Let's Make a Deal

by InuVampireChan

To protect Charlie, Lucifer knew he needed to stop acting like the King of Hell and actually be it. Though several thousand years out of the social network tends to make someone rather inept at even the most casual of conversations. If there is one thing the Radio Demon is good at, it's manipulating and reading people. Lucifer figured he could probably use that.

28. A High Cost

Michael came back first.

He appeared in the middle of the room, looking much more composed than he had been when arguing with Lucifer. He tugged on his bow tie, brushed his hair into place and then turned toward their booth. Lucifer narrowed his gaze distrustfully at his twin as he made his way over toward the two of them, left hand tucked behind his back and the other hanging at his side. When he reached the two of them, Michael set his focus on Lucifer only. "I want to talk to you before we continue this again." His eyes darted briefly toward Alastor before returning to him. "Alone, obviously."

This didn't sound like a good idea. If anything, it sounded like an absolutely terrible idea. Yet, he knows that he has to. Not because he owes this person a single thing, but because of the reason he's up here. Lucifer's entire goal is to make them understand that they're not above the Sinners in Hell if they continue what they are doing. If talking to Michael can help accomplish that, he should try. Hopefully without it turning into what it constantly was so far. Raised voices and harsh words thrown at each other.

Nodding his head at his brother, Lucifer turned and looked up to Alastor. "I will be right back."

This did not seem to please the Radio Demon. His own gaze darted toward Michael, narrowing slightly as he tried to seemingly read into whatever it was the Archangel wanted from him. When he couldn't seem to figure it out, he focused back on Lucifer. "I don't trust him." He states, openly and without a single bit of shame. Yeah, he understood that, he didn't trust Michael either.

The Archangel himself snorted at that and placed his right hand on his hip, raising his eyebrows at Alastor. "Yes, of course, because you're so much more trustworthy."

"Compared to you?" Alastor threw back, twisting an amused smirk onto his face. "I absolutely am. I at least am always direct in what I want, and I give my victims a chance to run for their lives."

"Oh, how merciful of you." Turning dismissively away from Alastor he nodded his head at Lucifer. "Sometime this century, if you wouldn't mind. Even with the clock paused, none of us actually want to be stuck in here for an entire day." This at least is something he does agree with, Lucifer doesn't like being away from Hell for as long as he has been and even more so, he doesn't want to be up here for an unprecedented amount of time. Eventually, he does actually want to go home.

Huh.

He actually misses Hell.

Considering the fact he's never actually been able to leave his own domain, he never had to experience the feeling of being away from it. Over the countless centuries he's been down there, he thought there was nothing he hated more than being trapped down there. Sure, he knew he didn't want to be back up here, but he never thought he wanted to be down there either. Yet, now being up here, he realizes that's not true. Hell was suffering, it was the place meant to be a cage that he made his own, that he got to have Charlie, that he's started spending actual time in with Alastor and it's become something more to him. It's become a place that he's actually comfortable being in.

It's become his home and he misses his home. His daughter, the Hotel, the Palace, the paperwork, the time he got to have with Alastor. Playing music with him, laying in bed together, sitting in silence while he slogs through damning amounts of paperwork that the other sorts through for him. He misses sitting in that bayou and drinking coffee with Alastor while the Radio Demon played whatever Jazz music he was feeling at that moment.

He wants to go home.

"Fine. But you only get thirty minutes."

Lucifer moved around Alastor, gently touching his wrist as he passed him and stepped out of the booth. He fell in step beside Michael and followed alongside his twin to the double doors of the meeting room. Michael pulled one open and held it for Lucifer, allowing him to step around him out into the hallway. When his brother joined him he motioned for him to follow him down the left side, deeper into the courthouse and past a few doors. It's been far too long since he was up here that he had honestly no idea where Michael was taking him. He did search around as they moved, for a sign of a trap or something else. Anything that explained what this was.

They reached whatever room Michael was aiming for that he unlocked with a golden key from the keyring on his belt and pulled it open. He let Lucifer in first and then followed behind him, swinging the door shut behind them. The room was like the others, circular and very bright. The floor in here was at least hardwood, a blue circular carpet in the middle with a glass table on top of it. Two couches were on either side of that, bright gold in color and in front of them was a very large, very ornate fireplace.

He didn't feel like sitting, getting comfortable felt dangerous at this moment. He chooses instead to make his way over toward the fireplace, standing beside it and crossing his arms over his chest. There were photographs framed on the mantle of it and he took in the picture of Michael and Azrael, the two of them standing next to each other with equal expressions of blankness. They looked like they were held at gunpoint to take this picture and he actually wants to steal it to take home. It was amusing.

Michael poured them both two glasses and carried them over toward the fireplace, holding one out for Lucifer. He took it and gave the glass a distrustful look. Purple, sparkly, his gaze flicks up toward his twin.

"Cloud Juice, made from cloud fruit."

"What the fuck is cloud fruit?"

"A purple fruit shaped like a cloud, it's quite light and airy, grows near the ponds. Accidental creation, yet incredibly delicious." The Archangel shrugged and raised the glass up, taking a small sip of it.

