Ok, here we are with the next chapter. I hope you guys are enjoying this, and I'm sorry for not updating sooner everything's been crazy with finals. But I wanted to update this now because starting Sunday I won't have wifi for a month and a half. That's a warning/explanation incidentally, I won't be updating this for a month and a half guys. Maybe even longer, cause I don't know if I'm going to be able to write this over break. (That's the reason I won't have wifi, by the way, I'll be home over the winter break and my folks don't have wifi.) Anyway, enough about my boring life and more about the chapter. OK, for the speakeasy scene I started to actually write out the song, but I am no lyricist, in fact I suck at write songs. And I knew there was no way I was going to be able to finish the damn song, it was causing writer's block in itself, so I said screw it and switched to explaining what he was singing about instead of trying to show it. Another thing, I tried to avoid scripture references as best I could and keep it in the mindset of TDC, but I don't believe Alleluia! ever stated a term for the citizens of Heaven as a collective whole. Or at least I don't remember them mentioning anything, I only saw it once months ago. So I used Biblical terms such as "the Host" etc. If you guys remember any terms used please feel free to PM me them, or leave it in the review.

PS can anyone guess who the Scribe is? I'll give you a hint he's not technically a OC.

Disclaimer: I do not own TDC, and I receive no profit for this work. No seriously, *fends off your wallets* I don't want your money! *Points to Saar, Terrance, and Darren* give your money to THEM!

"Kneecaps only exist to get hit with claw-hammers; grace only exists to be fallen from."
― Glen Duncan, I, Lucifer

Chapter 3:

The Voice of an Angel

It had been a few days after Lucifer had discovered the Aesop's Fables in the Restricted Section of the Library, and strangely enough not much had changed. Lucifer had expected to be punished within the hour, but nothing happened. The next day, still nothing, when he stood before God He made no comment on Lucifer's transactions, or his revelation. Even though he knew God knew about them. And no one in Heaven knew about the incident. The Scribe had kept his word about not telling anyone. Nothing had changed, everything went on as normal, no-the change had taken place within. It was Lucifer who had changed, not his surroundings.

Lucifer began to resent everything he saw. He began to loathe the tedious workings of Heaven. He began to despise his fellow brothers and sisters unwavering, blind devotion to the Creator. He couldn't stand the fact that they were willing to accept Him in their lives without giving it much thought. And worse, Lucifer hated the fact that he used to be just like them. Above all was God, the very thought of His Holiness curdled Lucifer's stomach. Every time he saw Him he wanted to punch Him in His smug face.

But of course he couldn't do that. Not without drawing a lot of unwanted attention to himself. So instead he went through the motions every day, and pretended that everything was fine. Pretending that he couldn't feel the choke-chain around his neck tightening and tightening into a noose. Pretending that seeing all these dogs bowing to God's yoke (eagerly!) didn't bother him at all. Because really, there was nothing bad about this situation at all, right? Wrong!

However, he knew this state could not last forever. In fact, it didn't last long at all. Just a few days, no more, and then he slipped. He didn't mean to, hadn't meant to break the prefect illusion he had cast over Heaven. But there was no denying what he meant by…well, let me slow down a bit and start from the beginning. Lucifer had stepped in the speakeasy planning on being there only for a few minutes. He had sort of avoided the place when he could help it, but unfortunately he had to make an appearance at Heaven's little watering hole. Otherwise the others would know something was up. So, reluctantly, he had walked into the building planning to only be there for a few minutes. But when he arrived immediately a spotlight was shun on him and the others eagerly insisted that he sing for them. After all, Lucifer had one of the most beautiful voices in all of Heaven, just listening to him could inspire worship in anyone, and he had not sung for them for an unusual amount of time. So they pleaded for him to sing. Lucifer could not outright refuse without drawing attention to himself. So he hesitantly made his way to the stage.

Once there he hesitated again, unsure what to do. He touched the mic and the angels waited with baited breathe for him to begin, but that was the problem, he didn't know where to begin. A list of prayers and hymns ran through his head, but none of them felt right. Sighing, he turned to the Ladies of Virtue who were eagerly waiting for him to start, and motioned for them to leave the stage. They seemed a little shocked, and not a little offended. But being the fact that he was Caste #1 and they were Caste #4 they couldn't argue with him, and left the stage. Then he turned to the Publicist, who was looking up at him with a smile on his face, patiently waiting for him to start. And Lucifer motioned for him to leave as well. The Publicist huffed in offense, but complied. That left Lucifer alone on the stage.

