AN: Oh man everyone, what a mental week it's been. There's a lot of personal stuff going on at the moment and we're currently trying to balance everything out right, so my updating schedule might end up a little off. Don't worry, I haven't stopped with the series, it's just a lot of real-life stuff that I'm trying to get under control and deal with. I also haven't been feeling well these last few days so my energy at home gets zapped pretty fast. We've also been dealing with a lot of stuff regarding our own little chaos ball of energy so there's that too. So if the pacing in this chapter is a little off, sorry but that's the reason why. I also want to give a little heads-up.
But on that note, we are back in Hell and now we get to see what dear old Lucifer has been up to.
Chapter ElevenThe Silence Before the Storm...
Lucifer Morningstar was not a happy King.
He was not happy that he couldn't be at home with his daughter and enjoy his spare time playing with her. He didn't like that there was a chance he was going to miss out on her first step or word, which he was hoping would be 'Mama' as it would mean the world to Lilith. He wasn't pleased that he was being forced to entrust the most precious thing in the universe to a Hellhound and a Sinner whom he barely knew.
But most of all, Lucifer Morningstar was not happy that a dispute over something as asinine as a goddamn horse was taking three-turning-now-to-four God damn days to settle!
And so far it didn't even look like there was an end in sight!
Even now as he sat trying not to growl in irritation, Lucifer could barely drown out the sound of Leviathan and Mammon screaming at one another little children over which contract was valid and who had the ownership rights to 'Blackwater Phantom'... or was it 'Voidrunner'? 'Hellwater Current'? Apparently, the stupid creature had several names foisted onto it which made the documentation of owner's rights a living nightmare.
Whether it was to weigh him down until he cracked or Father finding a new way to punish him, Lucifer had found himself nearly buried until piles of documentation since day one. The first day alone had forced him to sit down and skim them all in some fool's hope of finishing the issue quickly, only to discover that he would have to study this like the tombs Sera had forced on him as a child.
Just the memory alone of having to sit for hours on end as Sera would lecture and scold him was enough to sour the King's mood.
The whole case was supposed to be a simple and easy case, both sides making their claims and then Lucifer picking one before heading home to shower his baby girl in a rain of kisses. It was just supposed to take a day, or two at most, but no. Oh no, Mammon and Leviathan both had to have a proverbial dick-measuring contest and now there was no end to their petty squabbling. And while he wanted nothing more than to pull an 'eenie meanie minie mo' and pick a winner, his honor and pride as the King of Hell demanded that he treated the whole mess with some decorum.
Even if he just wanted to scream 'fuck you and hail Satan' and leave. Maybe the old goat could knock some sense into them. Heavens above, Lucifer knew he wouldn't put up with half of this bullshit.
Regardless of what he wanted to do, Lucifer still found himself unofficially trapped in an estate where Asmodeus had left him with two of the most annoying Sins known to man.
Taking a small break from the pissing contest between the pair, Lucifer made his wave down to the stable where the beast was kept. While Nightmares were the more common breeds of equine in Hell, they certainly weren't the only ones that existed. Every right had a version of them, though it could be argued that some of them were horses to start with. Pride had once had nuckelavee stampeding around and wreaking havoc until Satan stepped in and case them out. The horse-like had been nothing but trouble the day it had managed to sneak into Hell's realm and Lucifer was thankful they had been banished to the void.
At the time Lucifer had thought they were intelligent beings since they were the combination of a horse and a man. Not in a centaur sort of way mind you, but more like a rider mounted on his steed. All be it, a nine-foot-tall rider with no skin, ridiculously long arms, and covered in black blood and yellow veins on a horse that looked equally as messed up. And not to mention the rider's body was melted into the horse, making them a two-head monstrosity that breath toxic vapors and had fiery red eyes.
How could he have forgotten that little tidbit?
Lucifer had thought, back when he welcomed them into Hell, that the creature was part of a group of demons seeking refuge from Heaven's purge. The group had chosen their best representative to plead their case and never once had they mentioned the fucking thing wasn't a member of their group but a sort of pack mule to carry their things.
Nor had they mentioned that once they had no use for it anymore, they would just let the creature run loose as it pleased.
The shit show that followed had not helped Lucifer in the least with trying to patch up things in Heaven.
No, Pride had Spirit steeds, ghostly-looking vapors that took on the appearance of proud stallions. They were unrideable because they would often make themselves into mist when approached but they were pretty to look at. Wrath had the most common breed known as Nightmares. Those fiery demons were the perfect beasts of war, knowing no fear and never backing down from a challenge. It was like someone had mixed a horse, fire, and the charming personality of a honey badger on crack together to make them.
Lust had bicorns that could be used for leisurely riding and sometimes as war horses, but they reacted poorly to any virgins nearby, regardless of said virgin's age. Despite this, they were popular for high-class demonesses to ride. The bicorns had rich deep purple fur coats that shined in the light with a metallic green glow and long lushus soft manes and tails. All of this was topped off with two long and twisting horns on it's head that the creature could use with deadly procission It didn't help that their sweat was a special type of oil that many used to clean their hair and had pheromones that could put the stiffest of sinners in the mood.
Gluttony's horses were oddly enough large and muscular despite their laid-back nature. They were perfect for heavy work, being able to pull tons of weight as if they were nothing. They were frightening animals to look at though, with overly large mouths filled with six-inch long needle teeth with they could move at will. They were however difficult animals to keep as they ate a lot and tended to get pustule sores all over their body if worked too much.
Greed's horses were probably the most beautiful of the lot, if not also the most vain. The first time Lucifer saw one, he could remember accusing Mammon of trying to pull a prank on him. The Avarician steed, as Mammon had called them, looked almost mechanical, their body made up of countless palettes of gold-like armor and jewel-like eyes and patterns like pearls and emeralds for spots. They possessed no mane or hairs, though their tail were five-feet-long golden whips that cracked in the air with impatience. It wasn't unheard of that they could give their owners scars from hitting them. But despite their beauty, because of their vanity, they were exceptionally difficult to keep. And expensive so Mammon refused to own any.
Sloth horses with mostly slim, almost skeletal-looking equines with spider-wed-like limp manes and tails. They were known to have a rather laid-back nature and were difficult to motivate to do anything. Their bodies tended to look dull and slightly ugly, the skin hanging like a poorly placed sack on their bones and sometimes there would even be fugues growing on them if they weren't encouraged to move. Funny enough though, they were the easiest to get saddle ready and while they weren't the fasted of the beasts, they were perfect for nervous first-time riders to learn on as even an attacking Voidbeast would have trouble getting it to go faster than a trot. They generally seemed like they would rather get eaten alive than have to run.
