Chapter 13
Lucifer did not like the silence that blossomed as he drove. Rory had scarcely moved since he had started the car; even a loud horn blast and a vehicle swerving up ahead had not broken her out of whatever painful mental process she was in the midst of. He was careful not to drive too fast. He knew Ellie liked it, thought Rory probably would too, but he was keen to prolong their physical proximity as much as possible. Rory's antagonism and stubbornness being what they were, Lucifer wasn't sure when he would next get to spend so much time alone with her.
'You know,' he said to her as they slowed for yet another red light, 'once upon a time, I made your Aunt Maze mad.'
Rory did not question, but she did move her head around by a few degrees, which Lucifer considered progress.
He continued, 'The next morning, I found my bed crawling with southern widows. And not the good kind, the spider kind. My whiskey gone, replaced with urine…'
'I expected more from such a renowned demon,' she mumbled.
'Oh, she also did something far more heinous,' he added, suppressing a genuine shudder at the memory. 'She shorted all of my suits.'
Rory snorted. 'That's more like it. So? Did you have it coming?'
'You tell me,' he said, as they started to move, though slowly, given the early-evening traffic. 'I ate the last of her Froot Loops.'
She snorted again. 'Yeah, I'm on her side.' Then, 'Why are you telling me this?'
'Just an anecdote,' he said innocently. 'There was a valuable lesson to be learnt that day – don't mess a demon about. She did that to me… which leaves the question of what she'll do to you if you miss her wedding.'
'Oh,' Rory said.
'Indeed. Eve told me that you RSVP'd 'No', which is a fact she's been wise to conceal from her future wife.'
Rory scoffed. 'Why would Maze even care that I'm not there? She doesn't know me.'
'Well, in all fairness, you haven't given her much of a chance to get to know you. Or anyone else for that matter. But this wedding could be an opportunity to fix that.'
She sighed.
'Ellie will be there,' he coaxed. 'Trixie, too, she's taking a couple of days away from summer camp to attend. Eve also said she doesn't mind if your cousins come too.'
'I'll pass on the memo,' Rory said, thinking of Sophea. 'They must be pretty desperate to get the numbers.'
'Well, in fairness, it's not as though either of their extended families are viable options for the guest list, especially given that a couple of humans who don't know the truth of the celestial world are going.'
Rory shrugged. 'I guess not.' Then, 'What, no mass-possessions?'
'Not the best idea,' Lucifer said. 'The last time a large number of demons came to Earth, it wasn't a particularly great time. Charlie got kidnapped – you can imagine how horrified Linda and Amenadiel would be.'
'Well, Charlie turned out fine,' Rory drawled.
'Well, you would know.'
She looked away and did not reply.
'Speaking of weddings,' Lucifer said, and then hesitated. Was this really the right time?
Rory rolled her eyes violently. 'Oh, stop putting off the inevitable,' she said irritably. 'Just propose already.'
'Ellie told you?'
'She's been banging on about little else.'
'I just wanted to run it past you first,' Lucifer said, oddly tentative. 'I know we haven't known each other for long, I know Chloe is practically a stranger to you… I didn't want you to imagine this as a slight against your own mother – '
'My mother means nothing to me,' Rory said vehemently. 'All Chloe has to do is spare me a glance every millennium or so, and acknowledge that I exist, and she's already done more than she has.'
'I… thought as much,' Lucifer replied. 'But I thought I would double check. This means a lot to me, but so do you and your sister.'
'Is Trixie okay with the idea of you marrying her mother?'
'Ecstatic.'
'Her folks?'
'Her father's dead, her mother gave me her blessing long ago.'
'What the fuck are you waiting for then?'
'Language, Rory,' he chided gently, and ignored the eyeroll he saw in the wing-mirror. 'And as I said, I wanted to make sure you and Ellie were both okay with it. This would affect both of you, in law if nothing else.'
