More to the Story

by MischaLoth

Something is wrong in Hell- other than the usual- and Lucifer has to take it upon himself to get to the bottom of it. But when old faces from Heaven pay him a visit, things are turned on their head as Lucifer starts to realize things go way deeper than he first thought. Will include a mix of lore including Lovcraftian Mythos. Subplot Pairings: Chaggie and Adam's Apple.

34. Happy Halloween

"Happy Halloween mother fucker!" Adam's voice was the last thing Lucifer wanted to hear in the morning. And yet, since becoming roommates, it was literally what he was forced to wake up to every fucking day. He cracked open an eye, taking one look at Adam before scrambling to sit up, rubbing his face, trying to make heads or tails of what he was looking at. Adam was in a fucking maid outfit, but the asshole had even made the socks black and white, opposite to each of his legs. (Looked like the two-toned coloration did go all the way down, as Adam's legs were white and black respectively. Not that Lucifer had any desire to see Adam's legs, especially not this early in the morning, but this was the result of the Devil losing control of his life.)

"Adam," he took a deep breath, "what the actual fuck?" Despite having had Lysander, Syn, and 'Virgil' all in his room last night for a "sleepover" it seemed it was just Adam now. Lucifer could assume that Michael was off bossing the other three Arcs around. It was unlikely he would stick around for a holiday, especially Halloween. The Big Four had cleaned out Lucifer' forbidden library, and Gabriel was supposed to get Vox for him to interview. Who knew if that would go through or just be another, colossal waste of Lucifer's time and energy.

"It's Halloween in Hell." Adam remarked as if that was some kind of explanation in and of itself. "And I am going to celebrate."

"You're barely in costume. You're already a maid. My maid. Remember? This is basically career day at this point."

"First of all, not your maid, I'm a chef-"

"Speaking of food, where is my breakfast?"

"Quackers is getting into his costume. He doesn't want anyone in the kitchen while he gets ready. And also, shut up. "

"Telling your boss to shut up isn't good maid behavior. You're a shit maid in real life, but you should at least attempt to get into character for Halloween."

"I'm not a regular maid," Adam gestured to his costume, emphasizing the skirt, "I'm a slutty maid. Big difference."

"Yeah, but what are you dressed up as?"

"Haha, very funny." Adam was correct that Lucifer's joke was, indeed, very funny, even if the First Man didn't seem to appreciate it. "I see you're dressed up as a pathetic, unlovable loser. It's very authentic. You might win the costume contest."

"What costume contest?" Lucifer wasn't going to give Adam's attempt at an insult any credence by bothering to respond.

"We're having a costume contest around the mansion. I gotta beat Lysander- I mean, beating you will be easy so I need some competition."

"I am surprised you care about Halloween, being from Heaven and all." Lucifer hadn't really expected Adam to get involved since Heaven was allergic to anything fun. They only had one conversation about Halloween the night before, and that had mostly been dominated by Syn spouting off: Halloween fun-facts that he was ninety percent certain she was making up. (Unless Halloween was really started by a chocolate monster named Ben, who lived in the center of the Earth.) He really hadn't had: Adam in a maid costume on his End of the World bingo card.

"We have Halloween in Heaven. A lot of the Winners love it. It's just not as slutty, which is a bit disappointing. We have a big party, and a parade, and costume contests, but like, everyone wins something because it's fucking Heaven. Abel loved it. His costumes could be a little..." Adam's mouth drew into a thin line as he pressed his fingertips together "...much."

"What, like a slutty sheep?" Lucifer snorted at his own joke.

"No. He likes to make the costumes bloody. He gets really into it." Adam's expression was a mix between disgust, pride, and horror. Yeah, seeing Abel covered in blood probably triggered some sort of trauma, but at least he was having fun?

"I'm surprised the flaming blue asshole allows you guys to celebrate at all." Lucifer figured it was best not to put Adam on edge this early in the morning. Hell got pretty wild around Halloween; the last thing Lucifer needed was to deal with Adam having a freak out on top of everything else.

"Like I said, a lot of Winners love Halloween. Heaven's all about happiness so... why wouldn't he?" Adam had a point, but at the same time, Lucifer had spent centuries building Michael and the others up to be cold-hearted prudes incapable of enjoying anything unless Lucifer was suffering from it.

"Don't tell me he dressed up." Lucifer didn't think Michael would. Wasn't Virgil already kind of a Halloween costume?

"I haven't seen him." Adam replied flatly. "And I'm totally okay with that. It's by choice." Lucifer smirked at the response.

"It's in the Halloween spirit, if you think about it. You're in a haunted house with the literal Devil and the Archangel Michael. What could be scarier-"

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of Michael. I hate you. There's a big difference." Adam cut him off. Lucifer was a bit taken aback. There was no goddamn way he was more afraid of fucking Michael than he was of the Master of all Evil.

"Michael isn't scary he's just an asshole."

"Are you fucking with me? You're more afraid of him than I am!"

"I'm not afraid of Michael." Lucifer replied rather annoyed by the accusation. "I hate him, and like you said, there's a difference."

"Don't agree with me. It's just gross."

"Yeah, you're right, it feels wrong." Lucifer was almost amused by the exchange. His mood immediately fell as there was a knock on the door. He could tell it was Michael. There was no one else who would knock that politely. Adam didn't knock at all; Syn threw her whole body into the door; and Lysander typically slammed his palms onto the door one time, incredibly loudly to announce himself before coming in, usually to ask for food. Lucifer took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "Come in!"

"Master Lucifer, you're awake." Virgil was at the door, dressed in a soft green onesie with giant eyes on the top of its head. He closed the door firmly behind him.

"You can drop the act, it's just Adam in here. And you look stupid by the way."

"I'm a frog!" Michael looked remarkably pleased with himself, immediately losing the monotone Virgil-voice and speaking as himself. "I have a better costume, but I can't use it in front of your employees." Michael did a happy little spin and his body shifted to look far too familiar. Lucifer saw his own face staring back, yellow and red eyes, red cheeks, sharp teeth, his suit changed from white and red to orange and black. The snake (that was actually the remains of Lucifer's halo) had changed to a skeletal version, sitting with a jack-o-lantern on the brim of the hat.

"Oh fuck no." Lucifer made a face.

"Tada~!" Michael snapped and a pumpkin-topped cane appeared in midair. He grabbed it, twirling it around. "I'm you!"

"Thanks. I hate it."

"Aw, I thought it was fun." Michael looked a little saddened (which was worse because it was like looking in a fucking mirror). Adam snorted. Lucifer whipped around quickly to face him. "Oh, don't you start."

"It's a good costume."

"Thank you, Adam!" Michael's face lit up at the compliment. Lucifer turned back, quickly, to look at Michael.

"He's sucking up because he's afraid of you, asshole."

"Be not afraid, I'm not scary." Michael's attempt at reassurances only succeeded in making Lucifer and Adam exchange looks. Lucifer cleared his throat, resting his hands in his lap as if he were a CEO at a business meeting, rather than a wounded Devil just waking up.

"Michael, you tried to kill him."

"I just wanted to talk. No one was going to die." Michael waved off the accusation. He looked at Lucifer's hand. "Wow, you are really looking better!" Lucifer looked down. The hand that had been severed was almost completely restored. He flexed his fingers, looking at the claws, sharp as ever. Everything felt great. He lifted the blanket off his lap to see his leg had almost reached the ankle in its regeneration. Damn, he should have just gone to Raph to begin with, unfortunately, all of Lucifer's former siblings were the fucking worst.

"Oh yeah, your weird little half-hand is just a regular weird hand." Adam was looking him over as well. Lucifer stuck his forked tongue out at him.

"Just admit you miss it."

"If I missed it, I would just cut your hand off again."

"Adam, no offense, but even in his current condition you are no match for Lucifer. He would obliterate you." Michael's comment was just so polite, and so as-a-matter-of-fact, that Lucifer burst out laughing. He didn't want to laugh, but he was caught off guard. "What?"

"Nothing." Lucifer immediately returned to his stoic expression. "But it's true, Adam, you should listen to him."

"Fuck off." Adam stuck his tongue out at the Devil in retaliation. "I'm not about to take a hit from someone who doesn't even have a fucking costume."

"Do you have any costumes ready? I bet you really love this holiday!" Michael's eagerness only made Lucifer's prior joy fizzle into a feeling of discomfort. Back in the day, Lucifer had loved the holiday. He and Lilith would dress up in elaborate costumes, throw extravagant balls, they would even dress Charlie up and take her out trick-or-treating in the other circles of Hell. (Mostly just to see the other Seven Deadly and other, high ranking Hellborns that Lucifer could trust not to try and kill the princess-not because they were at all trustworthy- but simply because they knew the consequences.) But since Lilith had left, all the fun and excitement of Halloween had faded into loneliness and misery. It was just another, bleak day.

"I'm too important to stoop to wearing ridiculous outfits." Lucifer figured he needed to give Michael some sort of answer.

"Oh no! That's so sad! You didn't have time to make a costume?" Michael had somehow missed the fucking point entirely.