They really were a beast after Belphegor's heart, which was probably why they thrived in Sloth.
But Evny's horse... those beasts were a problem all on their own. There had been a time when the mortal world had caught glimpses of them, making the aquatic creatures a creature of myths and legends like hippocampus and baekhest, but the most well-known versions were kelpies and Ceffyl Dŵr. They were insanely fast and difficult to capture and tame. They were as picky about their food as they were beautiful, which was probably also the reason why Lucifer refused to be near any of them unless they were muzzled. For carnivorous creatures, they refused to eat anything that wasn't alive when they bit into it.
If it wasn't for the fact that their rarity and beauty made them status symbols to own, Lucifer was certain Leviathan would have ordered the species hunted to extinction like the invasive pest they were.
Stepping into the stables, Lucifer frowned as he instantly heard the monster barrel into the bars of its cage, angry snorts and hisses escaping the animal, the sound reminding Lucifer more of a high-pitched cat's growl or low-pitched hissing cockroach. Glossy pink eyes glared hungrily at him as toxic neon green drool dripped from the animal's mouth as it watched him from its cage. Its maw filled a disorganized fang-like teeth.
He had to give, Black Water or Voidrunner or whatever the hell its damn name was, was an exotic creature. A prized stallion in every right. The stallion was a tall creature, standing a little under three meters in height with the build of an Arabian horse. However, that was where the similarities between the two animals ended. If anything else, it reminded him more of a mandarin fish. Its body was covered in neon bright green, blue, and orange strips and shows that made it stand out on the track. The mane and tail looked like they were made of deep purple hairs but when the horse ran it would reveal they were more kin to a fantail betta fish, a solid web of fragile skin held together with cartilage and thin purple skin. Lucifer had seen photos of the horse as it ran, his mane and tail fanning out proudly behind it as it presented itself to any pretty mares it might cross.
Oh yes, prime breeding stock, that was a fair thing to call the manic beast. And just as it was beautiful to gaze upon, Lucifer wanted it as far away from the Pride ring as possible.
Ever since the blasted creature had laid its eyes on Lucifer, Lucifer could feel its malice and insatiable hunger. It could sense the ichor in his veins and like a junkie
addict it wanted a taste to the point of near madness. It explained easily why the animal was as fast as it was on the field, a series of countless race wins secured under its belt. It didn't run out of pride or joy.
It was hunting whatever lurk it was promised at the end of the gates.
"It would be better to put it down," Lucifer muttered, watching as one of the stable imps finally dared to sneak into the beast's pen to change its water. Judging by its scars, the poor Hellborn had been bitten more than a few times. "Still hungering for a bite?"
The animal like out a chirp-like whistle, almost dolphin-like before champing its jaws onto the bars, knawing at them.
Leviathan had once suggested getting a steed like this for Charlie when she was older and able to ride.
Lucifer had been less than kind when he told him to never suggest such a thing again.
'If it's this crazy from me being here, there's no telling what it would do near Charlie,' Lucifer thought hotly as he waited until the imp had shut the cage once more before leaving.
The last three days had been less than ideal, and all he wanted was to go home again. He wanted to hug his little girl and even steal her away to sleep in his bed so he could cover her with his wings and hear the adorable little sounds she would make in her sleep. He wanted to wake up to her small hand patting his cheek to wake him up or the sound of her giggling as she hid from him in his feathers.
But no. He was the king and he had to sit and listen to two stubborn morons who were constantly crying out 'Mine!' 'Mine!' 'Mine!' ad nauseam.
But at least he had the daily reports that Flare was dutifully sending. Those were about the only things that made being in Lust bearable. The whole meeting was being held there as neutral grounds so that neither Mammon nor Leviathan could use their influences to affect the other. Not that Asmodeus was happy about it either. Walking to his room, Lucifer smiled a little as he looked at the tiny stack of papers Flare had sent though he was a little disappointed to not find a new one awaiting him. He had to give Bee credit where it was due, the Hellhound knew how to send reports, but he must have also figured out that the King would enjoy little tidbits of Charlie's day as well. His personal favorite was a picture of Ms. Waltz and Charlie wearing smocks as Charlie was covered in bright-colored paints. According to the note that Flare had added, it was 'finger painting' which while messy was a massive hit with the little Princess. Though there might be a miscolored sitting room wall awaiting his return.
Other notes were far simpler and quick, like what Charlie had done, how she was looking for him and her mother, and how despite Ms. Waltz's best efforts, it didn't seem likely that Lucifer was going to miss any milestone just yet. Apparently, Charlie had her mother's will and stubbornness when it came to walking, though Tabitha had won the battle of eating broccoli for now.
A 'victory' photo showed Lucifer just how 'happy' Charlie had been for that.
"Daddy will be home soon, Starfire," Lucifer said as he smiled at the photo of a disgruntled Charlie making a 'yuck!' face at the broccoli in her mouth. "I hope."
* * * Hazbin Hotel * * *
Leviathan was not a happy man. It had taken both him and Mammon a good thirty minutes to realize the King had left them, clearly tired of Mammon's bitching over his imaginary rights to his horse. Sure, Leviathan hadn't marked the horse as his, not in the beginning but any idiot with at least one good eye could see the damn beast was aquatic. It was ridiculous that the greedy spider was claiming the steed belonged to him, regardless of the forged papers he presented.
At first, their discussions had been just between the two of them with Leviathan being his normal high-class sophisticated self while the childish brute of an arachnid bellowed like a wounded walrus. Then the oversized prick had rudely rejected Leviathan's proof of ownership over Viodrunner, so Leviathan had no choice but to defend his honor.
… by trying to blow a hole threw the fat-ass clown's face.
This had led to a massive fight of slinging attacks between them, which he would have won, had Mammon not caused Leviathan's aim to stray and strike the embodiment of Lust's newest factory. Even if he wasn't the strongest of the sins, Ozzie still held a lot of favor with the royal couple so one angry bark and whine to 'daddy' had led to where they were now.
And a fine mess it was too. Leviathan had managed to uncover every bit of proof he had that he was the rightful owner of Voidrunner but the cheeky spider had copied him and found every piece of paper known to the Gods that claimed differently, including five pieces of paper where the prick had written 'MY HORSE! F U FREDDY!' which Lucifer was not amused about.
And then despite all his hard work, Lucifer refused to read any of it. Oh sure he had pretended to the first day, but after that, it was evident that the little King had decided to say 'fuck it' and pushed for more physical evidence as the dates on both of their documents were... questionable at best.
And so the trail started.