Rory shrugged. 'Doesn't bother me, honestly. Like you said, Chloe's a stranger, but so's pretty much everyone around here. And from what I've seen and heard, Ellie likes her well enough. Hell, she's at her place off her own volition, she's clearly right up her a– '
'Rory,' he rebuked again.
'Just, if you're gonna do it when I'm in the vicinity, give me fair warning so that I don't actually boke my ring up.'
'You've a lovely way with words,' he huffed. 'But very well, I find 'monkey bottoms' to be quite a good code phrase.'
She snorted.
'Ellie, sweetie, you're gonna make yourself dizzy if you keep doing that…'
The young angel stopped her joyful dancing and grinned at her.
'Only if I choose to be, Chloe,' she said, eyes shining.
'Right, of course,' she chuckled. 'Self-actualisation.'
As it was, Ellie was slightly breathless as she joined her once more in the kitchen. 'Is there anything I can do to help?'
'No, you're fine,' Chloe replied, heart melting at her enthusiasm. 'I think tonight calls for take-out! We'll wait for your dad and your sister to arrive so that they can help choose.'
Ellie tilted her head in confusion. 'What's take-out?'
Chloe was stunned. 'You, uh, order food,' she explained. 'And someone comes and delivers it.'
'That's so cool,' Ellie breathed.
A beep from Chloe's phone made both of them jump.
'Linda,' Chloe said as she picked up the device.
Ellie's eyebrows creased in concern. 'Is she okay?'
'Uh, I think so,' Chloe said. 'Calling for another girls' night for tomorrow, I mean the last one was only a few days ago…'
'Isn't that a social convention wherein humans consume a large amount of alcohol, largely but not solely to forget their problems?' Ellie asked.
Chloe actually burst out laughing. 'You're not wrong, Ellie.' Then, 'You and Rory are both invited.'
'I'm in,' Ellie said. 'Rory will be too, if, like you say, there's enough alcohol.'
'Is that wise?' Chloe asked, before shaking her head. 'Sorry, I just keep forgetting you're both celestials that are much older than you look. I guess alcohol doesn't affect you the same way it affects humans?'
'That's okay,' Ellie giggled. 'And no, it doesn't, unless we want it to… So, how long do you think Lucifer and Rory will be?'
Chloe smiled again at her enthusiasm. 'It's not quite rush hour yet, and your father has a habit of driving over the speed limit, so… I'd say perhaps another ten minutes or so.'
Ellie nodded. So, how long have you known?' she asked conversationally. 'About the celestial side of things, I mean?'
Chloe hummed. 'Two years, now, I think,' she said. 'I'll admit, I didn't react in the best way, but… your father forgave me, and we're well past it now. Did you… tell anyone you met on Earth when you lived there?'
Ellie shook her head. 'I imagine they thought I was different,' she said at last. 'In the later years I mostly kept to myself – it's a long story – but in the earlier years… Well, my foster family were merchants. I often helped out with the loading and unloading of the crates at the dock, it was nice to feel useful, you know, but it must have seemed strange to them that a small girl could lift twice the weight at twice the speed as the grown men.'
Chloe grinned. 'I bet they loved that,' she laughed lightly.
Ellie smiled too. 'It certainly confused them,' she admitted. 'But… it's not too crazy, I guess. It's the Cursed Islands, there's plenty of people there with strange abilities. For all they knew, I was a random foundling child. Perhaps they thought I was descended from a sorceress or something.'
'Wait, sorceresses? Like magic? Really?'
Ellie nodded. 'My cousin, Cora, her mother was a sorceress. A powerful one, too. They say she was descended from Lilith herself.'
'Wow,' Chloe said, nodding along as she processed the information. 'She certainly sounds interesting. So… was your mom a sorceress too?'
Ellie shrugged. 'No idea,' she said. 'I wouldn't rule it out, though. Lucifer said he's never been to the Cursed Islands, and only the most powerful of them can get out and across the sea. And it's a fair assumption that we're from there, as the rest of our cousins are, except Charlie.'
Chloe narrowly avoided a sharp intake of breath. 'Can you do magic?'
Ellie bit her lip nervously.