"He had nothing but time, don't let him bullshit you. He's just anti-fun." Adam retorted. Michael shifted back into his normal form, all the eyes of the halos scanning the room.

"I've got it!" He snapped his fingers and the stupid frog costume reappeared. Lucifer's pajamas morphed into soft, yellow feathers as he was dressed in the stupidest looking duck costume, it wasn't even a convincing looking duck it looked like something out of a cartoon. "Now we match!" Adam about hit the floor from laughing. Lucifer took a deep breath, having to remind himself that he was doing all this so that the world didn't fucking end.

"Michael- no."

"You don't like it?" Michael looked thoroughly confused by Lucifer's reaction. "But you love ducks! And they're adorable!"

"Y-yeah." Adam practically gasped the words out between fits of laughing. "You fucking l-love ducks, dude."

"I'm the Devil, Michael. I'm not supposed to be adorable." Lucifer was a bit shocked that he even had to explain this to Michael. "Remember? I literally awoke evil into a perfect paradise? You called me a monster, sliced my wings off, and threw me into a pit? Ringing any bells?" Michael's face immediately fell, all his eyes narrowed.

"That's not how that went at all, and you know that." If Michael was going to push more, he didn't have the chance as there was the loud, obnoxious sound of two hands being slapped against the solid door. (Lucifer couldn't have been more relieved to hear the sound. He had no desire to reflect on The Fall with the very angel who cast him out.) The door opened and Lysander came barging in.

"Oi! Adam you in here, mate?"

"Goddamnit." Adam immediately stepped forward, glaring, as he looked Lysander up and down seeing him in a very similar maid costume to Adam's. Lysander looked at Adam, before putting his hands on his hips, tail swishing.

"Ah."

"Don't 'ah' me! You know I was supposed to be the slutty maid. We talked about this." Adam countered. (When they had talked this over was anyone's guess but it seemed Lucifer's staff had a surprisingly friendly relationship- it was surprising because Lucifer just assumed everyone hated Adam as much as he did.)

"Shit, I thought you meant I was supposed to be the slutty maid." Lysander looked thoughtful. "But you know, that makes a lot more sense now, I really don't have the legs for this."

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" Syn came zooming through the door, her googly eyes spinning. She too had a little maid hat and apron that looked as if they had been made out of construction paper. Adam slapped himself in the face, dragging his hand down.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me."

"I am a maid!"

"I can see that, Syn, you're probably the best maid here." Lucifer was feeling a lot better now that the conversation wasn't focused on him and Adam was the one suffering. Suddenly, the Devil remembered the many reasons he enjoyed this holiday.

"Thank you, Master! And I very much enjoy your duck outfit!"

"See?" Michael muttered under his breath. Lucifer chose to ignore him as it didn't seem as if anyone else had heard the comment. Michael turned his attention to Syn. "Did you make your costume? It's quite lovely." Michael sounded like a total tool, clearly only complimenting Syn to piss Lucifer off. It was working, too.

"Charlie helped me!"

"Best maid here. Hands down." Lucifer reiterated his point.

"Yay!"

"And I," Adam interrupted because he was incapable of letting anyone else have attention, "am the best slutty maid here. So, Lysander, dude," Adam put a hand on Lysander's shoulder, "you gotta change because I make this shit look good."

"Damn, need a quick new costume idea." Lysander didn't protest, but rather looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "It's gotta be impressive..." There was a moment of silence before his face lit up. "I got it! I just gotta call my dad real quick."

"Wait!" Lucifer called after him. "Which dad!?" But it was too late as Lysander was already most of the way down the hall. Nothing good could come from asking War for costume help, so Lucifer would just have to pray it was his other dad (and prayer should be extra effective since Michael was literally two feet from him looking like a complete fucking idiot in his frog outfit). Lucifer didn't know or care too much about Lysander's other father.

"There's no way he's winning the costume contest." Adam watched him go for a moment, before looking back at the others. "Right?" His gaze fell on Lucifer in particular and he started laughing all over again. "I can't take you seriously in that fucking outfit."

"Adam, you're in a fucking maid outfit. How are you holding any water here?" Lucifer's expression didn't change. Adam scoffed.

"Yeah, but I'm hot so it's different."

"Master is adorable!"

"Don't flatter yourself, dickwad." Lucifer started to try and transfer into his wheelchair. Both Adam and Michael instantly went to help him. He swatted them both away. "And don't you have something to cook? I'm surprised Lysander isn't lying out on the ground, dying from starvation with how long breakfast is taking."

"I guess Quackers is probably ready by now." Adam sighed. "He wanted his costume to be a surprise. You coming, Syn?"

"Hurray! I am invited!"

"Oh, I helped decorate the mansion for the holiday, I hope you don't mind." Michael was back to his Virgil persona, but both were equally frustrating to deal with so that wasn't much of a win. Lucifer was still surprised Michael would even bother to partake in a holiday like Halloween.

"Of course you did." Lucifer kept his voice stoic as he used the wheelchair to exit the room, seeing decorations of black and orange crepe paper hanging from the walls and banisters. There were jack-o-lanterns lining the halls, black flower wreaths, paper bats flying overhead. It was all too cute for Hell. When Lucifer and Lilith had decorated for the season, it had been something to behold. (Sure, they had to tone it down when Charlie was little, but this was a little childish even by Charlie's standards.) "Kinda... benign, don't cha think?"

"If there is something you wish for me to change-"

"It's fine. I don't actually give a fuck." Lucifer wouldn't admit it, but seeing the mansion all lit up and decorated was... not the worst. It reminded him of the only happy times in his life since Falling, seeing Charlie all dressed up, walking hand in hand with Lilith, the halls alive with celebration. This was the most activity his mansion had seen since she left. And... he didn't hate it. He hated fifty percent of the people involved, but it was almost nice to have something to do.

"Quackers, bro..." Adam's voice carried over from the kitchen and Lucifer had to investigate. Not because Adam sounded frustrated (though that could be funny) but rather, because he was genuinely curious about what Quackers would have picked as a Halloween costume. He rounded the corner to peek through the kitchen double doors where Adam was standing. Lucifer peered past him to see Quackers with a little maid headdress and apron and a feather duster tucked under one wing.

"Quack."

"Oh, you wanted to match?" Adam put a hand to his chest.

"Quack."

"I get it dude. No, I'm flattered." Adam nodded knowingly. Lucifer was ninety percent certain that Adam was simply bullshitting his understanding, as Quackers didn't actually say anything. It wasn't like with real ducks, it wasn't even really quacking in the traditional sense so much as it was saying the word quack.

"We match too!"

"Quack."

"You look wonderful Quackers." Michael stood behind Lucifer not stepping over the threshold into Quackers's kitchen.

"This is gonna make the costume contest harder to judge now. Especially since Quackers, Syn, and I are basically a group." Adam put on a stupid looking apron with a picture of a rolling pin on the front and the words: let's roll bitches, underneath in scrolling text, over the apron that was already a part of his maid costume. (Lucifer hadn't seen the rolling pin one before, just the Good lookin' is cookin' one. Lucifer was forced to vaguely wonder if Adam was starting a funny apron collection in his house. It wasn't something Lucifer would have expected Adam to collect as it just seemed a little too... domestic for a man who flew down and lead a slaughter of souls annually.)

"There isn't a costume contest." Lucifer corrected. Adam had mentioned the contest before, but the Devil sort of assumed he had been joking. Maybe he still was, and Adam was just committed to the bit. Quackers, Adam, and Syn all turned to look at Lucifer, Syn rotating slowly so that her googly eyes were facing him.

"Quack."

"Yes, there is!"

"Of course there is, you dumbass little bitch."

"Look, even if you guys have one amongst yourselves: It's Hell, everyone is just going to vote for themselves. Which, since you three have a group, means you would win. So, congratulations." Under normal circumstances, Lucifer would have made a multitude of clones for himself and just voted himself the winner, but his magic was unreliable and he highly doubted Mr. Fucking Ethics in the frog costume was willing to help the Devil cheat by multiplying himself for extra votes. (Lucifer couldn't even summon the Lucifer puppets to vote on his behalf. This costume contest was clearly rigged against him. Plus, the duck costume had been Michael's fucking idea and he was stupid and also the absolute worst.) "Enjoy your nonexistent prize because there isn't a contest."

"Do not worry, Master! I anticipated the selfishness of Hell and I have taken measures to account for it! You are welcome!"

"Syn, you can tell people not to vote for themselves all you want, they're still gonna do it." Lucifer seemed to have a habit of creating life that was overly optimistic in Hell as a whole. Between Syn and Charlie, the Devil was left baffled by the attitude.

"That is why I have measures in place."

"... right." Lucifer shrugged. If Syn had confidence in the palace staff enough to think she could host a just contest, it wasn't his place to crush her spirits. It was Michael's when he inevitably explained to her that the results were rigged. (The only way it would truly be unbiased is if Lucifer won.) "Then I guess I will leave you to get my breakfast ready. I need to discuss some repairs with Virgil."

"Oh yeah well-" Adam whipped around, whisk in hand, ready to spit out whatever inane insult his little brain could construct, but he took another look at Lucifer and doubled over laughing again. "I can't, I just- you look so fucking dumb."