Right. Lucifer sat the glass down on the mantle and motioned between the two of them. "What am I doing in here? I told you, thirty minutes, and then I want to finish this meeting because I feel like I'm winning."

"You might win in dragging Lute down into Hell, Lucy, but you're not going to win with the other thing you're arguing."

He would be more impressed that Michael actually admitted that Lute was no longer an angel, if it wasn't dimmed down by the second thing he said. "Do you even know what that is?" He questioned, watching his twin take a sip of the weird juice.

Michael lowered the glass down from his face and blinked at the cup, swirling the ice around in it slowly. "I figured it out quickly enough. You think by proving Lute damaged her soul enough with what she's done, you can prove something even grander. That angels can taint their souls still and end up right down in Hell with you. Right?" He turns his head to the side and those impassive golden eyes meet Lucifer's own. "I'll admit, it's a rather incredible plan, clever to some level. You always did have grand ambitions though."

So, they did figure it out then. He shouldn't be surprised, it wasn't as if he wasn't trying to make it clear what his point was. "Am I wrong, Michael? Look at what you've done. Did you hear what she was saying in there? The way she talks like murder is just normal. Like what she was doing was right. You put those ideals in her by creating the exterminations. They've grown numb to taking lives and angry. Vaggie has that same distrustful murderous inclination."

"I didn't say you were wrong." The other replied, turning to face Lucifer and setting his own glass down on the mantle. "But do we blame a soldier for the lives they take during a war? Do we condemn soldiers who fought for their country on the battlefield? Who die with honor trying to protect their fellow men in arms?"

"Some of them." He states, shrugging. "But that's not the same thing. It's not that black and white and you know it. This isn't a war, it's a bloodbath. Hell doesn't want Heaven, I have never had a single thought about starting another war up here. Not until you came for my family. And even then, I did it this way. Legally. Through the proper channels to defend my home." Lucifer took a step closer and reached his hand out, poking his brother in the chest. "And I will continue to defend my home. My daughter, her mother and that Sinner you hate so much in the other room."

Michael raised his hand up and pushed Lucifer's arm away from him. "Is that what this is really about? That contract with your wife?"

"Ex-wife." She was still his family though, the mother of his daughter. "It is and it isn't. If you hadn't sent her down there to hurt her own daughter, I wouldn't be standing here right now, sure. But that doesn't mean I don't believe in every single thing I have said today. You and the other angels up here think you can do whatever you want and still stay in the clouds. It doesn't work that way."

"You really think that killing Sinners is the same thing as what they did in life? That their life holds as much meaning as the angels up here?"

"Because they do. Did you listen to a single thing I said in there?"

"I did. Did you hear me?" Michael waved his hand and popped a tablet into his grip, the same one that Azrael had used in the meeting room to look up Weiss. Lucifer recognized it by the seal on the back, Azrael's own crest engraved on it, the double wings with the scythe. The tablet was waved a bit and then pulled up against his brother's chest who motioned with his other hand toward the couch. "Let me show you something."

Though a bit reluctantly he did follow Michael over toward the couch and took a seat on it beside him, keeping a reasonable amount of distance between them. His twin rested the tablet down over his thighs and started tapping at it. "Azrael let me borrow this to show you something, though he didn't seem very happy to do it. He's rather possessive of the Book of Life and Death, doesn't like it being used like this." He seems to find whatever it was he was looking for and picked the device up, holding it out for Lucifer to take. "Every soul harvested by the Angels of Death, their lives are logged in the Book of Life and Death. Every memory they have, every action they take, every choice they make. Take it and watch the memory I pulled up for you."

Lucifer is starting to get a bad feeling about whatever this was. Alastor was right, he should not have come in here alone with Michael. At least he can tell that his twin is attempting to manipulate him, he just doesn't know where his brother plans on going with this. Taking the tablet he dropped it down onto his own lap and looked down at the screen, narrowing his gaze distrustfully. Michael reached over and tapped the screen, letting the video start playing.

It takes him less than two seconds to realize he's looking at Alastor. Or, more accurately, Alastor when he was alive. That short brown hair, the darker complexion and the adorable glasses on his face. He was really attractive when he was alive. Not that he wasn't attractive now, he was adorable regardless of the body he was trapped in. The monocle was just as endearing to him as the glasses were, but he does find he misses the deer ears on top of his head.

He's probably meant to be paying attention to whatever Michael was showing him and not how cute Alastor was. Sighing boredly he leaned back against the arm of the couch and adjusted the tablet in his lap so he could still see it clearly. Alastor was in what he assumed was Mimzy's club, and ironically the design of it really wasn't that much different than the one they went to in Hell. He was right though, the guests were drastically different. The first thing he noted was the weird clothing, but also the fact they weren't attempting to smash chairs over each other's heads. It actually seemed a bit dull compared to what they experienced at Mimzy's club, no wonder Alastor said he had been bored on Earth.

The human Alastor was tracking a man with his eyes, sipping on what was definitely rye whiskey as he waited. Stalking, hunting, preparing. He's seen the Radio Demon do this in person when he was taking in a situation, feeling out a room and working out the best plan in his head. He has not seen him do it with the intention at the end being murder. The glass was suddenly lowered onto the table and Alastor stood from the chair, hands tucking behind his back as he made his way out of the club.