She was spared from having to answer as the apartment door opened.
'Lucifer! Rory!' Ellie said quickly, rushing to greet them.
'Hello, darling,' Lucifer said gently to her as the sisters hugged.
'Issi ao sȳrī?' Rory asked her sister in a quiet, guttural tone as they embraced. Are you okay?
Ellie beamed at her. 'Kessa, mandia. Nyke sīr biare,' she answered in rapid Qrimbrōstan. Yes, sister. I am so happy.
'Hey, you guys,' Chloe moved to join them as the twins stepped apart. 'You look…' She grappled for the right word. 'Exhausted.'
'It was quite the session,' Lucifer said smoothly. 'You should see Linda… Right, Rory?'
The other Nephilim snorted derisively.
'Linda just messaged the group, calling for another Tribe night tomorrow,' Chloe told him.
'We're invited, too!' Ellie told Rory excitedly. 'Isn't that fun?'
Rory gave her sister a withering look. 'Is there alcohol involved?'
'So much,' Ellie confirmed.
She shrugged. 'Guess I'm in then.'
'It's lovely to see you here, darling,' Lucifer said, moving to hug his other daughter.
'Chloe accidentally prayed to me,' Ellie laughed lightly. 'But it's actually been really nice!'
Rory made a retching motion at an angle only her sister could see; Ellie subtly made a retaliatory hand gesture.
'That's lovely,' Lucifer said with a wide smile.
'I've had physical contact with two humans as well today!' Ellie boasted with a wide smile.
'Two humans?' Lucifer asked. He smirked at her. 'Eleonora Morningstar, I had no idea.'
Ellie laughed lightly again, until she heard Rory snort. 'Oh, no, Lucifer, not like that, eww, I meant hugs! Chloe and her mother!' she protested.
'That's great, Ellie,' Lucifer gushed.
'I'm proud of you,' Rory said quietly to her sister, a soft, genuine smile lighting her features for a few seconds.
'Did you both want to stay for dinner?' Chloe asked, looking between Lucifer and Rory. 'Ellie and I have been discussing take-out.'
'Sounds great,' Lucifer said. 'You know my card details.'
'C'mon, Rory,' Ellie wheedled her sister.
'Fine,' she said shortly. 'I mean, yeah, thank you.' She looked around. 'T still not back from that sciencey thing?'
'Not for another few days,' Chloe told her. 'She's coming back the day before the wedding and then going back for another week just after. I'm sure she'd love to hang out with both of you again.'
'That would be nice,' Ellie smiled.
'So, where are we thinking for food?' Chloe asked the three angels.
'Wherever the girls desire,' Lucifer replied straight away. 'But before that…' He trailed off and smiled at his daughters. 'I have a little something for both of you.'
The twins exchanged a surprised glance.
'A gift?' Ellie asked, soft and disbelieving, eyes wide.
'Indeed,' Lucifer replied, retrieving a slim box out of each of his jacket pockets, and handing one to each of them.
'Thank you,' Ellie breathed.
Rory's eyes were wary, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, as she echoed the sentiment in a deeper voice.
Ellie was the first to open her box, to reveal a new cell-phone, along with a thin wallet.
'Wow, thank you, Lucifer!' she squealed. 'I've always fancied one of these!'
'They're both already set up,' Lucifer explained, as Rory took her identical device out of her box. 'You'll just need to set up your own passwords. There's a few phone numbers already saved into them. In the wallets, you'll find your ID, which will also serve as a driver's license, and credit cards in your own names, so that when you're on Earth you won't need to borrow mine.'
'Thank you so much, Lucifer,' Ellie said, moving to give him another hug.
'That was thoughtful. Thank you,' Rory said in a small voice.
'Well, I know I've got a long way to go in making up for the hundreds of birthdays and Christmases I've missed, but I hope this is at least a start,' he said to them. Then he smiled towards Chloe. 'What's this you were saying about take-out?'
'Hey, Sachairi,' the Angel of Death said as she once again took a moment's respite close to Heaven's gates. 'This is becoming something of a habit with you, isn't it?'