"Quack."

"What? It's no shade to you, dude." Adam used his free hand to pat Quackers on the head. (Which was a little bit bullshit as Lucifer had never gotten to pat Quackers on the head before.) "You know you're the best duck here."

"Quack." Quackers's eyes closed as he looked pleased with Adam's response. Good to know that Quackers was still a fucking traitor.

"I'm going to leave you two to your moment." Lucifer slowly started to back the chair away. Adam looked over at him.

"Don't be jealous just because I like Quackers more than you. I like loads of people more than you. I saw a roach outside that is still a better person than you'll ever be."

"I'm not jealous. And if you want to hang out with the roach to get to know your own people better, I support that. But even it might have trouble digesting your shitty personality." Lucifer retorted as he turned the wheelchair around heading out into the Hallway with Michael hurrying after him. "We can talk in my study. It's private."

"You really don't think Adam is acting differently?" Michael was looking back toward the kitchen. Lucifer sighed heavily as he just kept on track toward the study.

"I mean... the cooking isn't that weird. He does it so he doesn't have to clean."

"The cooking is about the only normal behavior he's exhibiting."

"Do you hear yourself? the only normal behavior he's exhibiting," Lucifer mimicked Michael's voice perfectly, which wasn't hard to do since they already sounded similar. "He's not a science project, he's a fucking human. And humans change."

"I'm aware of how humans work, thank you. I am simply disappointed in our own angels back home, not recognizing Adam's decline and getting him treated before things got this bad. This was a shortcoming on our side, I should have been more involved with Heaven during our investigation, and for that I apologize."

"Don't... don't... just fucking don't." Lucifer reached the top of the stairs, throwing open the door to his study and wheeling his way inside. Luckily, Adam had cleaned up most of the ducks, and even polished the Heaven phone, so the room was at least presentable.

"Do... what?" Michael followed him inside, closing the door behind him. He immediately reverted back into his more natural form, though he kept the stupid frog outfit.

"Act all holier-than-thou, take all the responsibility for things that aren't your fault. I hate a stupid fucking what if martyr. Shit happened and now we're all screwed. Could you have stopped it? Maybe. Who fucking knows? But sitting there apologizing because of some bullshit you weren't even around for? What does that do? Other than make you feel better?"

"I..." Michael seemed truly taken aback by Lucifer's rant. "I feel like I should apologize here, but I also feel like that's going to make you more upset? So, my hands are tied." It would make Lucifer angrier, that was true.

"Then let's discuss our next steps. Gabriel should be bringing Vox here so that I can interrogate him about how he might have gotten Corrupted. Uriel and Raphael should be back up, dicking around in Heaven. So that just leaves you."

"Well," Michael's little tablet reappeared in his hand, "I'm glad you asked! I have a lot of options on my list-" the eyes in his halos flickered over to the Heaven phone. "Repair and clean Heaven phone." The eyes on Michael's face looked at his screen.

"Not the fucking List again."

"What's wrong with the list? It helps me stay organized!"

"It helps you be obnoxious."

"I am just trying to help-"

"Well, No one fucking asked you to."

"..." Michael stared at him in silence for a moment with every one of his visible eyes. "Lucifer... you did, yesterday."

"Okay, yes." Lucifer had been reacting on instinct with that last comment but it wasn't his fault that Michael brought out all his worst emotions. "But you agreed to help on my terms, and your little List feels like you're getting dangerously close to overstepping."

"Oh dear, I would hate to push your boundaries after you have been so gracious to let me stay with you in your lovely home. I know you have been so busy and I appreciate-"

"You see," Lucifer took a deep breath, resisting the urge to just let out every pent-up emotion he had been shoving down regarding his former brother since the asshole had hacked the very wings off his back. (Yes, they grew back, but that wasn't the point. They were never the same, not in size, shape, power, or even color.) "You're trying to be polite. But you are coming across incredibly condescending. Even if you don't realize it."

"Oh dear, that was not my intent."

"Yeah, I know. And it probably doesn't bother people in Heaven because you have those assholes trained to always assume the best intentions. But in Hell we assume the fucking worst. And when you're being overly polite, it comes across as insincere."

"I..." Michael was quiet for a moment, the eyes in his halos looked down at his list, then back at Lucifer. "I don't know how you want me to act."

"How about telling me what you actually think rather than use all these bullshit formalities to hide? You think my house is a fucking, wreck don't you?"

"No, I-"

"I haven't checked on Purgatory in years before this started happening. Isn't that interesting? Tell me what you think about that?"

"It's called Port Gatory now I-"

"It's called Port Gatory now." Lucifer repeated the words in Michael's voice. "See? That's how fucking obnoxious you sound." He could tell he was getting under his skin with the way the eyes in Michael's halos narrowed.

"I fail to see how this is constructive criticism."

"Why don't you tell me how you feel about the rest of my life choices? How I run my Kingdom? How I have ignored your ass since the day you screwed me over? Surely, you have some kind of critique! Or what about all the amazing ducks I invented-"

"Where is Lilith?" Michael's question cut him like a knife and Lucifer felt his entire body deflate. He cleared his throat.

"She's... busy with other things."

"I know you aren't together anymore."

"First of all, no the fuck you don't." Lucifer felt his blood starting to boil in his veins. Lilith was as volatile a topic for him as Eve was for Adam.

"Your staff talks, Lucifer."

"You can't believe shit you hear from my staff! They lie all the fucking time they're from Hell!" Even Syn had been on a bit of a deception kick as of late.

"I don't think Adam would be here if Lilith was too." Michael pressed. Lucifer's grip on the chair tightened, his horns and tail were out, though they were obscured by the costume. Once again, the Devil was ready to throw the Archangel to the wilds. If the Corruption consumed him, so fucking be it. He deserved it at this point.

"You don't know shit."

"That's why I'm asking."

"She's away. She'll be back." Lucifer's voice was dripping with venom. Somehow, Michael had reversed Lucifer's attempt to weasel under his skin with just one, simple question. Michael looked, for a moment, like he wanted to say more, but thought better of it, his eyes all refocusing on Lucifer.

"That's good to hear. Gabriel needs you."

"The fuck does that mean?" Lucifer fumbled in his anger. Michael's reply was almost jarring. Was that some sort of new heavenly mantra?

"It means our brother Gabriel needs you."

"Your brother."

"Yes. He needs you."

"How the fuck do you know that?" Lucifer squinted his eyes at Heaven's soldier. "You were kicked out of the telepathic group, weren't you."

"Yes, but he's calling me on the phone." Michael turned his tablet around and there was a little photo of Gabriel blinking on the screen. "May I answer?"

"Might as fucking well." Lucifer gestured toward the screen. That fucker had better be reporting that he was on his way with Vox. Lucifer needed a win. Michael nodded, swiping the screen to reveal Gabriel had shapeshifted into a tall Hellborn with dark red skin and braided white hair. "Where's Vox?" Lucifer saw the building behind him, but no TV headed Sinner in tow.

"Hey Speedy, how goes the mission?" Michael wasn't as too the point as the Devil across the table. Gabriel looked a little uncertain.

"They are really difficult to get in with. I have tried very hard to schedule an appointment to talk with Vox but they keep sending me to different people. I have been offered a job a few times, but I still haven't gotten to see Vox."

"Don't accept any jobs." Lucifer quickly interjected.

"Uh, yeah, I kinda figured. Also, I already have a job." Gabriel's reply gave Lucifer a bit of relief because the last thing he wanted was to have to bail an Archangel out of some creepy, disgusting contract. He would hope they were smart enough to know better, but he hadn't been able to feel optimistic since his Fall. So, he was forced to assume the worst.

"So, you don't have Vox with you then?" Lucifer put his face in his hands.

"Not for lack of trying!" Gabriel insisted. "I have talked to about eight different assistants. Three of them I've seen twice. I am not trying to give unwanted advice, but this system feels a little inefficient, especially for a businessman."

"That's the fucking point." Lucifer should never have trusted an angel to do the job of a Devil. He should have sent fucking Lysander. (He just didn't want VoxTek sniping a perfectly mediocre employee right from under Lucifer's nose.) "You don't try to make an appointment; you throw your rank in their faces and force them to listen. I sent you. You have proof of that, so use it. You out rank each and every one of those sad corporate saps. Even Vox, especially Vox."

"That just seemed a little harsh-"

"You're in Hell Gabriel!" Lucifer almost hung up on him right then and there but that might start another argument with Michael and Gabriel had been a welcome break from their prior topic of conversation. "Trust me, be abrasive."

"Well, I guess if you insist..." Gabriel nodded, adjusting the apple pin on his lapel that Lucifer had given to him to dictate his allegiance. His gaze went to Michael as if waiting for confirmation.

"Listen to our bro-" Michael stopped himself. "To our not brother- to this... random person to whom we are in no way related. This is his realm, we will abide by his rules."

"Can do! I am loving the costumes, you guys! I guess this is my costume for right now. But after I'm done, I think I want to be a snail!"