The first trial had been a somewhat reasonable one, simple as well. Who did the horse like? Leviathan figured it should have been easy to lure the beast over. Watersteads like Voidrunner loved power above everything else and as a Von Eldritch, so clearly he was the stronger of the two Sins. Surely the magnificent stallion would choose him and they would be done with this whole debacle.
But would the stupid beast realize that? No! Not only did the foul creature kick him, but it nearly bit off Mammon's right hand and then charged at the King who had to use magic to seal it in its cage. Leviathan had argued it was just in need of a mare to calm down with, but when one was presented to Voidrunner, the stallion had turned around and torn its throat out to devour it.
To say Lucifer was not impressed would be an understatement. He had even checked with the both of them if they were sure that they really wanted an animal who was more likely to murder them both them greet them.
And of course, neither of them was willing to back down. After all, it was the principle of things: What was from Envy was Leviathan's property. Anything else and it was either stolen or on loan.
But that wasn't the biggest problem. No, the biggest problem was that Lucifer was completely distracted by the thoughts of his future daughter-in-law. Leviathan had heard the rumors that the royal couple had finally hired a Nanny to deal with the infant, Leviathan had thought that it would mean that the King could focus on his duties. Instead, a messenger had wandered into the meeting room almost every other hour with some sort of pointless message from the nanny about what Charlotte was doing. Which Leviathan sort of, maybe understood. He got reports on his children too, but never to this extent. Did he really need to be told every little thing she did, every second of the day?!
Huffing in annoyance, Leviathan rang a bell to summon a servant before he started to look through his paper carefully to see if any names popped out to him that he might be able to use for their next meeting. Lucifer had clearly called it a day if Leviathan knew him. Once the man had ventured into his quarters for some peace, he wouldn't emerge until the next morning.
"Probably all thanks to Mam's obnoxious voice, no doubt," Leviathan muttered as he tried to look over the list of names. Normally Leviathan's stable masters had impeccable records regarding the horses in their care, but for whatever reason the files on Voidrunner seemed... muttled. It didn't help that the year the steed had been born, Leviathan had had some ten or so different demons hired and fired due to incompetence so the signatures were all over the place. "There's got to be something that proves that beast is mine."
* * * Hazbin Hotel * * *
Mammon huffed angrily as he watched Lucifer calmly return to his chambers for the night, silently calling an end of the day's meeting. Even by his standards, this meeting was dragging on for too long, and he had shit to do as well. But like hell he was gonna let that blood bogan crook pull a swiftie on him.
Mammon wasn't a bloody idiot, no matter what Leviathan reckoned. He'd bought the animal fair and square—well, maybe not fair, but it was legal—and he'd owned it for the last six years. The greedy bugger only wanted it now 'cause the damn thing had won him a stack of cash, and now he was after some imaginary share that was never his to begin with.
Well, Mammon hadn't been one to share as a spiderling, and he sure as hell wasn't about to start now when nothing was owed.
The real hassle, though, was proving it.
Blackwater Current, 'cause that was the horse's bloody name, damn it, was never the friendly type. It was aggressive on a good day and downright murderous on a bad one, always keen to take a chunk out of you if it got half a chance. Hell, Mammon reckoned it had gone through more jockeys than a street walker had clients, and that's saying something.
And yeah, sure, he knew the sale was dodgy as hell. Leviathan was known for keeping his water ponies close, but it wasn't Mammon's problem some slighted bastard managed to pinch one from Envy and flog it off. Dear old Freddy-rot-for-brains Fish should've had better border control, and none of this mess would've happened.
That, and better aim.
Seriously, out of all the bloody targets he could've picked, he just had to hit Oz's newest factory, pissing the little dobber off. Now, instead of just the two of them having it out, 'Daddy' had to step in and tell the boys to play nice, or there'd be Hell to pay. And given Mammon's recent run of being on Lucifer's shit list, all thanks to that whole 'borrowing Charlie without asking' fiasco, he knew the odds of all this working out in his favor were pretty bloody slim.
Here's that final bit with an Aussie twist:
But that didn't mean he was just gonna hand over Blackwater to Leviathan on a silver platter, no bloody way.
If Leviathan wanted that horse, he was gonna have to fight tooth and nail to pry it from Mammon's hands. All four of 'em!
But ta win the whole bleeding thing, Mammon needed an ace up his sleeve. Problem was, he wasn't sure what. He'd thought about tracking down the old seller and bribing the cow to claim the horse was born outside of Envy. Only snag was, if Lucifer got wind of it, Mammon would be right up the creek without a paddle, and losing any and all the rights to the cash pony. That was the last thing he wanted.
Not to mention, he'd have to survive the arse-kicking that'd come right after.
"Yeah, no way I'm risking getting on Luci's bad side again anytime soon," Mammon muttered as he rubbed the phantom pain in his jaw. He could still remember how hard Satan had punched him, the crunch his bones and teeth had made. It had hurt like Hell to have Belphegor ta fix him up again too as he was pretty sure she had overcharged him on purpose just to be a bitch. "Right, there's got to be something in here I can use."
* * * Hazbin Hotel * * *
Elsewhere in the estate...
Odhran Wavecrest groaned as he sorted through the many letters that had been delivered for the day, his multiple arms working overtime as he tried to figure out which letters were to whom and which ones were even worthy of being read. A cephalopod class demon, Odhran had worked for the Von Eldritch family ever since he had been old enough to hold a broom with his tentacle limbs. He liked to think that he looked like a Lovecraftian aberration that demanded respect but in truth, he looked an awful lot more like a mimic octopus that had been stretched over a manikin body, stuffed into an ill-fitting suit of the most egregious colors, and given overcooked noodle legs to stand on.
There had been a debate between the staff members that the Lord of Lust had sent as to which of the Sins was his employer. After all, he was aquatic but with the hideous outfit, there was a chance he was Mammon's.
Not that either were great bosses as far as he was concerned. For the last thirty or so years he had worked for Leviathan and his ungrateful family and still none of them knew his name and Mammon... well the less said the better. It would be a cold day in hell before he'd ever work for someone so low class.
Still, he prided himself on his job, always ready to lord it over his fellow lowly colleagues that he had been the one Lord Leviathan had chosen to go with him to Lust for the trial. Sure it wasn't like he was doing a whole lot beyond helping his Lord dress for the day, deliver his meals, and of course sort the many messages that were carelessly piled on a table in the servant quarters.
It was honestly disgusting how poorly trained the maids and butlers of Lust was, but then what could one expect from lowly imps and succubi?
And there was no way that his Lord's important mail could been entrusted to such fools, oh no, that wouldn't do. Not at all. So despite a few imps here and there saying they would take care of it later, Odhran would twist his red and white tentacle mustache at them with a superior sneer, asking them if they could even read.