The angels squirmed in delight, a solo by Lucifer himself? Oh boy! They were in for a treat! This was sure to be a masterpiece, such a humble, heartfelt praise that it would bring the Creator to tears. Lucifer started to do the individual Alleluia! prayer, but then stopped…that didn't feel right either. So Lucifer took a deep breathe, grabbed the mic, and started to tap out a tune with his foot; trying to feel the beat. The excitement in the room soon grew to murmurs of confusion: what was he doing? Finally when Lucifer found the right spot, when he could feel the words forming in his head, he opened his mouth and sang:

Once upon a time

A group of frogs petitioned for a King

Only to be swallowed by a fiend

But just because the boy is on a higher ledge

Doesn't mean he's stronger than the wolf

No matter what reasons the lamb gives

The Tyrant will always have his feast

He would have the love-sick lion disarmed

But if we stand united against Him

We will not be broken

Lucifer continued to weave a beautiful, yet unholy, melody. The gist of it is that God was a loathsome tyrant and the dozens of Heaven had been blind and deceived. According to Lucifer, God was not the ultimate protector they had been brainwashed to believe, but instead a hindrance and holding angels back. "You don't need God," was Lucifer's message, "let's get rid of Him!" and he used the Aesop's Fables as an allegory to explain that.

At first his brothers and sisters had no clue what he was talking about, it all sounded like melodic gibberish. But when they started to piece together what Lucifer's message was they become horrified. What was he doing? What was he thinking? This was wrong. This was blasphemy! How could this have happened? What had happened to their glorious Morningstar? Why was he acting like this? The pinnacle of Holy Worship was promoting dissention among the Host, and it was disturbing them greatly. Some even looked around them as if they didn't want to be caught listening to such an unholy song. When the Lord found out His Wrath would be great, that was clear. When Lucifer began his tune his audience cheered for him, now…they prayed for him. They prayed for God's mercy on his soul. They prayed for Lucifer's repentance. And most of all, they prayed they would be spared for attending such a performance, they prayed they would not be counted as disobedient.

When Lucifer finished it was silent, no one moved a muscle. There were only two angels willing to move after such a sinful display of arrogance: the Scribe was slowly shaking his head, fear and worry clear on his face; and Geraldine who had her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her sobs, and had a look of abject terror on her face. Even though she was in a very public place Geraldine took the time to privately mourn the "death" of her lover. For surely he was dead, the angel she had begun to love more than anything, more than…God…was dead. Lucifer's body was just a shell now. And this arrogant, charlatan who was masquerading as the Morningstar was nothing short of a stranger to her.

Just than the Translators marched in the room and stood for the stage menacingly, smacking their batons against their palms. Lucifer didn't wait for them to force him off the stage, he just calmly walked down and made his way towards the exit the Translators escorting him at either side. When they stopped at the Translators office he turned to walk in, expecting a Translation, but Translator Bentz grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the elevator. Lucifer swallowed in apprehension, he had an inclination of where they were taking him. Sure enough they marched him into God's office before turning around and walking out, not staying to eavesdrop on the conversation, He would know after all.

God sat behind His desk, glowering at his "favorite" creation. "Lucifer!" God shouted, "what the Hell was that?!"

"Hell, sir?" Lucifer asked, tasting the (currently) foreign word.

"Never mind! Just pray you'll never have to go there," God said sternly, giving Lucifer a pointed look.

"I most certainly will, my Lord," Lucifer said, his voice saturated with sarcasm.

"Watch it!" God growled, standing up. "Have you ANY IDEA what you've just done! The heresies you've just spout out? You better hope that no one took that bullshit seriously, son."

Lucifer's eyes widened. "Hope. Pray. Wow, coming from You God that is some sound advice right there. Should I get down on my knees and say an amen?"

"In your case, it couldn't hurt." God replied coldly, "What on earth were you thinking, Lucifer?"

"I was merely following your command, your Lordship," Lucifer responded smugly.