"None of you have fucking changed." Lucifer tried not to roll his eyes while Gabriel was looking directly at him. It seemed none of the Arcs had accepted the true superiority of the duck. He supposed he should just thank whoever the fuck was in charge now a day that Michael wasn't insisting on wearing his stupid Lucifer costume.

"Was that all, Gabe?" Michael glanced at Lucifer for a moment with the eyes in his halos before all of the eyes returned to look at Gabriel.

"Sir, yes sir!" Gabriel gave a little salute.

"Very good, please update us on your progress. Thank you for all you do, brother." Michael smiled and Lucifer struggled not to mimic his voice again, mocking the whole exchange. Gabriel gave the screen a thumbs up.

"Happy to help, bro-bro! Bye!"

"Bye-bye." Michael hung up the call as Lucifer watched him, cheek in his re-growing, clawed hand beneath the wing of his costume. He cleared his throat.

"Some notes? Ending an official call with bye-bye is fucking stupid."

"I see."

"So..." Lucifer sat up a bit in his chair, fingers drumming on the arm. He had brought Michael in here to talk strategy, but he was paranoid the conversation would turn back to Lilith and he did not want to face that emotional blow right now. (He needed time to make sure he came out looking flawless in his explanation. He couldn't have those assholes from upstairs thinking he was any more pathetic than they already did.) "You think he'll actually get Vox? Or like... what are the odds, here?"

"I believe he will do everything in his capability to adapt to the culture Hell has presented by following your instructions."

"Right," fucking angel-speak, "so you think he's gonna blow it."

"I never said that. Gabriel is a remarkably skilled angel and is an asset to our team."

"But he's gonna fuck this up, huh? He's too nice, you're all too fucking nice- well... to humans." Lucifer trailed off for a moment, squinting at Michael as he recalled the flaming sword as it was pressed against Adam's chest so close it singed his clothes. "Eh, maybe not you."

"Hey asshole!" There was a knock outside the workshop and Adam's voice interrupted Lucifer's sick burn. "Breakfast!"

"Come in." The Devil rotated his little chair to look at the door. He could see Michael actively shift back into Virgil behind him. The door swung open and Adam marched in with a plate stacked high with delicious smelling food.

"I guess it's really more of a brunch now that I'm thinking about it." Adam put the food down on the work table which hadn't been used for anything not duck-related since Lucifer had made Syn. "But Quackers, Syn, and I had to get some pictures of our awesome winning costumes before the official announcements are made."

"I looked fabulous!" Syn came flying in, food stuck all over her. Her little costume wasn't currently on and Lucifer had to wonder if Adam had the actual forethought to take it off of her before Syn "ate" her food.

"We all did." Adam countered.

"I cannot wait for the competition this evening!"

"Uh huh," Lucifer still didn't know how to break it to Syn that the competition wasn't really a thing, so he decided to delay her inevitable heartbreak even more. Instead, he shoved some of the fresh food in his mouth. It was amazing as always.

"Thank you." Michael nodded politely, taking the food and starting to eat as well.

"Now it is time for you to help me get back into my costume before the party!" Syn tried to fly into Adam's face but he quickly held up his hand to stop her.

"It's a party now?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Syn talked me into making some cupcakes, cookies, shit like that. She says it's her first Halloween." Adam explained.

"... huh." Lucifer had to think about it. He didn't think this was the first Halloween Syn had ever seen as she was at least a year old- he couldn't exactly place her completion date. But this might have been her first Halloween she had ever celebrated. "She's kind of right."

"Adam Just Adam we must go just go!"

"Yeah, yeah," Adam glanced down at Lucifer and Michael sitting with their food, not looking at one another. "You need anything else?"

"Not right now." Lucifer almost didn't want Adam to leave as it would once again leave him with Michael (and his stupid list). But Syn was dripping food on the floor, and Lucifer would also have to deal with Adam and Michael if he kept him there.

"Let me know when you want your holy water." Adam picked up the tray. Lucifer cringed at the thought of that wretched acid water.

"Never, but bring it around three, and bring an actual fucking trashcan. Not a shoe, not a hat, or any of my nice vases. A trashcan."

"We'll see." Adam took his leave and Lucifer was left again in silence. Michael reverted back to his regular form the moment the door closed. He didn't look at Michael, but rather stared at his food until it was all polished off. Michael was looking at his plate too, as well as that fucking list of his. Once in a while, one of the eyes in the halos would glance at him, but after making eye-contact, it would immediately look away. The silence was... uncomfortable. Lucifer cleared his throat, tapping his fork on the plate.

"So-"

"Gabriel's calling."

"Oh thank fuck." Lucifer let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He never thought he'd be relieved to hear from fucking Gabriel of all angels. Michael put the tablet on the work table in between them and Lucifer saw Gabriel waving. "Give me good news."

"Vox is coming!" Gabriel gave a thumbs up.

"That's actually fucking good to hea-" Lucifer was just about to shed the duck costume and get ready to interrogate an Overlord when Gabriel kept talking.

"He's coming later!"

"Later when?" Lucifer relaxed back into his chair; eyes narrowed.

"He didn't specify." Gabriel admitted with a shrug; he still sounded enthusiastic. "But he is coming! He is just currently busy. He has a company Halloween party today. It sounded important."

"Can't you angels sense intent? He was lying Gabriel." Lucifer had low expectations and even then, he still somehow felt let down (though also a bit validated).

"It becomes difficult to sense intent when the subject is Corrupted." Michael spoke up. "And you were concerned that Vox was Corrupted, correct?"

"I did feel like his intention was to come, though he wasn't happy about it." Gabriel's reassurance did little to ease Lucifer's mind. "It was more like... acceptance or defeat."

"I don't think he's coming without more prompting, but it's fine for now." Lucifer rubbed his eyes. It was nice of Gabriel to let him down one more time, for old times' sake. It was true that Vox's stupid little company had started hosting a Halloween party to fill the void left when the Morningstars had stopped hosting theirs. Lucifer and Lilith hadn't felt the desire to host toward the end, to put on a smile in front of the Overlords, the royals, and the other Sins. He would be more likely get to Vox at the party after he had a few drinks in him, it might loosen his tongue more too. "You can head back to Heaven." Adding thanks for nothing seemed like it was in poor taste. "I'll let you know if I need you again."

"You sure I can't-" Gabriel started to offer more aid but he had done enough, which was to say, he hadn't really done anything other than let Vox know the Devil remembered that they still needed to talk.

"I'm sure." Lucifer would figure something out later. He was certainly not going to chase Vox down with one hoof and wearing a duck costume.

"Oh! He said he covered up the whole patricide fiasco! He wanted me to let you know it was handled! And, you would have liked his costume! He was a shark!" Gabriel must have missed the fact that he hadn't actually been helpful and was still talking.

"A slutty shark, I'm sure." Lucifer knew the Vees well enough to guess the Halloween costumes. They had attended a few of the galas at the mansion.

"No, a just a cute shark." Gabriel shook his head.

"Don't use the word cute to describe anything down here. It makes you sound weak and if someone gets the wrong idea and tries to shoot you, the bullet will ricochet and Vox will have yet another cover up to use as an excuse not to talk to me." Lucifer was at least glad that weird puppet murder had been handled. He didn't want any attention on the royal family right now.

"Can do!" Gabriel gave a little salute. Lucifer cringed a bit, it reminded him too much of his time leading the Archangels.

"You did great, Gabe. I need you back in Heaven with Raph and Uri. We're back now and the Winners need to recognize that, need to feel safe. I am not there, but I want you to oversee all the Halloween festivities. Remember, keep their spirits light, and keep their souls safe."

"Understood, Bluey~" Gabriel grinned, giving him another thumbs up. "Have a happy Halloween, guys! Call if you need me!"

"We will, thank you for everything." Michael smiled and ended the call. He looked back at Lucifer. "Sorry we didn't get him."

"We will." Lucifer would deal with that later in the night when Vox was going to be more susceptible to persuasion, or intimidation. But for now, he had left his staff unsupervised for far too long, and last time he had done that; he had come back to them trying to throw makeshift rings made from wires around Syn as she was flying around. "But right now, I have other shit to do." He started toward the door. Michael got to his feet.

"But we haven't really planned out our next course of action-"

"You have a list, don't you?" Lucifer threw the door open and Michael instantly snapped back to his Virgil form in case one of the palace staff was lurking outside. They weren't, but Lucifer could hear some... suspiciously equine sounds coming from the bottom floor of his house.

"Yes, but I feel like one of the reasons you invited me here was so that we could work on this together. You know, to-"

"We are doing things together. We teamed up with Gabriel and accomplished nothing. That was fun! Now," Lucifer heard more horse-sounds and he started to head toward the stairs, "I have more pressing shit on my plate."

"Is there a horse downstairs?"

"Yeah, I think there might be a horse downstairs." Lucifer headed down the stairs to see the blood red steed with flaming eyes, and smoke pouring out of its glowing nostrils, prancing on his floor with a headless rider on its back. Adam and Syn were watching from the side. "Hey fuck face, why the fuck is there a horse in our fucking foyer?" Lucifer knew this was somehow Adam's fault. It had to be.