The man he was stalking was definitely drunk, swaying back and forth, giggling to himself over something. Alastor kept a reasonable distance away, following behind them nonchalantly and without looking directly at them. He did a good job at making it look casual, like he hadn't been watching them for the past several hours probably, just waiting for the moment to do this. He gets a good distance from the bar, onto an empty street where there wasn't a single other soul, and finally made his move.

There's a cloth, some sort of liquid poured onto it, and then Alastor was catching up to them and grabbing them. The man was pinned to the wall, the cloth held over their face, and it was perhaps seconds at most before they were unconscious. Knocked out, laying on the ground, yet still breathing. Drugged, then.

He wonders if that makes them less tasty for the alligators? Would that make them sick? Was it a different type of drug? Lucifer's never kidnapped someone before, he doesn't understand how this works exactly.

Alastor wouldn't intentionally hurt the alligators in the bayou, he clearly had been fond of them.

Getting the body home was not easy, and he'll give Alastor this. No matter how thin and twig-like he looked, he had some muscles. Carrying a full grown man into your murder house could not have been easy, and he was smart for not taking them directly back to his apartment. This seemed like some sort of cabin, a hunting one given the amount of guns on the wall. He remembers the Radio Demon telling him he was an avant hunter in his life, this must have been where he stayed when he hunted during deer season. It was definitely nice, though the bear rug on the floor was rather disgusting. Who wants a rug with a head on it?

The body is dragged into the basement and this was where he realized why Michael was showing him this video. The human is strung up from the ceiling by chains, a long table of various weapons beside it, and a tarp laid on the ground to either catch the blood or the body parts. Lucifer blinked as Alastor took some sort of leather mouth thing and strapped it around their face to lessen the volume of their screaming.

"I get it, you're going to make me watch him torture and kill someone."

The deal he had made with Alastor seemed to ring in his head at that, the words that he'd given in that alley pressing against his skull. "Don't let any of them turn you against me." Was that what Michael was trying to do? It had to be. Why did he think this would work?

"This man you're watching him slowly carve open while they scream and beg for mercy is just one of the two dozen he did this to in life." Michael stated, waving his hand down toward the rather gruesome scene on the tablet. And it was indeed disgusting. "The person he kidnapped to do this to? He was barely nineteen. Made the mistake of going to a bar with some friends. In drinking during a time where alcohol was illegal. They called it Prohibition, and though he did many things wrong that night, none of it deserved this." He nodded at the tablet where Alastor now seemed to be dancing with the young man's intestines. He really cannot laugh at this right now but the feeling is bubbling in his chest dammit. "He was a rising rival Radio Host, and he was going to become quite popular if he had the chance to continue. But his life was cut short like this. He never got to finish growing up, in experiencing the joys of life, in starting a family and falling in love. He was cut down and fed to alligators after being slowly ripped apart."

There's that pride. Can't let anyone be better than him, can't let someone get one up on him. He has to be the best because he knows he's the best. What a brat he is. The Alastor on the tablet was now chopping the young man up, tossing his limbs in a lunch bag for his pets in the bayou. He can make rubber duckies, maybe he should make Alastor an alligator or two for his bayou at the Hotel.

"I see. Um, question." He tilts his head at the tablet in his lap. "You are aware my best friend is the Sin of Wrath, right? If you think this is bad, you should see Satan when he's really pissed off. And I don't mean a blackout rage, I mean the calm rage where he wants to make someone scream. That would make this little dance party Alastor is having look tame."

Frustration actually crosses Michael's face and he leans forward, waving his hand down at the tablet in Lucifer's lap. "Does this bother you at all? That boy, that child, died because he was pursuing his passion. His dreams. He died because your Radio Demon didn't want someone near him who could be better than him."

So Alastor is petty. He knew this, he doesn't need video evidence of it. Lucifer leveled him an annoyed look. "And?"

"This boy died a horrible, painful and vicious death, from someone he admired. He's up here in Heaven, like many other victims of those Sinners in the Pride Ring. Do we not have an obligation to get justice for the victims? So that they can feel safe and protected in their afterlife? So that they can have a home without fear? What are we supposed to tell them when we just let the guilty go free? Let them up here because they did some therapy classes in a Hotel?"

"I hear you, Michael. And I'm not saying someone like Alastor should be allowed up here." Especially when the Radio Demon didn't want to be up here. "I am saying that the demons in Hell that you take such pleasure in murdering don't deserve that. If this is wong," he tapped the tablet in his lap, "then it's wrong across the board. You don't get to justify the means. Your system doesn't work anymore when you let angels start acting like Sinners."

Michael shook his head and turned away from Lucifer, setting his gaze on the ground. He watches his brother for a few minutes, the expressions that flicker across his twin's face, from contemplation to disbelief. He's let this go on for so long that he can't tell between right and wrong anymore. He still thinks, somehow, that he's valid in the things he wants to do. But he's not, and eventually this will blow up in his face. It's just a matter of when it will. Sitting up on the couch he picked the tablet up and reached over, setting it down on the other's lap.