After a few times of that, the Lust staff had graciously left him to deal with the task alone. As they should have from the beginning.
Of course, it probably helped a little that sometimes he would 'lose' some of Lord Mammon's mail every now and then, but what did that clown expect when he was too lazy to bring his own servant to cater to his needs? That the spider was too cheap being the miser he was.
'Knowing the rumors about it, it's probably both,' Odhran thought with a scuff as he indifferently tossed what might have been an important letter to said Sin towards his pile of letters. The envelope skidded across the small stack of letters already there before it slid off into the fireplace that just coincidentally happened to be behind it and lit despite the night being fairly warm. "Oh dear... that wasn't supposed to happen..."
A passing by succubus rolled her eyes as she set another stack of letters down for him to sort. If Odhran thought he was being discreet or clever, then he was the only one. Still, she said nothing as it wasn't her life on the line if he was found out.
"You're welcome," She called annoyed as Odhran acted as if he couldn't see her, finishing the stack he was currently working on. The succubus hissed in annoyance before turning around, the short skirt of her maid outfit rising just high enough to be alluring but not enough to show anything beyond the petticoat underneath. "Prick."
'Whore,' Odhran thought hotly as he pulled out a handkerchief to wipe off any of the letters that were for his master. "Let's see... Lord Leviathan, Lord Leviathan, Lord Leviathan, trash..." He tossed another letter at Mammon's pile though this one managed to stay safely away from the fire. Odhran scuffled a little disappointed at this. "hmmm, shame. Oh well, no matter. Trash, trash, absolute rubbish, His Majesty, Lord Leviathan, Lord Leviathan..."
* * * Hazbin Hotel * * *
Back in Lucifer's chambers...
Lucifer sighed as he looked at a few of the photos Flare had sent with his 'extra reports', a small comfort to what Lucifer felt he was missing out on. He had almost broken into tears when Flare sent him the picture of Charlie curled into his and Lili's pajamas asleep. The first time he had seen it, Lucifer had been utterly confused as to what in the name of Pride Waltz was doing, putting dirty clothes into his baby girl's bed, but then he had read the note from Flare explaining that it was because Charlie was having trouble sleeping. After all, she missed them.
The thought of his little duckling missing them had almost been enough to make Lucifer run back home to comfort his little princess.
And he probably would have done it too if Ozzie hadn't managed to block him with a desperate plead of 'I can't deal with those two wrecking my shit. And not in a good way!'.
So Lucifer had very reluctantly given Ozzie his word that he would deal with the feuding pair of Sins. However, he was starting to regret that decision more and more with every passing hour. Looking up from the small photo pile, Lucifer wore an almost matched expression to Charlie's broccoli face as he looked at the three towers of 'evidence' that Leviathan and Mammon had given him to read over. He knew most of it was just filibustering nonsense that was meant to wear him down and just pick a winner. After all, that was both Mam and Lev's M.O.s when it came to trying to get their way, though Leviathan was far better versed in it than the spider.
Looking and one of the 'testemonies' Mammon had given him Lucifer started to snicker when he realized it was clearly fake. To start with the dates and details were all over the place, as if someone had been given a script written on a puzzle onto to drop it before the transcript was made. For another, he wasn't even sure which horse the 'stablehand' was talking about because the description of the stead kept changing in height and color. At some point, it even mentioned Blackwater's 'fiery mane', which last time Lucifer checked, wasn't something the kelpie had.
"Looks like he's up to his old tricks again," Lucifer groaned as he marked the paper for questioning. "That makes this, what? The seventeenth fake testimony he's given me? That four more than Leviathan. You'd think he knew better than to lie to me."
Then again, Lucifer knew he shouldn't have been surprised. Even as a child, he could remember the silly spider would try anything and everything to worm his way out of trouble.
* * * Flashback * * *
Many millennia ago, when Hell was still being formed...
Lucifer groaned as he rubbed his exhausted eyes as he looked over the applications for sanctuary in his realm. It seemed that outside of Hell, Father was starting to purge the world, removing anything he deemed too imperfect to her realm. He hadn't seen them, but he had heard the rumors of his siblings being sent down from Heaven and slaughtering anything deemed 'unnatural' under the orders of their father, and judging by some of the injuries that the asylum seekers had, Lucifer didn't doubt it.
It could be the end of the universe and Lucifer would always be able to recognize Camael's fiery energy from her blade. It was rare for her to miss.
He was about to read what the applicates' reasonings were to join his realm and how they would declare their loyalty when a roar of rage rang through the stone halls of what was his current home. It didn't take a genius for him to guess who was angry, heck Lucifer didn't even need to feel the chaotic energy that was radiating through the castle to know that some poor soul had been foolish enough to anger Satan. He also didn't have to guess who the responsible party was as his study door flew up and he found himself suddenly with an arm full of blue cockerel and a blur of pastel colors zip quickly behind his chair while the three members of the trio quickly slammed the door shut and scurried off to hide.
"What did you three do this time?" Lucifer asked, giving Asmodeus a stern inquisitive look. He knew there was a chance that the young avian demon had nothing to do with whatever had angered the berserker but he was the one most likely to tell Lucifer just what was going on.
"We didn't do anything!" Mammon immediately insisted as he used his spider-like abilities to climb up on the ceiling and hid behind Lucifer with Bee. "Old goat's breath just got mad for no reason."
"It was an accident," Bee whimpered behind Lucifer, her thin wings humming near his ear as she clung to his back. Lucifer raised an eyebrow as he felt the tiny tremors rippling through her body, telling him that whatever had happened, it had been bad enough to frighten both empaths. "We didn't mean it!"
In his arms, Ozzie tightened his hold, quivering visibly as a murderous aura seemed to be heading toward the study. The fledgling whimpered as he held on tightly to Lucifer, his tears already wetting the pinstriped vest the King was wearing. Immediately Lucifer's mind started to picture different scenarios of what it could be that the trouble-making trio might have done to angry Satan.
He knew that sometimes the little gaggle of brats tended to get bored and find ways of entertaining themselves. Sure, he and Lilith tried to keep them busy along with Belphegor and Satan by giving them lessons to study and a few chores to do here and there. Leviathan kept his distance from the children since he wasn't completely within Lucifer's good graces just yet. The angel didn't trust him to not try and pull a coup de grâce like his siblings had though he was willing to give him a chance to prove himself. The lessons they each gave the children were simple enough. Lilith taught manners, reading, writing, and music while Lucifer would teach them magic when he could. Belphegor instructed them on arithmetic and botany whereas Satan would handle combat. Lucifer hadn't been happy at the idea of beings as young as Mam, Bee, and Oz learning how to fight, but Satan had made a good argument that with the beings that often came to the castle, they needed to know how to protect themselves.