"Lysander's new costume " Adam had his arms crossed over his chest watching the horse rear back the rider on the back held up a jack-o-lantern encased in ice over his head. Lucifer was mostly impressed the rider didn't fall off.

"Lysander, why did you bring a fucking horse into my house?"

"Oh!" There was a muffled response as the horse's hooves slammed into the tile floor. Lucifer could see wiggling from inside the massive coat of the rider and eventually, Lysander's head popped out. "You like it? I'm the Headless Horseman!"

"Is the pumpkin head not supposed to be on fire?" Syn must have looked up the story because Lucifer sure as shit hadn't taught her that one. Lysander looked at the frozen pumpkin, the coat shifting in the back as his tail swished.

"Yeah, I can't do fire? Imma ice demon, mate."

"Okay, cool, cool, cool," Lucifer hadn't intended the pun, but it worked in the current situation. "But again: why is there a fucking horse in my mansion?"

"It's my dad's!" Lysander looked around of himself as he got the horse to make a small circle around Lucifer and Michael. "Pretty fucking sick costume, right Virgil?" Lysander held the pumpkin up with pride, his chest puffed out. "I mean, it's no frog which is fuckin' great- my favorite plague, actually- but it's the best I could do last second."

"It is very nice." Michael nodded politely. "But will War Horse not damage the mansion?" Lysander shook his head.

"Nah, he's perfectly trained!" At that moment, War Horse decided to start drooling molten lava out if his mouth as he was pacing. Lysander immediately used ice to freeze it before it could damage the floor. "He's just hungry."

"You could probably let the horse set your pumpkin on fire." Adam suggested, watching the whole exchange as Lysander reached into the saddle bag and pulled out some of the native fruit from Hell, feeding it to the horse.

"Don't encourage him." Lucifer interrupted. "And also, if that thing shits on my floor, you're cleaning it up. Or your fired. Depends on my mood."

"He won't! Demetrius is a good boy." Lysander gave the horse a hug around its neck, snuggling into it, undercutting any intimidation factor the two had with their costume.

"The horse is named Demetrius?" Lucifer hadn't really thought about the horses having names. They weren't even real horses so much as they were cosmic entities.

"Is your dad a fan of Shakespeare?" Michael looked less surprised by the fact that the horse was named, and more amused by the name itself.

"Papachka is. He loves to read." Lysander sat back up on the horse. "We have this big ass library at the house that Demetrius isn't allowed to go in. Even if he's a motorcycle." The horse snorted and flames erupted from its mouth. "I know buddy, rules fucking suck sometimes."

"You mean a rule like: no horses in my fucking house?" Lucifer asked, looking on the ground for any damage.

"That's not a rule." Lysander shook his head. "I checked the rule book you gave me when I was hired, just to be sure."

"Rulebook?" Lucifer hadn't thought about the staff manual in years. He was honestly a little surprised he had the forethought to give it to Lysander. Though, no horses in the house should have been listed, since he and Lilith had written the book together and there was no fucking way his ex-wife would have been fine with beasts trouncing about her home.

"Yep." Lysander pulled a small booklet out of his saddlebag. It didn't look like the employee manual. The word: Rules was scrawled across the cover in Lucifer's unmistakable hand writing. He took the booklet from Lysander, who almost fell off the horse in an attempt to hand it down to him in his chair. He opened it and there was just one page inside that said: Don't fucking bother me. Lucifer looked back up at Lysander.

"I feel like the horse thing is implied in this."

"He's not a bother! He's a delight." Lysander assured him. Syn came flying up to Lucifer. A small, paper pumpkin pail had been taped to her front. She started to nudge Lucifer's cheek.

"Trick or Treat!"

"Y... yes?" Lucifer put his hand up to push Syn off of him. He looked down to see little pieces of candy in her bucket.

"Oh! We taught Syn to Trick-or-treat!" Lysander almost said it as an afterthought. "She asked about it, so Adam made her a little treat pail and we've just been giving her candy."

"And then he threw up!"

"Did he at least use a trashcan?" Lucifer was too jaded to hope.

"Negative! He used the umbrella holder by the entrance!"

"Goddamnit, asshole! Would it kill you to use the fucking trashcan?" Lucifer looked at Adam who simply smirked at him.

"Bitch, it might."

"Oh, your highness," Michael cleared his throat, walking up behind Lucifer and holding out a closed fist. "You dropped this." Lucifer looked confused, opening his hand and Michael dropped some candies into his open palm hidden under the fabric of the duck wing. Syn's colors all rapidly changed in a rainbow pattern and her body spun rapidly around making her little pail spin with her.

"Hurray! Trick or Treat!"

"Here you go." Lucifer sighed a bit as he put one of the pieces of candy into her pail, nearly filling it up to the top. (Stupid Michael with his dumb, still-working magic. Lucifer could have made candy too if he hadn't tried to help Adam off the ground once five months ago. But, the road to Hell was paved with good intentions and all that bullshit.) Syn immediately flew over to Adam.

"Empty please!"

"Here you go." Adam grabbed Syn, flipping her upside down, and shaking her gently until the candies fell out of the pail and onto a growing pile on the table beside Lucifer's sofa.

"I can get the umbrella holder clean." Michael lowered his voice, whispering to Lucifer as the Devil watched Syn get turned right-side up and start zooming around again. He could see Michael actively typing on that dumb fucking tablet in his hands. (Probably adding: clean vomit to that stupid list of his.)

"Yeah, deal with that." Lucifer still had a horse of a matter to attend to. Michael went to grab the umbrella holder from the entryway. (Either Adam had constructed Syn's pail for her in the middle of a doorway, or that asshole had bolted to a completely different location, solely to vomit in an inconvenient spot.) Syn flew back over, landing on Lucifer's lap, and then flopping over onto her back so the googly eyes were looking up. Lucifer couldn't feel the patter of her wings through the thick fabric of the duck costume, but he could see them fluttering.

"What Halloween tradition should we do next!?"

"Is it the costume contest?" Lysander suggested.

"It is not time yet!" Syn shut that down quickly. Lucifer was a little amused that she had come up with some sort of schedule for these impromptu festivities. It made sense, he had created her to plan things for him. It was just... expected that she would run said plans by him first. She must have forgotten that part of her coding in all of the excitement. "OOOO! I have an idea! Scary stories over a campfire!"

"Oh, fuck yeah! I tell a great scary story." Lysander was instantly on board. (That somehow didn't surprise Lucifer.)

"I feel like this goes without saying, but I am going to say it anyway:" after all, Lucifer had also thought that not bringing a fucking horse indoors was implied as well, and that had landed him here. "You can't make a campfire in my house."

"Awwwww."

"S'okay! We can let Demetrius be our fire! He spits fire. Same thing." Lysander dismounted from the massive steed and pointed toward the ground. "Lie down." He tried to command the horse like a fucking dog. The horse snorted fire again. Lysander pulled another fruit from the bag, holding it toward the floor. "Lie down, boy!" The horse looked at the snack, then slowly tucked its legs and got on the floor, taking the fruit, and starting to chew. "There were go! A campfire!"

"Hurray! Now we must all sit around it and take turns telling stories until it's time for the contest!"

"Which I will win." Adam took a seat on the floor. Lysander sat down as well. Lucifer was already sitting in his chair.

"Master! Do you want to go first!?"

"His stories aren't scary, Syn, they're pathetic." Adam replied calmly. Lucifer hadn't actually been planning to stick around, but now he had to.

"My stories are actually too scary."

"He's just gonna talk about the Fall. We get it, you have family issues. Get some new material." Adam continued to antagonize him. (It couldn't be because he wanted Lucifer to stay, so he had to assume the First Man was simply acting out due to the Corruption in his blood.)

"The Fall is a great story, first of all." Lucifer retorted.

"Yeah, Boss! It is! But like..." Lysander trailed off for a second, considering his next words carefully. "We have all kinda heard it before? I mean... there's literally a ride."

"I have other stories!" Lucifer scoffed at the very suggestion that he only had one good tale. It wasn't his fault that the Fall was just a highly influential and amazing story- especially the way he told it. (But maybe it wasn't a great idea to relive that particular trauma when the angel who caused it was mucking about his house.) "Just... give me a second to choose which of my amazing tales isn't too scary for Syn."

"You mean: you can't think of anything that won't just make us sad." Adam laughed. "I suppose you could offer your life up as a cautionary tale.

"Shut the fuck up." Lucifer wheeled himself into the small group gathering around the horse. He could think of something.

"I can go first, Boss-Man!" Lysander offered, putting his hands on his knees. "This is a true story, mates, so listen good! One night, I was in my room, alone. My dads were out, and I had the house to myself. It was the wee hours of the morning, and this bloke from my first internship at Lu Lu World texts me to say there's a big fucking riot outside. Now, I'm not one to miss a good riot. So, I went downstairs to get ready. Got m'papachka's gun, got some ammo, and then I went into the cabinet to get a delicious, chocolatey protein muffin from my snack-stash. But when I reached in..." he took a deep breath, "we were all out. And all we had were cinnamon apple muffins!"