"Michael, as I said in the meeting room, there are lines that can't be crossed. The one that separates Heaven from Hell. That makes an angel an angel, and a sinner a sinner. When you start dancing that line, you pay a high cost and lose a piece of yourself. You can't hurt others just because they hurt someone else. You can't justify the things you do that you know are wrong, because that's what all the Sinners do. And you don't kill someone when they don't tell you what you want." Standing from the couch he straightened his vest out. "That makes you no better than what you define as evil."

Taking a breath he turned and headed toward the door. "Your thirty minutes are up."

Thankfully, he hadn't needed Michael to get back to the meeting room. There were enough Seraphims linginger in the halls that he wandered down that someone was kind enough to actually lead him back to where he was supposed to be. The first one that didn't set their eyes on him and looked like they wanted to run or scream, possibly both at the same time, anyway. The devil wandering their halls unsupervised was apparently a bit more than unsettling. The tall Seraphim walked him right up to the double doors and pulled them open, leading him inside.

Lucifer's gaze darted up first, taking in the sight of all his brothers waiting patiently for his return. At the sight of him Gabriel instantly stood to his feet, his gaze darting along him as if looking for some sort of injury. When it appeared he was fine, the Voice of God's head turned toward the Seraphim. "Thank you for bringing Lucifer back, Seth."

"I wouldn't misplace him again. I found him in the office of the Seraphims, he gave many of them a good fright."

"Seriously, what is my reputation up here? I just got lost. I don't want anything to do with your paper pushers, I don't even like doing my own." Rolling his eyes the King of Hell turned and made his way over toward his booth, stepping around Alastor to get back to his place beside the Radio Demon.

Gabriel sighed like a weight had been lifted off of him yet was replaced with a throbbing headache. He nodded his head down at the Seraphim and they bowed politely before leaving, letting the meeting once more settle. There's a flash beside Gabriel and Michael appeared in his seat, placing everything right back to where it was. After a quick glance in his direction, Gabriel clapped his hands together and nodded at the room. "If all of us are back, we should continue on with the meeting. As it is meant to be, before judgment is placed, Lute deserves a chance to defend herself. We will give her time to do that, and then Azrael will make the choice on if he'll judge her soul or not."

"Where did you go?" Alastor whispered next to him, drawing Lucifer's gaze a bit over toward him.

Taking a step closer to the Radio Demon he kept his voice low to not interrupt Gabriel or the shaking Lute in the booth across from them. Her life was literally hanging on the line here, even if it wouldn't be a permanent death. The entire point was for her soul to reform the new host based on what she was now. Sinner or still an angel. Though the idea of dying is still terrifying, and undoubtedly it was going to hurt to have her soul ripped out, she's still got to live. That was far more than she gave the Sinners she hunted down in Hell.

"I got to see your hobby when you were alive." Lucifer stated, drawing a brief confused look from Alastor. "Not the Radio Show, the night time one. Since you know, butchering people in broad daylight was unbecoming of civilians you said."

This brought a very excited looking expression on the Radio Demon's face. "Fascinating, which one did they show you?"

"Some kid you murdered for becoming popular on the radio?" He offered out, tilting his head in Alastor's direction again. "You danced with his intestines, and as entertaining as that was to watch, please tell me you don't do that now. You looked ridiculous."

Where he expected Alastor to give some malicious or disgusting joke, maybe even a truthful answer, he did not anticipate the laugh that left him. A genuine, quiet, mirthful chuckle that slipped from him. The smile on his face turned fond as he gazed down at Lucifer, a warmth filling his eyes. "Only you would give critiques on the way I murdered someone and not judge the reason for why."

"No, no, Satan would too. That aside, I already know you're petty and murderous." He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against Alastor, turning his gaze back around to look toward Lute. "I'm fine with you the way that you are, Alastor."

"So your defense," Gabriel spoke calmly, drawing Lucifer's gaze up toward him once more, "is that you were doing your job? That you were protecting Heaven?" Which had been her defense up until this point as well, what she had repeated when interrogated by Uriel. It wasn't going to change either, she genuinely believed that she didn't do anything wrong. But she did, and that was going to become evident eventually. A sigh slipped from his brother and Gabriel rubbed his forehead, shaking his head.

"Lute, what you did just outside of the exterminations is bad enough. Hurting another angel just adds to it. You don't get to act like a judge, jury and executioner on your own." He dropped his hand down to his side and set his gaze on Lute. "You don't get to harass your fellow angels, and you certainly don't get to view yourself as above them. Lucifer was right in that feeling that way is a sin. You are not better than everyone else."

He straightens his shoulders and waves his hand across at the other Archangels. "And that is the opinion of the entire court. At the very least, you are found guilty of that." The entire court? His gaze darted toward Michael but his twin was focused on Gabriel. Turning his attention back to the Voice of God, he watched him turn toward Azrael. "Your decision then, Azrael."

The Angel of Death nodded his head and stood from his seat, tossing himself over the edge of the booth and dropping down to the ground. He landed with a flutter of his wings that he quickly tucked away and turned his attention over toward Lucifer. "I want to ask you something first." Tilting his head a bit, the King waited. "Are you doing this because you want to hurt her?"