'Hullo, Aunt Azrael,' he said dully.
Azrael scrutinised the lad for a moment. 'Something wrong?'
'I've messed up,' he admitted miserably. 'You've got your blade back, sure, but what if I've messed things up for Rory? Last I heard, she's the one getting the blame for it going missing. I did it for you and for her in equal measure, but what if I've just gotten her into more trouble with Lucifer?'
'It's a tough one,' Azrael said, mulling it over. 'Does Rory know it was you?'
Sachairi nodded. 'I told her earlier today,' he said. 'She was only angry that I'd put myself out, though, not that I'd actually done it. She told me she would protect me, and not tell anyone…' He shook his head with a sigh. 'She's my little cousin, and she's already been through enough. I should be the one protecting her.'
'Well, you tried,' Azrael said awkwardly, never one for being great with feelings.
'I think I should confess,' he said quietly.
'Perhaps wait until it's all mulled over?' his aunt suggested. 'Lucifer was more worried, I think, that it was going to end up in the wrong hands. Michael, say. He's calmed down a little now that he knows I have it… I'm meeting him tomorrow, and I can tell him it was taken with good intentions. The only other angel who knows is Gabriel, though, so it might be a good idea to fess up before she tells him.'
Sachairi paled. 'I hadn't thought of that.'
Azrael smiled at him, attempting to be encouraging. 'I'll tell you how it goes, tomorrow,' she said to him. 'Then you can plan what you're going to do. In the meantime, though – ' she broke off and grimaced, ' – I have work to do. There's been a plane crash over the Pacific… I really hope it's not a result of your father's machinations.'
'There was something else I was hoping to talk to you about,' Sachairi said, quelling his disappointment that their talk was to be cut short. 'But… it can wait.'
She smiled at him again. 'Smell ya later, Sach.'
As the Angel of Death took rapid flight, Sachairi watched, intrigued, as another figure approached the pearly gates.
'Nice, Rory?' Lucifer asked.
The four of them sat together at Chloe's dinner table, the atmosphere heavy with the scent of Italian food. Chloe had let Lucifer choose, who had let Rory choose, who had let Ellie choose, and she had expressed a desire for pasta.
'It's different,' she said honestly, working her way through a mouthful of thick alfredo sauce. 'Though not unpleasant by any means.'
'Well, maybe you could let me teach you to read English menus, and you could choose something for yourself, rather than just copying me,' Ellie said, elbowing her twin with a wink.
'Well, maybe you could ease off and realise that I'll actually eat pretty much anything,' Rory replied with the same attitude.
Ellie laughed. 'How is it that you're the most worldly of all the half-angels and yet you have the least curious culinary palate?' she asked.
Rory scoffed, but there was absolutely no bite to her retort. 'Well, some of us didn't grow up with food merchants for foster-parents,' she said. 'Some of us were raised in the north-west, where there wasn't much choice.'
'The winter food shortages only affected the midland islands, though, right?' Ellie said. 'We didn't get much news of the western isles where I was.'
Rory snorted. 'Nope.'
'Okay, food game,' Lucifer suggested. 'Best meal in the world: go.'
'Grilled cheese,' Chloe said. 'Or tacos.'
Lucifer sighed theatrically. 'You see what I'm dealing with?' he whispered to Ellie, who giggled. 'What about you, darling?'
'The harvest moon festival feasts were always stellar,' she sighed dreamily, before looking to her sister. 'Did you have them where you lived?'
Rory nodded. 'They were decent, that's for sure. I'll agree with you on that, though I bet the meals were different.'
'Although,' Ellie pondered. 'Paris.Do you remember that hôtel in Paris we went to with the others in the eighties? The other twins' first long trip Earth-side since they were kids? I reckon that could rival it.'
'Was that the same trip where Cora accidentally self-actualised mortality and got really sick after eating all that cheese? Went all down the back of the radiator.'
Ellie rolled her eyes. 'I'm glad you remember all the good parts.'