"Bro, that's horrifying. How are you even still here?" Adam scooted over so he could pat Lysander on the back as Syn let out a tinny, electronic squeal. Lysander shook his head.

"It was tough, but I went to the riot hungry."

"That's not scary, that's just inconvenient." Lucifer was unimpressed. For the son of War he was expecting something a little more intense. Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Okay then, you go."

"I'm not ready yet." Lucifer waved the challenge off. It didn't seem like this was a particularly difficult crowd to impress, but he still needed to have the best story.

"Fine. Then I'm going." Adam straightened up. "Once upon a time, I lived in a perfect paradise called Eden with my smoking hot second wife, Evie. Every day was more perfect than the last, and I was happy. Then one day this snake-"

"If I can't talk about the Fall, you can't talk about the apple." Lucifer interrupted. He had suspected this would be Adam's story.

"Hey! That's not fair!" The First Man argued. "I never talk about the apple!"

"Yes, you do." Lucifer held firm. "And face it, you have nothing else going for you." He doubted Adam would talk about Cain and Abel in something as low-stakes as a scary story competition. (Was it a competition? Lucifer wasn't actually sure. But if it was, he was going to be the winner.) Adam huffed, crossing his arms.

"What about the time I was out on a boat and the water all turned black. And there was a hand coming out of the water, beckoning me in. And I could hear singing all around me in the wind but I couldn't understand the song-"

"That... never happened..." Lucifer had to cut him off. Adam's mind was unreliable, and the Devil really didn't like where this story seemed to be going. Adam shook his head.

"Yes, it did! In Port Gatory!"

"Nope, didn't happen." Lucifer vaguely remembered Adam mentioning singing when they had been on the Hell Liner. He couldn't account for what Adam saw, only what had actually occurred. Adam looked a little irritated.

"You were there-"

"It's fine! I'm ready for my story." Lucifer had to think of something, quickly. He didn't want Adam getting any more agitated. "And it's not about the Fall."

"We'll see about that," Adam did seem to relax a bit.

"Long ago, before even Adam was born," Lucifer took a deep breath, "the universe was in chaos. Dark beings roamed, free to cause nothing but destruction. The angels, tired of the cold and bitter life outside of Heaven, we instructed to make life in that chaos. It was a small, humble planet with plants and animals, and beings that were similar to humans, but were not quite the same. They were bigger, longer limbs, they had anywhere between one to three eyes... but they were beautiful, smart, creative. They were perfect because we had made them. There were four Angels of the highest ranking that oversaw this Paradise. There was the Light Bringer who was the most beloved, most beautiful, and the leader. Then there was the Messenger, in charge of speaking to the creatures we had made; the Healer, who mostly oversaw that all the things created were healthy and thriving; and finally, the Scholar, she worked on teaching other angels things about the universe outside. Everything was... perfect. Then, one day, everything changed for the worse." He paused for dramatic effect. "The Metatron gathered the four Archangels and brought them into a meeting room. Her voice was like ice when she said: 'We have made a new angel to serve alongside you, please welcome: The Soldier.' There was nothing but silence as the angels sat, in horror. Nothing would ever be the same again."

"That's your scary story?" Adam rolled his eyes. "The day they made Michael? It's not even true. There was no world before Eden!" There was an audible hesitation in his voice before he added: "... right?" In a far less convincing tone.

"Dunno, you're clearly the expert here. You tell me." Lucifer met Adam's gaze; his smirk unrelenting as the first man seemed unsure.

"What happened to the not-humans?" Syn sounded intrigued.

"Who's to say? Something unavoidable, probably. Or maybe nothing. Maybe I just made the whole thing up." Lucifer wiggled his claws, teasingly. (It would have been more effective if he didn't currently have his hands covered by yellow, fluffy wings.) "Spoooooky~"

"Interesting story." Michael's voice almost made Lucifer jump. He didn't care that Michael had heard the story; it wasn't something the Devil wouldn't have said to his face. He was just surprised how quietly Michael could move when he wanted. "When you are ready, I have a drink for you." He held a glass of what was clearly holy water up.

"I was gonna get that." Adam looked a little annoyed at having been beaten to the punch. He probably enjoyed watching Lucifer suffer through the drink.

"Hang the fuck on, I haven't heard Syn's story." Lucifer wasn't going to drink in front of the whole staff. He had been doing a good job of keeping Lysander and Syn at a distance from the disaster that his life had become.

"I had a good scary story, Virgil, sad you missed it." Lysander waved him over. "You can sit with us if you want! Maybe share a cool story of your own."

"I don't want to interrupt." Michael seemed hesitant.

"Join us!" Syn remarked from her spot on Lucifer's lap. "I still have a very scary story to tell!" To emphasize her point, thunder sounds erupted from her speaker.

"O... okay then." Michael seemed surprised, but took his seat between Lucifer and Lysander. (Why the fuck did he seem so shocked? Surely that asshole was dripping with party invitations back in Heaven. People loved the Archangels. Lucifer was constantly invited to shit before Michael had fucked him over. Now he was a just invited to everything in Hell. Which was fine, the parties were better down below anyway.) Syn's lights flashed various colors again.

"Be prepared to be terrified!" She flew up to hover over the horse. "For I have a tale of terror! Ahem," she made the noise of clearing her throat, despite not having any organs. "It was a spooky Halloween night and all of the mansion was gathered around the campfire!"

"Demetrius is a campfire," Lysander leaned over toward Michael, whispering the explanation in an over-the-top stage whisper.

"He is doing a good job." Michael nodded, accepting the reason without protest.

"Suddenly! There was a knock at the door!" Syn made some knocking sound effects. "But everyone was around the fire! Who could it be? Was it: Cain coming to drink our drinks!?" She made the sound of thunder crashing and her lights flashed. "Was it Charlie ready to do arts and crafts!?" More thunder and flashing lights. "Was it that red lady we hate!?" This time the thunder was accompanied by some dramatic music. "No, it was..." she must have learned from Lucifer, as she paused for effect. "The ELEVEN O CLOCK MEETING!" She made a screaming sound effect. "Oh no! Very scary!"

"Lucifer having to do work!? Terrifying." Adam assured her.

"Very scary, Syn, thank you." Lucifer clapped his wings politely.

Knock

Knock

Knock

"Syn, your sound effects are getting good!" Lysander clapped his hands as well. "Did you get surround sound? I swear that sounded like the door!"

"That was the door!"

"Who the fuck is at the door?" Lucifer started to move his wheelchair out of view. He didn't want to be seen in his current condition by anyone outside of a trusted few. (And Adam, and Michael, and the other Archangels, and the Horsemen- ah fuck it, all of Hell seemed to know by now.)

"Trick or treaters?" Adam shrugged, getting to his feet.

"Not really a thing in Pride, outside of Cannibal Town, but trust me, you don't want to Trick or Treat there." Lucifer shook his head.

"I would like to go!"

"You really don't." Lucifer beckoned Syn over to him and she obediently zoomed to his side before settling back in his lap. Adam opened up the door and immediately stepped back, looking surprised. Lucifer saw a woman all in white, her hair like celestial fire, her eyes as dark as pits, step through the door. Her typical scythe was replaced by a single candle, there was a veil over her fiery hair.

"Oh shit, Lady Death." Adam nodded to her, "what's up?"

"Charon," Lucifer was ninety percent certain that was the name of Azrael's replacement. "What... uh... what brings you here?"

"Your invitation?" Charon looked equally confused.

"Hi auntie!" Lysander gave Charon a big wave.

"Oh, hello Lysander!" She smiled and waved back. Lucifer blinked, wracking his brain for when he might have invited Death to his house. Had his actions just been so influential in changing the Apocalypse that she took it as an invite to return? He cleared his throat, looking as professional as he could while dressed as a duck.

"Invitation?"

"Oh, yes. You sent me a text to... pretty please come to the mansion this evening for: fun, food, and festivities?" She pulled out her phone, clearly reading a message. Lucifer squinted at her for a moment before turning his gaze to Syn.

"Did I, now?"

"Surprise! I got us a guest judge for the costume contest!"

"Oh come on, Syn! She's Lysander's fucking aunt!" Adam protested. "You know she's just going to vote for him!"

"She's an angel, she'll be fair." Lucifer rubbed the bridge of skin between his eyes. This was the first time Syn had ever texted on his behalf. He felt like he should get onto her about that, but at the same time, using words like pretty please should really have cued Charon in to the fact that she was being played. That was on her.

"Greetings Angel of Death," Michael bowed deeply, "I am Virgil, the handyman of the manor." Charon stared at him in silence for a moment before bowing in return.

"Lovely to meet you, Virgil."

"Did you not dress up!?"

"Oh! No! I did!" Charon held up her candle and gestured to her veil. "We did a group costume this year! I am the ghost of Christmas Past!"

"Seriously?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "That's the wrong fucking holiday."