Not to mention all three of them were created with some form of nasty defense and Lucifer would rather they knew how to control those sides of themselves than risk them accidentally hurting someone.
Before Lucifer could ask any of the other questions, the door slammed open once more and cleaned off its hinges. It was so sudden that even Lucifer's wings manifested to cover the children with his wings, eyes wide in horror as he peered into the dark hallway. The reek of brimstone started to fill the air as a volcanic-looking hand gripped the frame hard enough to crack the stone support before Satan's crouching form squeezed through the doorway. The demon growled as he scanned the room before firer angry eyes looked at the tiny forms seeking refuge in the angel's hold.
"You!" The deep growl reverberated off the walls as Satan stomped towards Lucifer, his steps quickening slowly. "You little shits! When I get my hands on you-!"
"Whoah, calm down Satan!" shooting to his feet, Lucifer held up a hand to stop the enraged goat in his tracks all the while he could feel all three younglings trembling against his body, Ozzie already letting out a sob of terror. At first, Satan didn't seem to hear him until Lucifer barked. "I SAID CALM DOWN!"
The silence that followed was almost defending, the two proverbial titans locked in a battle of wills, neither quite willing to back down. Satan was fuming, his anger almost manifesting flames with every ragged breath and Lucifer was doing his best not to bow to the pressure of or contamination of Satan's anger. After what felt like an eternity, Satan finally backed down with a disgruntled snort, his form returning to normal though Lucifer still kept his wings and horns out. Asmodeus was trembling in his arms, tiny broken sobs escaping from his main head while the two others tried to comfort him.
"Right, now I understand something happened," Lucifer started calmly as he watched Satan pacing back and forth like an aggravated lion. "And I'm guessing it had something to do with one if not all three of you little ones."
Setting Ozzie down, Lucifer looked at each of the three upset younglings. In general, they were good children, if a little mischievous but Lucifer couldn't hold that against them. He hadn't exactly been an angel himself as a fledgling, pun intended, so he couldn't blame them for sometimes seeking out fun at the cost of others. Father knew he had more times than he wanted to count.
Still, the trio stood meekly before him, each looking guilty or scared, some more than others. Bee was doing her best to keep her wings still while she fidgeted with her hands nervously. Lucifer made a mental note her ears were drooping and her lava-like tail seemed dull and lethargic on the ground which usually meant she was feeling guilty about something. Mammon was doing everything to annoy looking at anyone, deciding that the pile of discarded scrolls was the most fascinating thing he had seen since honey suckle candy, so Lucifer was pretty certain he was guilty of whatever was going on. That or the little shit had done things they didn't know about and was scared of when he would get caught. And Asmodeus... Ozzie was a little harder to read. As sensitive as he was, Ozzie tended to scare easily and get dragged into the shenanigans of his 'siblings' more than being the instigator of it. He was the softer of the three, and probably the most clingy as almost anything going bump in the night could make him go running to Lucifer and Lilith's room for comfort.
Which was okay sometimes but Lucifer didn't exactly enjoy getting shoved off his wife without a second's warning. The floor wasn't exactly soft after all.
"Mind telling me what all this is about?" Lucifer asked, looking at his general who was muttering dark curses under his tongue. "What did they do?"
"What did they do? What did they do?! Look!" Satan snapped, nearly slamming his head into Lucifer's face as he bowed his head. "This is what they did, your majesty and I will not stand for it!"
The first thing Lucifer noticed as Satan showed him the top of his head, was an odd acidic smell and small whisps of transparent silk. The second thing was that while Satan normally had three sets of horns, he currently only possessed five horns in all. The sixth, which had been one of his longest, had been reduced to a slightly bleeding stump. Even without touching it, Lucifer could tell the area was tender and whatever had cut it was still trying to dissolve the carotene around it.
Looking back at the trio, Lucifer felt himself giving them a patented 'Sera's look of disapproval' which made all three younglings avoid his eyes. It made his skin crawl but it was warranted. They had played pranks before but never where someone had gotten this badly hurt.
"Well... who wants to start?" Lucifer asked, eyeing all three carefully as they remained tight-lipped. "Now would be the time to tell the truth, you three."
Still, the three remained silent, shoulders hunched in shame under the weight of both Satan's anger and Lucifer's disapproval. Sensing he was going to have to play hardball to get any answers, Lucifer summoned his apple cane and set about twirling it lightly in his hand. It was all for show, of course, to add a bit of flare as he spoke. They all knew he would never strike them with it.
"Well, if no one is going to answer then I guess all three of you will have to be punished," Lucifer immediately ignored the cries of protest, a cacophony of 'What?', 'You can't', and 'No fair!'s echoed in the room which Lucifer ignored. "I'd said three weeks no sweets and two hours extra lessons should do-"
"But I didn't do anything! Honest!" Unsurprisingly Ozzie was the first to crack, his small voice coming out in a wail. "I was studying as Lilith told us to. Bee and Mam did it!"
"Shut up, Birdbrain!" Mammon growled only to fall silent when Lucifer gave him a stern look.
"It's Mammon's fault!" Bee whined as she pointed a finger at the spider. "He said we were just going to trip him, that's all."
"Bee!" Mammon whined only to flinch when Satan snarled. "It wasn't my fault! It was an accident!"
Lucifer stood silently as the trio broke into the age-old game of pointing fingers. Well, two of them. Ozzie was just crying. Judging by how Bee and Mammon were busy putting the sole blame on each other, Ozzie most likely had had nothing to do with it.
"Enough!" Yelling loudly enough to shock the little ones to be silent, Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief as he could feel a headache coming on from all the noise. Turning a kind eye to Ozzie who was trying his best not to cry, Lucifer spoke calmly to Satan. "Do you still have the horn?"
"Yes, your Majesty."
"Good. Then please, take Asmodeus to Lilith before you see Belphegor. I'm fairly certain she can heal and put it back on," Lucifer ordered, recalling how barely two weeks ago she had reattached one young soldier's arm that Satan had ripped off during training. True, she had to redo it because she had put it on backward but in the end, the young buck was as good as new. "I believe him when he says he had nothing to do with this. Asmodeus probably only ran because of your bellowing."
While Satan didn't look pleased, he seemed to accept that Lucifer was going to deal with the troublemakers. Walking calmly over, the young warlord picked the small blue feathered child up and carried him out of the room. Once the pair were gone, Lucifer snapped his fingers, fixing the door back onto its hinges, and closed it.
"Right then, let's start from the beginning," Lucifer said calmly, pointing at two chairs he summoned in front of his desk, silently telling the pair to take a seat before he sat down across from them. "Who's idea was this to start with?" Lucifer groaned as they both pointed at each other. "If you two can't be honest with me about this, I'll have to get Belphegor and her tonics. Do you want that?"