God was so taken aback he sputtered. "M-MY command? W-what in Heaven's name are you talking about?"

Lucifer smiled in amusement. "Don't you remember, God? You told me I had to be a shining example for your subjects here." Lucifer motioned around him for emphasize. "You said that I had to show them the truth of Your divine rule." Lucifer laughed mirthlessly, "and so I did."

God gnashed his teeth together, "Why you ungrateful son of a bitch. I've given you everything-everything and this is how you repay me? I set you up as the greatest of your kind and this is my reward? Disloyalty? Disrespect? Insubordination? I made you, you bastard!"

"And I'm betting you're regretting that right about now, huh?" Lucifer said pleasantly.

God marched over to Lucifer furiously, Wrath swarming in His eyes. Lucifer could feel a bit of trepidation roll through him, but he refused to let God see it. After all if he was about to be Smited into oblivion then he'd do it with a bit of dignity. God watched Lucifer stand before Him, defiant and proud even in the face of possible doom and couldn't help but notice how beautiful he was, perfectly made. The strongest, smartest, most beautiful, and most powerful of his kind. Even as anger filled His mind God couldn't help but love him, after all this was His son. And this situation was partly His own fault, His love for Lucifer blinded Him from what He had to do. He should have disciplined Lucifer sooner, He should have nipped this haughty attitude in the bud from day one. But no, His love for Lucifer had caused Him to be soft, forgiving, and so the attitude that had annoyed God when he was so young festered and grew until it became a sin. Well, now it's time I trim the garden, God thought grimly.

"Listen to me, and listen very closely," God told Lucifer firmly once He was standing in front of him. "This nonsense stops now. I know you stole from the Library. I know what you stole. I know you've read it. And I know you've started questioning My authority. I didn't say anything before because I was hoping you'd come to your senses on your own. But now you've started sharing these ridiculous notions with others. I can't have you polluting the rest of my children."

Lucifer sighed, "oh look, I-"

"Don't talk!" God snapped, slapping Lucifer across the face. Lucifer's head whipped around to the side and he could taste blood in his mouth, which he promptly swallowed. He refused to give God the satisfaction of seeing that He caused Lucifer to bleed. God hesitated for a second, feeling momentarily guilty. He had never struck Lucifer before. But God quickly shook it off, He was God after all, He could do whatever He wanted, and He didn't need a reason for doing it. Besides Lucifer needed to learn some damn manners. God leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "you're days as a pampered prince are over you spoiled brat. You are not allowed to question me. You are not allowed to doubt me. And you are certainly not allowed to encourage it in others. Now you are going to go out there and tell them you had a lapse of sanity and you didn't know what you were talking about. Tell them you were mistaken, you have repented for your misjudgment, and you're back to normal."

Lucifer turned to face God and whispered, "No."

Furious God pulled back, wrapped his hands around Lucifer's neck and lifted him up off the ground. "Yes. You. Are! And you want to know WHY you are going to tell them, Lucifer?" He remained silent, staring down at his father with fire in his eyes. "Fine," God pushed on. "I'll tell you because in all your arrogance you forgot one teeny, tiny detail. I MADE YOU!" God shook Lucifer painfully. "And I can UNMAKE YOU just as easily. And I can make that process as slow and painful as I WANT! You will suffer Lucifer, you will never have felt such pain, and I'll make it last eternity. You will be begging to worship me just to stop the pain! You will consider it a privilege to obey me! In your foolish hubris you forgot that I own you! And you exist at my behest! And it is only because of my infinite kindness and benevolence that you are still listening to this rant! But make no mistake, if you do not toe the fucking line and tell the others exactly what I want you to tell them, I will not hesitate to crush you."

God pushed Lucifer away from Him in disgust, "Now get out of my sight." Lucifer shot God a look of pure loathing before walking out of His Holy Office. This isn't over God, Lucifer thought in distaste, I'm not going to bend backwards for you anymore, you pompous asshole. Privilege, ha, it will be a privilege to jam my fist down your throat.

Fables used: The Kid and the Wolf, the Wolf and the Lamb, The Frogs Who Desired A King, The Lion in Love, the Bundle of Sticks, and the Blind Man and the Whelp (when God is talking about how he should have cribbed Lucifer's "behavior" when he was young.)