Ah.

As he had told Alastor before, the Angel of Death was not without sympathy and emotions. He comes across as cold and uncaring, especially when dealing with Sinners, but that's not all he is. Azrael doesn't actually want to hurt people, not unless he feels they deserve it. Does that make it better? No. But he can understand where Azrael is coming from.

"No." Lucifer stated, glancing briefly toward Lute. "Do I think she deserves it though? Of course. For everything she has done, for all the suffering she forced on others, she should feel their pain." He gives a small shrug to Azrael who was still watching him without reacting to what he said. "What do you expect? I'm the devil, Azrael."

The Angel of Death hummed slightly and turned his head away, nodding slowly at Lucifer. Part of him believes this was the answer that Azrael was expecting, and if it disappointed him or not he can't quite tell. Azrael turned and raised his gaze up to one of their brother's. "Raphael." The Archangel stood and flew himself down next to Azrael, landing beside him and giving a nod of his head. Sliding their gaze from their taller brother, Azrael looked at Lute. "I will extract your soul and place judgment upon it. Raphael has agreed to use his healing energy to speed up the process it would take for your body to reform itself. Should you prove to be a Sinner?" He holds his head high as he watches the woman tremble. "I will show you no mercy."

"No! You can't!"

"It won't hurt for long." The door to the meeting room opened and two Seraphims stepped in, one of them Lucifer recognizing as the one who had led him here. Azrael motioned toward Lute and gave his instructions. "Drag her over here and hold her down."

He actually feels a little bad watching this, because he knows she has to be scared. It was evident in the way she trembled, screamed, fought against the Seraphims and sobbed. Yet, he doesn't wonder if this was the right thing to do because he knows it has to be. This was what he had been intending on doing from the start and for everything that she had done, there had to be a price to pay. Just as he told Michael several times now, there can't be justifications for the things they do that they condemn the Sinners for. Either something is wrong for everyone, or it's not wrong at all.

The Seraphims pinned Lute down to the ground by her arms and shoulders, keeping her in place in front of the two Archangels of death. When she was properly restrained Azrael stepped forward and held his hand out, summoning his scythe with a swirl of gold and black magic. Once it was in his grip he swung it down and pointed the sharp curved end of it at Lute. "To get a new afterlife, one must die. To be determined a saint or sinner, your soul must be read, your life logged in the Book of Life and Death. That is the fate that everyone faces and fate is inevitable." Swinging the scythe up he held it tightly in both hands. "For your actions taken, Lute, I will be your judge."

The blade was lifted up and Azrael adjusted his hands on it, swinging it down quickly in a single slicing motion. The scythe cut right across her chest, not spraying a single drop of blood but instead ripping her open spiritually. The golden and swirling black holy energy of the Angel of Death consumed Lute's body, ripping it to shreds piece by piece until all that was left in her place was a ball. A small, glowing ball that hovered in the air she had once been sitting. Azrael's scythe vanished from his hand and he crouched down, gently picking the little soul up and standing back to his feet. He turned around to face Raphael and held the soul out with his right hand, feeding his magic into it.

The energy that Azrael bled into it pulsed like a heartbeat, the soul lighting up with what he used to judge her. Eventually, the magic swirled around it entirely and settled. "I see. Raphael?" The Angel of Justice nodded his head and took the soul from Azrael, allowing the other to wipe his hands on his shirt and take a few steps back. Turning in the room he raised his gaze up to Michael and Gabriel above them. "I have read and assessed the soul of the angel, and as is decided by the Heavenly Order, the sins that she carries in her have darkened her soul. More than we would allow for a soul to enter Heaven."

"I see. So she has indeed fallen from God's Light." Gabriel folded his hands in front of himself and frowned. "When her body reforms itself, it will take the form reflective of who she has become, but she will be unable to stay up here. Will it send her to Hell or Purgatory, Azrael?"

Azrael shifted a bit and turned his head to the side, his gaze landing on Lucifer. There was something in his eyes with the way he watched him, not anger or hatred, not disgust or disappointment like he would expect. It was something else, like understanding. He frowned at his brother, trying to read whatever he was thinking, and then the Archangel was turning away to look back up. "I'm sorry, Gabriel, Michael, but Lucifer was right."

Eyes widening the King of Hell felt his mouth fall open in disbelief. "Holy shit." The words were whispered underneath his breath, his head whipping up to take in Michael's face. His twin just looked resigned to this.

"We turned her into this, did we not? When you hand a child a weapon and teach them it's alright to hurt others, they will continue to do so. When a woman is repeatedly beaten by her husband every single day, eventually she will break. When you justify the crime, it's no longer a crime." Turning to the side he waved his hand out at Raphael and the soul the Archangel was healing. "You turned her into a weapon and were surprised when she acted like one. That is the reality of the exterminators."

Angels turned weapons, turned murderers.

"You can't make something wrong right just by saying it's right to do." Turning a bit he set his gaze on the soul that Raphael was setting on the ground. "She will go where she deserves to, where all murderers end up. In Hell."