"I don't not think costumes can be from the wrong holiday." Charon countered. She waved her hand and an image appeared in the air, displayed on white mist. It showed all four Horsemen, Charon had her candle, Abdiel was in bright red and green robes, lined with fur and holding an entire fucking cooked turkey in his hands, and there was a tall, robed figure in black that Lucifer had to assume was Syriel because Balaam was simply wearing his regular clothes in the middle of the group looking pissed off. "I'm Christmas Past, Abi is Christmas Present, Syriel is Christmas Yet to Come, and Balaam is our Scrooge!"

"He didn't want to dress up, huh?" Lucifer smirked at the photo. Charon sighed.

"He did not, no."

"Hm. Sounds like him." Lucifer and Balaam went way back. The idea that he didn't want to play along with the other Horsemen wasn't shocking. He hadn't been much of a team player in centuries.

"Lucifer, apologize, but your drink." Michael spoke up again.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Make yourself at home." He gestured to Charon. "Then you can judge this thing and do whatever it is you do on Halloween." He assumed it was about the same thing she did on every other fucking holiday.

"Thank you." She bowed her head to him as he wheeled the wheelchair into the dining area, away from the commotion in the foyer. He snatched the glass from Michael, who immediately grabbed a trashcan. Maybe Lucifer was getting scar tissue built up from drinking the damn water, because it was starting to hurt just a bit less. Or maybe he was just getting numb to it. He snatched the can and started throwing up. Every time there was less and less of the black goo. That was... probably good. He was quiet for a moment, recovering from the misery that was the holy water, breathing deeply. He closed his eyes, drinking in the quiet, before opening them again, glancing over at Michael.

"You think she knows who you are?"

"Hard to say." Michael replied quietly. "But I would assume she does. She is Death, after all." Lucifer was quiet for a moment before he nodded.

"You heard my story, right?"

"You mean about how terrifying it was that I got made? Yes."

"Good, good. But you did miss Lysander bringing an entire goddamn horse into my house, so, I just had to check."

"I don't think you can really comment on not noticing Lysander bringing things into your house." Michael remarked dryly.

"The fuck does that mean?"

"It just means that you missed the horse too." Michael started to head back to the foyer, "I think he has the costume contest in the bag, personally."

"Well, if I would have known there was going to be an actual contest, I would have tried rather than let you force me into this absolutely fucking stupid duck outfit."

"Oh, you love it. It's adorable."

"It's awful. The only redeeming quality is that it's a duck which is innately cool. But I am pretty sure I offended Quackers."

"I think Quackers was flattered, personally."

"You have no idea what Quackers is thinking." Lucifer wheeled back out into the foyer to see Death was stroking the horse on its neck as it stood beside her. She seemed to be admiring one of the many, beautiful paintings that lined the Devil's walls. Adam seemed to have fucked off to the kitchen, and Lysander was giving Syn another piece of candy.

"Welcome back!" Charon waved to him. "I do love your costume!"

"If you crown me the winner of the contest, I'll make it worth your while." Lucifer wheeled his way over beside her. "I could even give you one of my prize art pieces." He looked at the one she had been staring at. It was old, it had been in his collection for years. It was a painting of a moth, the yellows, browns and blacks seemed to shimmer in the palace light. There was a very noticeable skull design on its back. "Not that one though." That particular painting was special to Lucifer. (He was just glad it wasn't one of the ones Adam had colored over when he had first arrived in Hell and was more destructive than he was now.)

"Azrael painted this, didn't she?" Charon glanced over at him before returning her gaze to the painting. Like with the Archangels, Charon's eyes were a solid color, making it difficult to tell where she was looking. But unlike the Arcs, even the eyes in her halo, when they were visible, were still a deep, unrelenting black.

"She did."

"It's beautiful."

"It is." Lucifer looked back at the painting in question. It had been a gift, long ago, before Charlie had even been born. "She told me she had taken a painting class up in Heaven and was testing out her new skill."

"She took a lot of painting classes," Charon smiled, there was genuine grief in her expression. "She loved to learn."

"Were you two close?"

"We were friendly... but I was nothing special up in Heaven. I had no reason to spend time with such an important angel. But... I took the same painting classes. I'm nowhere as good as she was though." Charon's voice trembled a bit.

"What was your job... you know... before you got... let's just say: promoted?" Lucifer might as well get to know the new Death. After all, if the Apocalypse was as near as he feared, they might be working together sooner than later.

"I was one of Rochele's delivery angels."

"W..." Lucifer paused for a second, "were you even a Seraphim?" Rochele did have a few Seraphim beneath her, but they mostly worked desk jobs.

"I... was not."

"Oh." Lucifer didn't know what to say. He had been under the assumption that Charon was some high-ranking Seraphim that served under Michael that he had never heard of simply because he didn't really give a shit about Heaven. It had never occurred to him that she had been an angel, just one step above a Cherub. Angels could earn additional wings through good deeds and bullshit like that. (Stopping once they reached Seraphim status. Archangels were not promoted they were constructed.) But the idea that Death had earned four wings and Death's Halo all in one fell swoop was... insane. No wonder she lacked a commanding presence. From the sound of it she had been tossed into one of the most important jobs in Heaven or Hell and the Archangels had sort of... peaced out and left, right after that jarring change. "But you still got... like some training, I assume. Obviously not from Azzie, but..." Lucifer was still just trying to process how a low-level angel had even been chosen. Michael said he had no say in it, but surely an idea that stupid had to be his, right? Charon sort of... laughed at the question.

"I mean, The Archangels went with me during my first few missions, but they also had to find out the cause of Azreal's death... so it was a very short training period. Luckily the other Horsemen have been amazing, truly. And of course, I have had help in Port Gatory."

"Who renamed it. I have to know." Lucifer had been assuming it was Michael until it sounded like Michael had been equally surprised by the name-change

"I did! Do you like it?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Lucifer thought it was stupid as shit, but this was definitely not the time or place to divulge that information. (He still wanted to win this stupid costume contest after all, and insulting the only judge seemed like a poor strategy.)

"I thought it would be easier for the humans to process."

"No, no it's cute." Lucifer looked back at the painting. "Hey, I know this is probably not something you want to talk about... but... I have to ask. You don't know anything about what happened to your predecessor, do you?" It seemed like a waste of a question as he knew the Archangels had probably already interrogated the poor thing mercilessly, but he was desperate for anything about her death. He felt as if he still didn't know anything about what happened,

"No... I know they found her body shortly after I came to them. She was in Port Gatory, in her home." She closed her eyes for a moment. Lucifer felt cold, but he didn't know if Charon was causing the chill, if Michael was eavesdropping, or if it was simply what remained of his good nature that was horrified by the idea of someone, he had considered a friend, being slaughtered in her own home. Her eyes opened again, but she didn't look at him. "But right before it happened, before I... changed I swear I heard her voice..."

"What did she say?"

"She told me... to be strong." Charon's eyes watered, he could see tears of liquid silver gathering in the corners. "She said... I know you can do this, little bird."

"Little bird?"

"It was something she called me when we were in the painting classes together, because I was always painting birds." Charon materialized a handkerchief and began wiping the silver tears from her eyes before they could drip onto the floor "Forgive me."

"No, it's fine. Thank you for talking to me." Lucifer smiled, trying his best to be reassuring. It wasn't really in the nature of the Devil to be so, but he reached up to put a hand on her back. His own eyes burned, but he told himself that was due to allergies. "So... I'm guessing that Charon wasn't your original name." He tried to lighten the mood a bit, it was Halloween after all. It would ruin the atmosphere to have Death in tears in the corner. It wasn't uncommon for Angel names to change if they got a vastly new position. Their names were meaningful, after all, and Charon didn't sound like the name of an angel who delivered fresh souls to Earth.

"It was Karen." She laughed. "But I do like my new one too."

"Does your horse have a name?"

"Styx."

"Cute." Lucifer mused.

"Yeah, my special someone picked it out for me." Her expression softened and Lucifer instantly recognized a look of love on her face. (He too had worn that same, sappy expression once, long ago.) He raised an eyebrow.

"Another Angel?"

"No, she lives in Port Gatory."

"Jezebel?" Lucifer made a face. He didn't know Charon that well, but he knew her enough to know she was too good for Jezebel. (Plus Heaven hadn't exactly been super accepting of Angels in relationships back when he and Lilith were getting together.)

"Oh, goodness no."

"Oh." The realization hit Lucifer rather quickly. There weren't that many real people in Port Gatory so if she wasn't seeing Jezebel, and the special someone presented as female so it couldn't be Jazeerael. That only left one possibility. "... huh."

"Hey losers! And Charon our lovely guest judge!" Adam burst into the room with a tray full of fun Halloween themed appetizers. "Who's hungry!?"

"Oh! Adam these are lovely!" Charon reached over taking one of the cookies shaped like little skulls. "And they're my favorite!"

"Lysander told me. And there's a lot more where that came from if you throw that vote my way." Adam winked at Charon and Lucifer rolled his eyes. Charon giggled.

"Everyone is trying to bribe me today. How fun!"

"I do not need to bribe you!" Syn flew over to sit on the tray in the empty spot that the skull cookie had previously occupied. "I simply must remind you that I am very cute." She flew up to Charon's shoulder. "And," It was clear Syn was trying to whisper and failing dramatically. (Apparently none of Lucifer's staff could whisper convincingly.) "If you vote for me, there's half a pile of candy on the table with your name on it!"