"... no..." the pair answered in unison. It was a mean threat to give them but they both grimaced at the idea of having to take any of the healer's tonics for lying, especially Bee. She couldn't stand bitter-tasting things.
"Right then, I'm waiting."
"It was my idea," Bee mumbled. "I thought it would be funny if Satan tripped in the hallway because he yelled at us a lot last time."
Lucifer gave the little fox bee an approving look. He wasn't surprised that Satan might have gone hard on the trio the last time they had a train session with him, but the War general had his reasons. He trained soldiers after all and as Leviathan's siblings had proven, not all of them had good intentions.
"But he was only supposed to trip in the hallway, not break his horn," Bee insisted as she pointed angrily at Mammon. "Mammon's the one that put up the web."
"Liar! You were mad at him too and thought it would be funny if his horn came off! And it wasn't my web!" Mammon insisted. Lucifer could feel his eyebrows rising in disbelief. "That was... ummm... Ozzie's, yeah. Ozzie was the one who put the web up."
Lucifer waited a moment, waiting to see if Mammon would consider what he had just claimed. Did he think the angel was an idiot? Did he forget which of the three was a spider? Had Mammon, in all his desperation to avoid getting into trouble, tried to lie to Lucifer's face when they all knew what powers they each had? Had he forgotten how he would brag about being able to devour anything and how he had helped protect Bee and Ozzie from Leviathan's murderous siblings by melting them?
'This should be interesting,' Lucifer thought as he folded his hands under his chin and looked at Mammon, urging him silently to elaborate. He was curious as to how much rope the boy needed to hang both himself and Bee. "Ozzie's web you say?"
"Y-yeah. He's just never told you he could," Mammon continued, looking at Bee who looked just as puzzled as Lucifer. "It's a boy thing. And the old Goat-"
"Satan, Mammon," Lucifer corrected firmly. "He's helping in taking care of and protecting you guys just as Lilith and I do. You will give him the respect he deserves for it."
"-Well, he scared Oz all the time during training. You know he's a crybaby," Mammon continued, pretending he hadn't heard the warning. "And that guy can get really mad, ya know? Like... crazy mad. So when we were playing an innocent prank on old-... Satan, Ozzie's but the web up and cut off his horn."
Lucifer was biting his lip as he tried not to laugh. The excuse was so laughable, but he needed to be serious and nip this in the bud before the trio might get themselves into a bigger problem. It made Lucifer wonder if this was how Sera felt when he had wandered outside of Heaven as a fledgling. It had almost ended badly for him and it was probably the only time she and Uriel had agreed on how much trouble he had been in.
At the time he felt it was unfair that he had gotten punished but both of them but as an adult he had to admit it was one of the punishments he had deserved as a child. And he could see a lot of himself in Mammon's mischief so...
"Mammon, may I ask you something?" Lucifer started, giving Bee a pointed look to keep her mouth shut. He knew she could feel his mood shifting and that she would try and warn Mammon that he currently wasn't digging himself into a deeper hole. He was digging a canyon. "What... type of demon is Asmodeus?"
"Huh?" Mammon blinked as he thought for a moment. "Ummm... a bird?"
"Hmm, and Asmodeus can do what again?" Lucifer urged the young spider to continue.
"He... um... can feel what someone else is feeling," Mammon scuffed. "Which is why he's such a whiny-"
"And what about you Mammon?" Lucifer cut him off, a small but wide smile slowly spreading across his face. Small children were really terrible at lying sometimes. "What's your special skills?"
"Oh, that's easy! I'm a spider and can make-" Mammon started with a hint of pride only to stop as Bee started to shack her head at him. "...make... ummm..."
"Go on." Lucifer gave him an encouraging smile, letting Mammon know that he knew he was lying. "You were saying?"
"... no, I don't think I should," Mammon started to mumble, finding his fingers suddenly very interesting. "I feel like I made a mistake."
"Hmm, a 'mistake' indeed," Lucifer agreed before he thought for a moment as he looked between the two, the pair looking very guilty. "Right, then. Four weeks with no sweets, two hours extra lessons, and you will both write and give a proper apology to both Satan and Asmodeus." In an instant, the pair started to whine that it wasn't fair, but Lucifer just lifted a hand to silence them both. "I can make it longer you two. Next time don't lie and try and blame others for your own bad choices."
Bee whined unhappily while Mammon pouted. Considering that her sweet tooth could rival Lucifer's, Luci wouldn't be surprised that the loss of sweets was the worst punishment she could imagine whereas having to study longer was the worst for Mammon. Still, regardless of how troublesome the little ones could be, Lucifer still leaned back and silently invited them both into a hug, letting them know that he wasn't too upset with them. He didn't know everything about their past but he did know that all three of them had a fear of being rejected, Ozzie was just more open about it.
None the less he wasn't surprised to find both eager to accept the hug regardless.
"Hey Lucifer?" Mam asked for a moment, looking nervously at him. "Do... do we have to say sorry to Satan?"
"Yes, Mammon. You have to."
"Can... can you come with us?" His voice sounded very small as fiddled with his fingers. "Satan's pretty scary when he's pissed."
* * * End of Flashback * * *
Lucifer chuckled a little as he recalled that one time. Mammon wasn't wrong, Satan had been terrifying when he got angry back then, flying off the rails in an instant when annoyed. Even when Lucifer managed to get the pair to say sorry, Satan had been breathing smoke in annoyance as Belphegor was wrapping his horn back in place. It took him nearly 50 years before the horn returned to normal because of the crack in it.
Once it did, Satan had grumbled about how he would never be foolish enough to have children and suffer their tomfoolery. Funny how a beautiful she-jackal made him forget that little promise quickly.
And it hadn't been the last time any of them got in trouble nor were any of them better than the other. Sure, Ozzie had been innocent back then but a bear had barely passed when he played a prank on Leviathan and tried to blame it on Bee and Mam, forgetting that Lucifer was the one giving them the extra lessons that day.
After that, they were all in trouble.
Still, Lucifer had done his best, and all things considered, he had had no experience in dealing with children back then, much less abominations of fallen Gods, he'd still say he had done a decent job in getting them to adulthood.
Just some of them are better than others.
Glancing at the pictures of Charlie, Lucifer felt both proud and uneasy. There was a lot of himself in his little girl, and he wasn't just thinking about appearance. Charlie was a happy baby and almost dangerously curious sometimes. Which was wonderful, he wanted her to explore the world around her. He was just nervous that she would take a little too much after him and be reckless too.