Raphael stepped back from the soul and a light wrapped around it, swallowing it up. The light started to grow, twisting into various shapes as the soul itself started to reform its container. The light stretched out, twisting around and eventually settled in a familiar form. When it dispersed and left Lute laying on the ground, she no longer had her wings or her halo but something else had certainly taken their place.

Her soul had settled and what sat before them was definitely demonic in appearance. Like the horns from her helmet there was now a matching set on top of her head, curving around the back of her skull and dark red in appearance. At her back, attached to the base of her spine, was a very imp like tail. Long and whip-like, pointed at the tip, and a deep black. She looked like a Sinner, and like she belonged exactly where he intended on sending her. Dragged to Hell for the things she did.

"Her soul has spoken." Michael stood from his chair and nodded beside him at Gabriel. "There is no need for a vote on the matter of Lute, her own body and the Angel of Death has declared where she falls." Letting his wings lift him from the booth, Michael landed in front of the new Sinner and dropped his gaze to her own. "For the crimes of attacking a fellow angel, of abandoning one of your own, of viewing yourself better than those around you, for taking pleasure in murder, Heaven is condemning you to Hell."

The look on her face was nothing short of horror. Yet, she didn't shed a single tear this time. He wonders if she's just gone numb, if she's shut down entirely and wasn't even really hearing them anymore. He didn't blame her if that was the case, when he was first thrown for Heaven he had done that for a while too. He thinks Angel calls it disassociating, disconnecting from yourself and your mind, a feeling of detachment to everything. She's experiencing an incredible shock and the reality of it might not even hit until she was actually down in the Hazbin Hotel.

Gabriel landed beside Michael and tucked his hands behind his back, looking down at Lute with nothing short of pity. "Don't worry too much–well, maybe worry a little but um, this is the first case of an angel turning into a Sinner. Much like Sir Pentious turned into an angel. As he found a place up here, perhaps there's a chance you can earn your place back in Heaven. If you choose to change, that is. From my understanding, that is how Charlie's Hotel works?" The question was thrown over at him and Lucifer blinked.

"Yes?" There should not have been a question in his voice. "Charlie's Hotel works to help the Sinners understand how to be better people, how to overcome their faults and various problems. She listens to them and encourages them to be better people. To work toward the light, or God's Path if that is what you wish to word it as."

"Emily and I have seen it in person." Zadkiel and the others landed down on the first level. He had a wide smile on his face and motioned toward Lute. "I don't doubt that Charlie will take her in. Our niece is truly a beautiful person. Though what Lute does with that will depend on her."

"Does that mean we're actually giving this stupid Hazbin Hotel some actual credit?" Cassiel demanded, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared down at Lute. "I thought she said Hell is forever? Doesn't that mean she should stay down there and rot with the others?"

"That's not right, Cass." Uriel waved his hand down at Lute. "She made some wrong choices, based on the things we taught her. I want to believe in Charlie's Hotel, though I do agree there needs to be some… regulations, perhaps. Heaven cannot just let anyone in, nor should some people be given a second chance. There are crimes that are deplorable and cannot be forgiven, and those people should be at the bottom of the pit."

The timer that had been set in the meeting room finally struck zero and gave off a long tone, the chimes that followed after it drawing Lucifer's gaze up toward it. His time was up, and yet that didn't strike a horrible feeling in him. Humming happily at Alastor's side he reached his hand over and gently took hold of the demon's own, tugging him out of the booth. "If someone wants to open a portal to Hell, you can drop Lute off right in the Hazbin Hotel. I'll send Charlie a few texts and let her, Lilith and Vaggie deal with the fallout of this." He moved over toward his siblings and Michael snapped his fingers, opening a portal up right beneath Lute.

She dropped down inside it and Lucifer fetched his phone out, pulling up Charlie's messages and typing a quick one to her. It simply read; don't panic, Lute is a Sinner now, convince her to stay. As an afterthought, he opened up Lilith's messages and texted her. This one read; if Lute won't stay, trap her. He'll deal with that when he gets back down there. Tucking his phone away he raised his gaze up to his siblings. "Before you chain me back up in Hell, I would like to say goodbye to Emily. She was incredibly helpful to us and it would be rude to leave without thanking her for that."

"I don't see a problem with that." Michael shrugged and nodded to the Seraphims in the room. "Seth, go fetch Emily."

"So," Uriel leaned in toward them and darted his gaze between Lucifer and Alastor. "What's going on between you two?"

Raising his eyebrows the King leaned in toward his own sibling and whispered back. "What's going on with you and Bel?" Watching the way his face lit up made it absolutely worth it. Uriel yanked back away from Lucifer and coughed awkwardly, attempting to hide the way his face took on a bright gold hue. He tugged on the collar of his shirt and swallowed hard, pretending he didn't at all hear what Lucifer asked despite the way he was reacting.

"Wow! It's hot in here!"

Shaking his head, Lucifer smiled gently and motioned beside him toward Alastor. "He's my partner." Turning his gaze to Michael he shook his head. "That's why your trick was never going to work. Hell is my home, Heaven can never be that anymore. I am happy down there, no matter what you think of it… or me for that." He dragged his gaze across his siblings, taking them in as he continued. "My heart will never beat the way it did before you threw me from here. I have changed and I'm fine with that."