"I see." Charon nodded, biting into her cookie. "So, when do I have to decide?"

"Now!"

"Oh! Well, then..." She paused for a moment. "Then I vote for the cutest costume to be: Syn!" She snapped and a little medal appeared around Syn's neck.

"YAY!" Syn did a flip in the air, spilling out the new candy she had gathered. Lucifer was about to speak up, but she kept talking.

"The best scary costume goes to my nephew, Lysander!"

"Fuck yeah! You're the best, auntie!" Lysander got a medal materialized on top of his pumpkin. Lucifer sighed; he knew where this was going.

"The best career-oriented costume goes to, Adam!" A medal appeared around Adam's neck as well. The first man grinned, puffing out his chest.

"Awe yeah! First place!"

"She's giving medals to everyone, dumbass." Lucifer snapped. This was certainly some divine, heavenly bullshit. Charon continued, unabashed.

"The best bird costume goes to the King of Hell!" Rather than a medal, she made a little crown that sat on Lucifer's head.

"Hurray." Lucifer's reply lacked all enthusiasm.

"And the best amphibian costume goes to: Vigil!"

"Thank you." Michael's face stayed stoic, but Lucifer could tell he was pleased as a medal pinned itself to his frog costume.

"And the best costume that I wasn't able to see goes to the young duck that lives in the kitchen that Syn told me about!" There was a soft 'quack' in the distance before Charon continued. "Thank you so much for inviting me to judge!" She clapped her hands together happily. "And, while I have you, your highness could I ask to speak with you privately?" Lucifer perked up at the sudden request.

"About how I really won, right? And these other guys are all just losers?"

"Aw."

"Not you, Syn. You look great." Lucifer assured her.

"Um... something like that, sure." Charon gestured for him to follow as they headed into the dining room. She stopped to grab a few more cookies from Adam's tray on her way. She pulled a chair out, sitting down to be more at eye level with Lucifer.

"What's going on?" Lucifer met her gaze. They had just been talking after all. It seemed a bit strange she wanted to pull him aside now.

"Whatever you're doing... it's working." There was a smile on her face. "After we talked... something changed. The date for the Apocalypse has become... unstable. It's shifting back." Lucifer felt relief wash over him like a wave.

"You're serious?"

"Yes. Keep doing what you're doing."

"I think you know what I did." Lucifer tried to read her expression. She looked down for a moment, biting her lower lip.

"I can guess." She turned her head to look back toward the foyer. "And I know how difficult it must be for you... but... something has definitely shifted. Please, keep on this path and there may be a way out of this, yet."

"... right." Lucifer nodded. He had wanted some acknowledgement from the Horsemen, and here it was, from Death herself. But now that he had that confirmation... it made it a lot harder to justify kicking Michael out whenever he was pissed. He sighed, looking at the dining room table that Michael must have repaired after the disaster of a dinner Lucifer had hosted.

The dinner...

Vox...

Damn it.

"Are you alright?"

"Send Virgil in here, will you?" Lucifer heaved a heavy sigh.

"Of course." Charon got back to her feet. "Do you want me to go? Or can I stay at the party a little longer?"

"If you can control Lysander's fucking horse, stay as long as you want."

"Demetrius?" Charon's face lit up. "Of course! He loves me!" And with that, she hurried away. It wasn't long before Michael entered the room, still wearing his Virgil disguise. He took the seat in which Charon had been sitting.

"You called."

"Yeah." Lucifer inhaled slowly, playing Charon's words back in his head. "You know that stupid Halloween costume of me you wanted to wear?" Immediately Michael snapped back into looking like Lucifer, dressed in his black and orange suit with the Halloween top hat.

"This one?"

"No, the other Halloween version of me you shape-shifted into today- of course that fucking one." Lucifer put his hands to his face trying to get his temper back in check. "Look, I need you to get Vox." Inaction had almost gotten Lucifer killed with the library. He couldn't take any more chances, especially when things were working. "I need you to get him... as me."

"You want me to... be you?"

"You do the best impression of me."

"Because we're twins!"

"Because you are a discount clone." Lucifer held up a wing. "Go get him, and bring him back here. Let me know when you're on the way so I can change." Michael's entire demeanor suddenly looked happier (which was awkward given that he was using Lucifer's face to smile.) "Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Absolutely!" He shifted back into Virgil.

"Good. Now hurry. And try not to kill anyone." Lucifer wasn't remotely worried about Michael getting hurt despite how crazy Hell would be. Nothing was strong enough to hurt Michael. He hurried back into the foyer. Syn had started playing music and Adam was dancing with Charon.

"Ahem." Lucifer spoke up loudly, causing Syn to stop the music. "Virgil has to get some things from town. But we can continue the party without him. Charon, can I talk to you?" Charon looked surprised by the request.

"Of course."

"Awe, Virgil's leaving?" Lysander looked a little disappointed

"I will return." Michael nodded. "I cannot wait for more fun festivities." He gave a bow before hurrying out of the door. Charon watched him go, turning to Lucifer.

"You wanted to speak with me?"

"Uh, yeah." Lucifer wasn't really sure why he had called her over. "I just wanted to make sure the horse was behaving."

"Oh, yes. He's being very good."

"And you aren't going to let Lysander take him upstairs?"

"No. We learned that with Abdiel. Sorry about your window."

"It's fine." Lucifer cleared his throat. "You're dismissed." Syn was playing music again and this time Everyone was dancing: Adam, Lysander, Charon, and even Syn. (At least, Lucifer assumed her little spins were dancing.) Lucifer watched them for a while, his head bobbing to the music, tapping the only hoof he had.

"You gonna join in, or what?" Adam walked over to where he was sitting. "Because you look like a pathetic fucking loser over here by yourself. And it's Halloween so you need to look like something you not."

"Oh ha-ha, you're hilarious." Lucifer rolled his eyes. "Well, dumbass, I only have one fucking hoof. And I have seen what two left feet do to your dancing so I should focus on re-growing this correctly." Adam put a hand over his chest, looking appalled.

"I'm a fantastic dancer, shut your whore mouth." He stepped behind Lucifer's chair, pushing it into the center of the room with the others, moving it with the music.

"YAY! MASTER!" Syn began flying around his head "I will dance with you!" Lucifer laughed, despite himself as he started moving in his chair to the music, his tail poking through the duck costume and swishing around. Lysander clapped his hands loudly.

"Let's fucking go! Boss-man is having a little fun!"

"Thank you for letting me stay." Charon added as she moved fluidly to the music. Adam came out from behind the char, joining in the group. Lucifer wasn't sure how long they stayed in that room, dancing and having more fun than he had had in years. It wasn't until he felt his phone ring that he knew and time had passed at all.

"One second." He wheeled himself away from the group. He saw the call was from Michael, and he needed to take it. "Are you on your way?"

"Not... exactly." Michael's response wasn't really filling him with confidence. "Please don't be mad at me."

"I already hate you, so it's kind of hard to get a worse status with me."

"You hurt my feelings because you are upset, I understand that. But you must realize... my hands were tied here."

"What, did Vox give you the slip?"

"Not exactly. He had a prior commitment."

"I don't give a single shit what that asshole has to-"

"Charlie needs him at her Halloween party."

"Oh." Lucifer know that Vox had somehow weaseled his way into his daughter's hotel. But he couldn't imagine a soul as pure and loving as his daughter's would want to spend any time with a man like Vox. (Then again, she let Alastor hang around, so he had clearly not taught her any sort of taste.) "Okay, come back then."

"I will! ... In a bit."

"Michael." Lucifer hissed, pulling away into the next room.

"I know! And I am so, so sorry! But Charlie thought I was you and she invited me to her party! And I didn't want her to think her own dad refused-"

"Are you shitting me right now!?"

"I'm sorry!"

"I told you to stay the fuck away from my daughter!"

"It seemed really rude to refuse!" Michael was right. There was probably no good explanation he could have given in a public place that wouldn't have left Lucifer looking like an asshole for skipping out on his daughter's event; or wouldn't have ousted the fact that a shape-shifting Archangel who could look like anyone was running amok in Hell. That was bound to make Sinners more paranoid than the folks in the Doomsday District. Lucifer took a deep breath. Death was literally in his house right now. If anything happened to Charlie, she would be the first to know. (The Apocalypse would be bound to shift long before his daughter was actually killed. She was too important of a player to not effect the end of the world. That, and if Michael did ANYTHING to his little apple bloom, Lucifer would find a way to kill him where he stood. And that would DEEFINITELY affect the Apocalypse.)

"Stay long enough to be polite, then get your ass back here. And Michael?"

"Yes?"

"If you try anything, if you hurt her; if you so much as step out of line; or embarrass me in front of my daughter, I will fucking end you."

"Okie dokie. Sounds good. Bye-bye!" That was, perhaps, the worst response to a threat Lucifer had ever heard in his existence.

"God damn it." Lucifer hung the phone up, smacking his forehead with his duck wing as he laid back in his chair. "Fuck Halloween."

---

A/N: Sorry it's late! I had an event run long!