'I remember going to Paris with my mom in the eighties,' Chloe said reflectively. 'I was just a little kid, but the food was great.'
'You didn't get any strange smells coming from any of the radiators, did you?' Rory asked her seriously.
'Enough, Rory, we're eating,' Ellie said. 'Poor Cora, you know she knows everything you're going to say before you say it.'
'Then she also knows I'll apologise for bringing it up again,' Rory shrugged, tilting her head up with a small smirk to the ceiling.
'Okay, and the worst meal in the world?' Lucifer said, continuing the conversation in a relatively safe topic.
'Anything overly tomatoey,' Ellie said with a shudder. 'It's nice, but not when it's too strong.'
'Agreed,' Chloe said. 'Nothing worse than a burger with too much ketchup. Lucifer?'
'The Ancient Romans were fond of their sea urchins,' Lucifer said, pulling a face. 'I, however, was not.'
'Go on, Rory,' Ellie said. 'It can't be worse than the cheese story.'
'You'd think,' Rory said, carefully taking a bite of pasta. 'And you'd be wrong. And we're eating, as you rightly said.'
'Well, I'm curious now,' Lucifer said.
'Fine,' Rory said. 'Long story short, there was a time, when I was a kid, when I was loose on the streets in the capital city of the south-western Cursed Island. I didn't have a penny to my name, and no friends around at that point, and, well, you get kinda desperate when you're hungry.'
'Oh, no,' Ellie sighed. 'This isn't where you confess to being a human cannibal or something, is it?'
'No,' Rory scoffed. 'At least, not knowingly.'
'Wait, what?' Chloe said.
Rory looked at her, then back at Ellie. 'There was a pot shop on one of the backstreets. A single copper coin for a bowl of… well, food is a generous description.' She snorted. 'But if you took some sort of ingredient with you, you could eat for free, the idea being that you helped to make whatever it was. I'd go each day with whatever I could get my hands on – wild onions, sometimes, wild mushrooms, acorns, dandelions, a dead pigeon if I was lucky enough to catch one – '
'Eww,' Ellie protested. 'That's gross!'
'Just don't eat them raw,' Rory shrugged. 'Trust me, Cora and the cheese is nothing on that…' She saw the look on her sister's face. 'Well, I did warn you… Anyway, I frequented that little pot shop most days during my worst times, and it was honestly wiser not to ask what was in it, especially the meat.'
'And your foster family had no idea you were doing this?' Lucifer asked, shocked.
Rory shook her head. 'I told you it was a long story. We all… kinda got separated at one point. My foster mother, not that she'd've been any help anyway, she didn't like me at all, she was on a separate island with most of the other kids. My foster father was in jail for a crime he didn't commit.' She seemed to close off, as though certain she had revealed too much, and determined not to say more.
'Wait, wasn't he on the city council for a bit?' Ellie asked, scrunching her eyebrows as she tried to remember. 'We only got snippets of gossip in the east… but there was a big old coup one year in the western government, wasn't there?'
Rory nodded, and the other three could not miss the pain in her eyes. 'Yeah,' she said shortly. 'He and his whole bloody family got right royally shat on.'
They continued their meals in silence.
'What happened to them?' Chloe asked her tentatively after a minute.
Rory looked up, and regarded Chloe with a hostile expression. 'That's none of your damn business,' she snapped, eyes briefly flashing red and fiery.
'Excuse me, young lady – ' Lucifer started.
'Rory!' Ellie hissed at her. 'Manners!'
'Might I be excused?' she asked coldly, pushing her plate away and rising to her feet. As she did so, Chloe's sharp eyes noticed a golden knife-handle peeking out of her belt. 'I appear to have lost my appetite.'
Chloe looked at her, mortified. 'Rory, I'm so sorry if I – '
'Apologise to Chloe first, Rory,' Lucifer said in a low voice.
'No, Lucifer, it's okay, she – '
'Aurora,' he prompted, sterner.