His own soul sings a different tune now, one that isn't holy, and he's content with who he's become. Is Hell perfect? Of course not. It's still a place of suffering and eternal damnation, and it will always be that. But it is his home and he has made it that. He can live with the understanding that he's no longer the angel they had cast from the Heaven's. He's the deviland the King of Hell.

Gabriel shifted and then reached out, grabbing hold of Lucifer and yanking him up against his chest. His much taller brother wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pressed the King up against him, clutching onto him tightly. He felt Gabriel bury his face in the top of his head and then the gentle sound of his voice carried down to his ears. "All we want, Lucifer, is you happy. That's all we ever wanted. Do you think it was easy to cast you out of Heaven? I know you suffered the most that day, but we lost our brother too." Gabriel took a shaky breath and Lucifer is fairly certain his hair is getting wet. Reaching his own arms back around he pressed his hands gently against the Archangel's back, attempting to soothe him. "I will always love you, no matter what."

"I know, Gabe." He does too, he thinks. He knows, at least out of any of them, that Gabriel was on his side. That he wanted this friendship between them, this relationship that they could have. A bond of trust. Lucifer squeezed him one more time before pulling back and stepping up to Alastor's side again. "Listen, all of you are welcome down in Hell to see me if you want. Charlie's Hotel will gladly give you a room to stay, and it would probably be good for the Sinners redemption if they actually saw some angels that weren't trying to murder them." He shrugged his shoulders a little bit.

"I'll visit." Zadkiel stated, grinning widely. "And I'll bring Emily too, she would love to see Charlie more often."

"Good, she's quite adorable." The Angel of Joy more than likely, with her incredibly bright personality and happy aura she gave off.

"I suppose… it wouldn't hurt to see how Sir Pentious got into Heaven." Cassiel sighed and rolled his shoulders. "As much as none of us wish to be in Hell. It's disgusting down there."

Raphael hummed and darted his gaze toward Cassiel. "Depending on where you go. Lust isn't too bad, Asmodeus keeps it rather clean."

Uriel wrinkled his nose at that. "Are you seriously hanging out with the Sin of Lust? Regularly?"

"And you're not hanging out with the Sin of Sloth, Uriel?" The angel threw back, causing Uriel's face to once again flush gold.

He was saved by the doors swinging open and Emily swooping into the room like a storm. She flung herself at Lucifer who stumbled in an attempt to catch her, his own arms wrapping tightly back around her and holding her back. "Haha! Hello there!"

"You're leaving? I feel like we didn't get to spend any time together! I had so much I wanted to show you!"

"I know, but unfortunately, I do have to go home." Lucifer pat her back gently and pulled away, nudging her off of him. "Zadkiel said he'll bring you down to visit the Hotel though. How does a sleepover with Charlie sound?"

"Oh! I want to so badly! Can I? Can I please?" Her head whipped around to look at Zadkiel as she vibrated where she was hovering. Does she ever walk? It was adorable though, her wings might as well have been a tail.

"Not today, they have something going on, but we can plan one, alright?" Zadkiel offered and Emily squealed as she spun in place.

"I'm taking Lucifer home now." Michael stepped between their siblings and reached his hand out, placing it on his shoulder and giving him a push toward the doors. "Gabriel, make sure to file the report and update Father on what happened. I'll head up to Third Heaven to help you when I get back. The rest of you know where to file everything, right? Make sure the proper channels are followed."

He found himself shoved out the doors and pushed down the hallway, the touch never that forceful but not giving him a chance to stop moving either. Eventually he twisted out of Michael's touch and stumbled to the side, his arm getting caught by Alastor to keep him from falling over entirely. Once he was standing right again he continued following along after Michael, the Archangel leading them from the courthouse into the streets of Heaven once more.

Michael provided no information on where they were going, but he could guess that the angel was leading them back to the entrance of Heaven. Why, seeing as he can make a portal anywhere, Lucifer didn't know. But it wasn't as if Michael's attitude was inviting questions at the moment. So instead of pushing it he just stuck beside Alastor and continued walking behind the Archangel.

As they continued through the streets they passed several stores and a few buildings. It takes Lucifer quite a while to realize they're not actually walking toward the gates of Heaven, but actually what felt like further from them. They ended up on a path that seemed to lead deeper into the clouds, into a strange forest with trees that while they looked like trees had more of a cotton edge to them. Fluffier and brighter than trees in the Garden had been. He spotted too in one of them what was probably that Cloud Fruit that Michael had been talking about, a very strange purple in all the bright green that was indeed shaped like a cloud. They looked almost like what the demon's in Gluttony call cotton candy though their cotton candy was stuffed full of that strange red liquid the trees bleed.

They reached the end of the path that Michael was taking them on and when they reached the peak he realized where they were. It opened up into a wide area with clear water in a pond surrounded by those same odd trees and a few benches. Beside them too were little lamps that were shaped like mockingbirds and would light up at night to light the way. In the pond though Lucifer got a view of the adorable, beautiful, and happy ducks that were swimming in the water.

