by shortly with Oriel," Chloe told Trixie as she disconnected the call.
Not long afterwards, there was a knock on the door. Chloe opened it and stepped aside to allow Lucifer and Oriel into the room. Trixie was sitting on the sofa with the tablet still playing on the internet. Upon seeing Oriel and Lucifer she got a huge grin on her face and waved. Oriel, her eyes bright, returned the wave while Lucifer looked on uncomfortably and almost managed a pleasant smile. As trio sat around the table, Chloe sent Trixie off to play in her room. The awkward silence that ensued was broken by Lucifer telling Chloe of the incident that occurred on the beach. Chloe had a few questions that she directed to Lucifer; she was unsure what to say to Oriel who watched warily from where she sat. Eventually Chloe worked up her nerve and turned to Oriel to ask if she was okay.
"My pride is a bit bruised since it got the upper hand on me, otherwise I'm fine," Oriel told her. A few minutes later, Lucifer decided to head off to Lux for the evening. As he rose from his chair he looked over at Oriel and gave her a nod as their eyes met. "Have fun," she told him with an edge of sarcasm in her voice.
Once the women were left alone silence again descended upon the room. This time Oriel broke the stillness. "I have to go," she said to Chloe.
"No, you don't," Chloe told her. "I know Lucifer probably told you what I said and I understand if you're upset but you don't have to leave."
"Chloe, I do have to leave," Oriel said quietly. "Whatever is following Lucifer knows I'm here now. It's highly probable that it will follow me, too. You've probably told Trixie the things that go bump in the night aren't real; I don't think you want her to find out how scary they truly are."
"Where will you go?" Chloe asked.
"The possibilities are endless," Oriel answered nonchalantly and smiled. As she replied, she stood up and began walking towards the door.
"I get that you don't want to tell me where you're going but I hope you at least told Lucifer," Chloe said brusquely.
"It's better that he doesn't know where I will be," Oriel stated. Seeing and sensing that Chloe was about to voice a protest she added without further explanation, "Lucifer has the power to find me any time he wishes."
"Do you need me to call you an Uber?" Chloe asked her.
"Still not necessary," Oriel said with a chuckle as she walked out the door. "Tell Trixie we'll work on hair braids next time."
Chloe closed the door behind Oriel not sure how she felt about the past few days' events. Unhappy about the way things were left between her and Oriel, Chloe quickly re-opened the door to smooth things over. However, when she looked outside Oriel was nowhere to be seen.
With no definite plan in mind or place to go, Oriel found herself back atop the mountain she had gone to after speaking with Lucifer a few months earlier. She sat with her back against the trunk of a large pine tree in the twilight while the recent events played and re-played in her mind. It grew darker and darker as she attempted to understand why a demon would bother to follow Lucifer, yet not cause any trouble. By now Oriel was sure that word had spread throughout Hell that the devil had lost some of his power which would seem to ensure some sort of challenge be brought. Instead, it lurked.
After gathering moonlight to provide some light, Oriel reviewed almost 1200 years of memories. When she finished her reverie hours later, she was assured that her initial feeling was correct; in all the years she had known Lucifer, a demon had never watched him, not even briefly in passing. There was the occasional angel who lingered on the fringes of both Lucifer's and Oriel's awareness when they were together, and archangels Amenadiel and Michael had spoken to Oriel throughout the years; but a demon – never.
Oriel arose early the next morning. Her sleep had been restless and troubled, filled with dreams of being watched. As she watched the birds soar through the sky above her, she knew what she was going to do next. Now that her mind was made up, Oriel foraged something small to eat before departing. It was mid-morning when she arrived outside of Lux and Oriel knew with certainty that Lucifer was not inside. She pushed her bangs out of her eyes, pulled open the door and walked inside.
From behind the bar, Maze picked up her head to see who was entering the club at this hour of the day. Her eyes widened with surprise when she saw Oriel. "Lucifer's not here," she called out as Oriel got closer.
"I know," Oriel answered bluntly her eyes glowing at the demon bartender.
"Then what do you want?" Maze asked stone-faced.
"Whatever you're playing at needs to end," Oriel replied sharply. "Now!"
"I'm not playing at anything," Maze told her with a saccharine smile.
"Let me be clearer. Send your pet back to Hell," Oriel stated coldly.
"And if I don't?" Maze inquired with a slight laugh.
"I will be sure that it ceases to exist on any plane," Oriel replied matter-of-factly.
"You don't have that power," Maze answered confidently even though she knew little of Oriel.
"I'm stronger than you think." Oriel said to the bartender. "The choice is yours."
With those words Oriel disappeared out of Lux leaving Maze to make her decision.