'Rory, where are you going?' Ellie whimpered as her sister turned away and made her way out of the apartment. She raised her voice. 'Rory, come back! Rory, please! Rory!'
The three of them exchanged glances as they heard the door slam, and the beating of wings as Rory took flight. Ellie looked devastated, Lucifer angry, Chloe worried.
Rory, however, did not stop until she slumped under the red-leaved tree in her favourite garden in the Silver City. And for the first time in nearly four hundred years, she let her tears fall.
Amenadiel surveyed the dim hallway of Hell with a growing sense of impatience. His ears rung out with the hundreds of nearby screams, and he had long given up trying to shake the ash from his clothes. He had been dawdling in this particular hallway for the better part of a month now – likely only hours on Earth – in an attempt to gather information on Michael's activity. Unlike Lucifer, he had taken Maze's story seriously, and was keen to find out at least something about the soul his brother seemed to have taken an interest in. Just a name would be enough, or a date of death – Earthly research could do the rest…
Thus, he kept close watch on the open Hell-loop door. He did not dare press closer, wanting not to be seen. The open door was not the only curious thing about the place. For one thing, there seemed to be a light emanating out of it. For another, it was silent. No movement, no demons; no screams, pleas, or even audible conversation. Yet Amenadiel could still sense Michael's presence – faint, but unmistakable.
The older angel did a few mental calculations. He could afford to stay in Hell another few days…
Rory had not been in the garden long, before she heard approaching footsteps.
'I'm really not in the mood for a lecture,' she snapped as the figure drew closer. 'I'll apologise later, maybe.' She turned to see her eldest cousin's sweet face. 'Sorry, Cora. Thought you were Ellie.'
'She would look for you soon,' she warned, then tilted her head. 'Do you want to go to Purgatory for a bit?'
'You – oh, of course you know about my hiding places,' Rory said with an exasperated eyeroll.
Cora replied by pushing a finger to her lips.
'Thanks,' she said with a nod. 'Wish I could, but I made a promise I'd go back tomorrow for some stupid drinking night. If I go there for more than a few minutes, I'll miss it.'
Cora nodded in understanding, then moved her arms forward to reveal a round, metal flask she had hidden behind her back.
'What's that?' Rory questioned.
Her cousin pressed the small container into her hands. 'For you.'
Rory unscrewed the lid, and took a sniff.
'You barely ate,' Cora whispered.
'I love you,' Rory sighed, drinking the warm, rich broth in several gulps. When she was done, she got steadily to her feet. 'Did you see what happened earlier? Before?'
Cora nodded, fixing her with her usual intense stare. 'Among much else,' she said.
'Before me and Ellie went to Earth all those years ago…' she struggled out, 'You… you were so upset all the time. For weeks leading up to our departure. You saw, didn't you? What was going to happen to me? What I had to do? What I would become?'
Cora inclined her head slowly, eyes glistening. 'Aye. I saw all, but could do nothing. You know why.'
Rory nodded, and swiped at her face, removing every trace of her tearful outburst. 'I do not blame you, cousin, you have done me no wrong. Grandfather, however…' she trailed off momentarily. 'It must be so lonely for you,' she said in a broken voice. 'Seeing things… hearing things… not being able to talk about them.'
Cora gave her a sympathetic smile. 'In many ways we are cut from the same cloth, so we are,' she agreed.
'Did I do it right?' Rory asked, voicing her main concern. 'At the session? You could see past the block, right?'
'All would be well,' Cora said serenely. 'But there is much more you must know.' Her gaze intensified again. 'Powers of flesh, and powers of blood… and you are so very powerful, Rory. A change… it is new, and it has happened. I can see it. There are things I can show you, when you are ready.'
Rory's head tilted, curiosity piqued. 'What things? What change?'
Cora smiled. 'We require some privacy.' She approached the red-leaved tree, and used the tip of one wing to dislodge a small branch. 'We may tarry a few minutes in the in-between place without impact on the morrow.'
'Alright,' Rory said. 'Let's go. You've got me intrigued, Cora, that's for sure.'