Lucifer's eyes widened and he turned his head over toward Michael, staring at his twin like he couldn't actually believe that he brought him up here. He thought, was beyond certain actually, that he hated him so much that the moment this was over he would throw him right from the edge of Heaven and chain him back up down in Hell. But not only had he not done that, but he took him up here to see the ducks. In the place where Lucifer had first created them when he was playing with the things he was capable of doing.

"Do you remember when we were little how father used to dress us up identical to each other?" Michael wasn't looking at him and his voice was still void of any emotion, but there was something there.

"Hm. Those ridiculous white and blue tunics?" Lucifer asked, smiling a little bit. "Haha, and those really ugly golden slippers."

Michael smiled a little bit now and turned to face Lucifer, nodding his head. "You were always the more emotional one and no matter how father tried to dress us up like each other, I was never quite as he wanted me to be."

The smile fell from his face at that and Lucifer pressed his lips together as he watched his brother. "There was never anything wrong with you, Michael. You were who you were meant to be, and I loved that person." It was true. Michael was his twin, he had thought that compared to all his other brothers, that Michael was closest one to him. They had a bond that couldn't be explained in proper words, a connection that ran so deep that being betrayed by him hurt. Far more than any of his other siblings turning on him had. Losing that connection had been difficult to swallow down.

His brother nodded his head a bit but didn't seem to really believe Lucifer. He turned away and set his gaze on the ducks, watching them bobbing in the water happily. "You were right for one thing today." Holding his hand up his magic swirled around him and a golden piece of paper popped into his grip. Without turning to look at him he held the paper out for Lucifer.

He looked at it unsurely, his gaze darting up toward Michael again before lowering back down. Reaching his hand out he took the paper from him and turned it over in his hands to look down at it. What he had been given was the last thing he expected Michael to offer up willingly. Laid out in plain detail, in those cursive words and clear fine print, signed at the bottom, was the contract between his brother and Lilith. Snapping his head back up he looked at Michael, more than surprised and confused. Hopeful even to some level.

"I should have never sent Lilith down to hurt Charlie. I'm not sorry that I don't believe in this idea of hers, and I'm not going to apologize that I believe the Sinners deserve destruction." He shakes his head. "But, I shouldn't have had Lilith harm your daughter." He nodded his head in the direction of the pond of ducks. "This is my way of apologizing for it, and the contract. I will leave the decision to break it up to Lilith." Turning back around he set his gaze on Lucifer once more. "When you're done with them I'll take you back down to Hell and return the chain on your soul." Holding his hand out he nodded his head at Lucifer. "Give me your phone, I'll put my phone number in it. It'll work to reach me while you're up here. Maybe I'll have Gabriel look into having the phones work across the barrier in time."

Was he really going to leave them alone with the ducks? Was he going to actually give him more time up here? The Archangel who had said repeatedly, from the moment he came to get Lucifer, that he only had six hours up here total? He was actually going to give him longer? Reaching into his pocket he took out his cellphone and placed it in Michael's hand. The other added his contact info quickly, returned the phone to Lucifer and nodded his head. "If I don't hear from you I'll be back within the hour. They eat oats, I'm sure you can create a bag of it yourself."

Lucifer watched Michael turn and head back down the path, leaving him and Alastor standing by the pond full of ducks. He blinked a few times, still completely baffled and unable to believe what he had just witnessed, what he was still holding in his hand! His heart was moving rapidly in his chest, pounding against his ribcage hard enough for it to echo in his skull. His legs felt unsteady and he stumbled back, Alastor's hand again grabbing his forearm to keep him standing.

"Why don't we go sit by the pond, Sire?" That sounded like a fantastic idea. He nodded his head a few times and allowed Alastor to lead him over toward the bench at the side of the water. He directed Lucifer to sit on one side of it and moved to the other end himself, sitting down close enough that his body pressed against him. That was comforting and Lucifer lowered his gaze down to the contract he was still clutching.

"Alastor… what just happened?"

"I believe this would be called a victory." Alastor stated, turning his head down to look at Lucifer. "More than a victory, perhaps. What we succeeded and earned here today was more than we actually anticipated. That contract…" the Radio Demon shook his head. "I suppose he gave it to you out of regret. That was the way his words came across. The sincerity of them it's rather harder to judge, but I did not get the impression he was lying. Nor that he has regretted any of his actions, just the way he went about them."

"I see." Lucifer's hands clenched around the contract and he leaned forward, dropping his head against his arms. "We actually did it. We won, Alastor. We–" he took a trembling breath and his hands tightened around the contract even more, feeling the edges of the thick enchanted paper crinkle in his grp. "I can't believe it." He actually argued for something in Heaven and came out on top. He changed enough of his brothers opinions that they agreed with him.

He won.

"So we did." The Radio Demon agreed quietly, his hand landing on Lucifer's head and gently brushing back his hair. "Take a moment to breathe, then we'll feed these ducks and get back down to Hell. I'm sure we have one explosive problem to deal with, possibly literally."

He gave a small laugh, his shoulders trembling and nodded his head. "Hopefully the Hotel is still standing."