"Father above, pretty let her be more like..." Lucifer blinked as he tried to think of someone, anyone whom he knew who wasn't impulsive or insane. "... like... you know what? I'm sure she'll be fine. Now let's get back to work."
* * * Hazbin Hotel * * *
At the same time, Odhran was having a slight dilemma.
He had finally managed to sort the letters out into three piles and now he was sorting them again into 'relevant' and 'junk'. He had always done this for his master, the man was far too important to be bothered with such trivial things as sorting, and there so was his Majesty Lucifer the King of Pride and Hell by proxy. It was an honor to be allowed to sort royal mail, but he was be damned three times over if he allowed useless letters to slip past his guard.
With Mammon though, that fool was lucky that he was getting anything. What Odhran really wished he could do was go through the Sin's mail to see what nonsensical bullshit he had managed to scrap together, but the letters were marked with magical seals so he would know if they were broken.
So unfortunately the idiot could hire somewhat competent demons.
Odhran huffed as he looked distastefully at an oddly colored letter with nearly unreadable handwriting. Every letter was a quick scribble, looking more like a child's drawing of the text of a page. The only reason he could tell it was for His Majesty was because the name on it started with what he figured was an 'L' and was too short to be Leviathan. Flipping it over, Odhran had hoped to see some sort of recognizable name or symbol but there was only another badly scribbled name on the back.
Odhran tried to think for a moment, recalling who was on the 'approved list' for the King. There was the queen, of course, that was a given, but she had gorgeous handwriting and a seal on her letters. Then there were the Sins, but they often used seals and colored envelopes of their rings if they sent anything at all. Most of the time they just barged in without warning. Au Goetia of course also made it onto the list but they had somewhat acceptable and readable penmanship which could not be considered. And there were the two others.
Odhran tried to recall what the King had said the first day when he arrived. He had been a bit uneasy, worried even, and eager to get this whole mess sorted for some reason. Something about some new hires in his home responsible for the Princess's care. There was a 'nanny' and a 'guard' of some sort. The 'Nanny' had what he felt was below-average handwriting, easy to read but utterly unimpressive. He had read one of her letters once out of curiosity and was thoroughly disappointed to find it was nothing more than a quick report assuring the King the Princess was fine, if a little upset that he had gone.
Why he was so worried about a being that couldn't take of itself, he would never understand. Lord Leviathan hadn't worried about his brats so clearly the King was just a bit abnormal.
The other approved member, however... by the Elder Gods, it was practically criminal! The guard was a Hellhound, judging by the stench on the paper always smelling of wet dirty dog, and wrote like he had no idea how a quill or ink pen worked. If one could call it writing at all. It was more like carving the letters into the paper, tearing it sometimes even, and leaving holes or ink blots all over the paper.
'Idiot must be using his claws to write with. How utterly uncivilized,' Odhran thought as he tried to read the name on the back. 'Er... Tr... Is this even an actual letter?'
Huffing in irritation, Odhran decided to rip the envelope open and glance at the letter. If it was important, he would apologize to the overstep, and if it wasn't...
Well, that was what the fireplace was for.
Glancing at the letter, Odhran stiffened for a moment. The letter was difficult to read and blotted with blood and ink as if scribbled in hast with an untrained hand. Half of the text was unreadable at best but he managed to pick out some bits of words. Words like 'Flare', 'hand', 'Waltz, blood', 'St. An', 'intensive', 'Princess', and the most upsetting of all 'return' and 'urgent'.
Odhran stiffened as he looked at the letter, the two words standing out for him. He still wasn't sure what the letter was about but he was certain of one thing. Someone was trying to summon the King for an emergency that involved the Princess. Odhran needed to deliver this letter right away. The King needed to be informed. He needed to...
'But what about the trial?' Odhran thought for a moment. 'If he leaves before seeing that Lord Leviathan is in the right...'
Odhran froze as he looked at the letter. It had taken forever to get the king involved in this trial. Leviathan had written to him for months requesting he order Mammon to return the stolen animal which had gone ignored and unanswered. It took the Lord of Lust to get Lucifer to answer them and even then it was begrudgingly. Even now, ten days into the trial, it wasn't uncommon for Lucifer to call an early end for the day and then coop himself up in his quarters, pouring over those stupid letters from that stupid mutt!
If he saw this, no doubt the fool would book it back to pride faster than they could utter his name. And then where would they be? Back at square one, that was what! But if he waited a bit in giving the king the letter...
… then maybe it would give the Clown of Greed enough time to long himself in his stupid false evidence for the King to see and then the beast would be returned to its rightful owner. Then he could make it look like the letter just came in or his majesty had missed it in the pile and tadah! All problems would be solved. He would then be able to tell his master later what he had done for him and surely the man would praise him to no ends for his ingeniousness.
Besides, if he recalled correctly, there was already one letter in the current pile from the odious mutt. The king would suspect nothing. Better yet, if he hid the letter in Mammon's pile... The Lord of Greed was too lazy a being to even bother looking through his letters if they weren't from people he was expecting. And the handwriting was awful so he could claim he had no idea.
Yes... this would work perfectly.
* * * Hazbin Hotel * * *
Lucifer let out a loud disgruntled groan as he crumbled up another sheet of paper and tossed it into the bin. Two hours of reading nonsense and pointless drivel from both Mammon and Leviathan. Sometimes he wondered if they were even aware that they were bribing the same circle of people. This was the ninth letter, for the same demon in Wrath who was claiming the creature was born in two different rings. That or they were both too lazy to lie properly to him. Glancing at the clock, Lucifer was at least pleased to see that it was getting late enough for him to shamelessly call it a day.
Still, it was odd he hadn't received his daily report from Flare yet. The hound had always made sure to send at least one, following his orders to a 'T'. Waltz tended to send some reports as well, though hers were sometimes a little more sporadic as she based them on need-to-know information, namely on what small development stones Charlie was working on. In the last report she had sent, Tabitha had written how Charlie was working on pulling herself up to stand with the help of tables, chairs, or staff's legs.
Funny enough, Tabitha had also included a list of staff member names whom she was requiring to either be supplied with belts or a size small trousers, though Lucifer wasn't sure why.
But still, he was expecting a report from Flare-
A knock on the door was all Lucifer needed to try and head towards the door. Instead in his haste, Lucifer managed to get tangled into his legs and one of the chairs, sending him stumbling and crashing to the floor. The tumble set made him instinctively flap out his wings to stop his fall, but instead, it sent the papers flying everywhere as a bottle of red ink was knocked into the air and landed with a thud against his head before he when crashing down to the floor.
Not that Lucifer was going to let that stop him as he scrambled to the door, yanking on the doorknob hard enough that the door frame gave a sharp crack of protest. To both his joy and relief, he came face to face with Levy's little weird squid butcher Olly.
Or was it Oily? Obi? Oliver? Lucifer wasn't sure. He was generally terrible with names unless they were people he dealt with every day or had some importance to him. He could remember the Overlord Rosie easily because of the amazing and perfect duck onesie she had made for Charlie, but despite both her and Lilith telling him more than a hundred times, he still couldn't remember what her husband's name was or what the hell the old spider guy was called beyond something with a 'Z'... or was it a 'C'?
"Y-your majesty is all... well?" The squid's slightly nervous voice yanked Lucifer back to the now and away from the strange ramble it had wandered off on.
"Yes! Perfectly fine!" He flashed the poor aquatic demon one of his manic wide smiles, completely unaware that the red ink dripping down half his face made him look like he was suffering a head injury or recently murdered someone. "What can I do for you, my good... squi~?"
"Octipus, your Majesty."
"Right! Of course. I knew that Oggy," Lucifer quickly brushed off as he eyed the small stack of letters in the man's hands. He was so focused on them that he missed the disgruntled glare of the cephalopod. "Those for me? Of course, they are! Thank you so much!"
Not even waiting to be handed the letters, Lucifer all but ripped them out of his suctioned hands before slamming the door shut once more in his face. This was the highlight of his day currently when he'd get the daily report from Flare about how Charlie was fairing without him.
His poor little duckling. Would she be mad at him when he saw her again? He could almost imagine Charlie's little angry pout as she'd refused a hug from him because he left her behind. It was both adorable in his mind but also utterly devastating to imagine.
Tearing the letter open. Lucifer read quickly what Flare had written:
Your Majesty
The Princess is doing well. Sleep is still difficult without you and the Queen's clothes. Waltz's complaining about it still but accepts Princess Charlotte's needs. No signs of walking still, she's stubborn. I think she likes seeing Waltz's hopes getting up. Same with talking so no worries there. The war on eating peas is still ongoing though a new discovery has been made: Fried eggs are gooey and cause earlier bathtimes. Picture included. Waltz plans to take the Princess to the park in Cannibal Quarters. Hopes to find other young children for the Princess to socialize with as well as maintain routines. Will report later on how the trip goes.
Flare.
Nearly bouncing off the walls in anticipation, Lucifer quickly looked into the envelope to find the enclosed photo and snorted with laughter instantly. The orb was being held in Flare's hands as he did his best to capture a very proud-looking Charlie and an embarrassed Tabitha Waltz with a slightly disgruntled look. How Charlie had managed it was a mystery that Lucifer was going to have to demand the story behind, but somehow she had managed to take her fried eggs, squished them between her fingers, and then tossed them into the air like confetti, littering all three of their heads with egg pieces. Flare must have been laughing when he took the picture because from what Lucifer could see, Charlie was chewing on some of the egg while trying to cramp a small handful into his mouth. And when he flipped the photo over, Lucifer grinned at Flare's little quick scribble of a date as well as a quick:
PS. Apparently, eggs are good and need to be shared.
All in all, it was a fun little look into the innocent mischief his baby girl was getting into.
Setting the photo with the others so that he wouldn't lose them, Lucifer quickly flipped through the small pile looking for Flare's second report. Except, strangely it wasn't there. At first, Lucifer thought he had overlooked it, flipping too fast through the pile but when he double-checked, he discovered that it wasn't there.
'Odd,' Lucifer frowned as he checked the first envelope to be sure there weren't two letters in it. 'Where's the second report?'
Lucifer felt a bit of unease growing in the pits of his stomach, the same unease he would sometimes get as a child when his full name would be called out by his older siblings. Flare was usually good at sending second reports if he said he would. After the first two he had sent, Flare had noted it was easier to send several throughout the day because he could better remember things that way. Then again, Hell wasn't exactly known for its amazing postal services accounting to the Sins. The mailmen tended to get easily distracted by Greed and Lust in the... activities they provided. Or maybe they had had such a lovely day at the park that Flare had missed his chance to send the second report. After all, Waltz came from the Cannibal Quarters and knew Rosie fairly well. And Rosie had proven she wasn't one to miss spending a bit of time with Charlie, that was how she managed to make the little duckling outfit after all. She had said herself that she didn't get to design for babies often so she was probably having a blast making little cutie outfits for her.
'Yeah, that has to be it,' Lucifer thought as he gathered the reports together along with the photos before scowling at the papers more cast about the room. 'Tomorrow. I don't care who's happy about it or not, I'm going to real who gets that damn horse and then I'm going home.'
AN: Someone is definitely going to end up on a massive shit list when this gets out.
So yeah, he doesn't know yet but believe me it's happening soon. Sorry for teasing so much.
With the Sins being children, I can't help but imagine them sometimes getting involved with
Little fun story, my niece panted her dad when she was learning to stand and walk. He hadn't tied the string on his sweats so when she tried to stand up, she just yanked them down.
If anyone needs a quick idea of how Odhran looks, just imagine the character Octodad but where he's not trying to pretend he's human and instead of orange, he's got dark red and white strips.
Aussie slang:
bogan – Someone who's not very sophisticated
pull a swiftie – To make a fool of / to pull a fast one on
drongo – Fool
street walker – hooker
to pinch one – To steal
flog off – to sell
dobber – a snitch / tattletale
The nuckelavee or Orcadian Horsemen are part of Scottish mythology. They are the most malevolent creatures of Scottish lore and are said to come from the sea but be weak towards fresh water. Nothing good comes from these things, except death and destruction. They are pretty much what I could imagine one of the Four Horsemen could be if they weren't based on Heavenly creatures.
If you'd like to know more about this mythical horror, Mythology & Fiction Explained has a very nice video that explains their mythology very nicely.
watch?v=LYIuAXxGxcg&ab_channel=Mythology%26FictionExplained
Inspiration pictures
Pride's horses – v2/jpg/05/62/88/90/1000_F_562889005_
Lust's Horses – . /revision/latest?cb=20211120174003
Glutton's horses – .
Sloth's Horses – 14556357/r/il/dd5239/4584864857/il_570xN.4584864857_
Greed's horses - premium-photo/jewel-dwarf-king-breathtaking-photorealistic-dark-opal-sculpture-magnificent-ho_
For the Envy horses – .
Arabian horse - .
Mandarin fish -
Fantail betta fish - v2/resize:fit:1024/1*
Glass Eel teeth (it's fangs) - /wp-content/uploads/2013/10/tumblr_l8rvaizyNh1qzs4d0o1_
Odhran
Mimic Octopus - .
Octodad - . /revision/latest?cb=20201118210702
