Mammon breaks

Final Chapter

"why?" it's a straightforward question, spoken through gritted teeth, and nearly ends in a snarl. lucifer stands calm as ever, and satan envies him for a brief moment—seems like the bastard gave him all his wrath and left none for himself.

"why can't you admit you're a part of the problem too, lucifer? why can't you admit that it's also your fault that mammon was begging to be killed this morning? or are you so oblivious that you can't even see your own mistakes?"

satan taunts lucifer in the hope that his brother will lash out and attack him, so that he can finally make the demon see the problems he created with his own eyes, because he refuses to acknowledge them.

but he doesn't waver. lucifer still stands tall, an unwavering pillar of pride.

seems like the circumstances call for more drastic measures. seems like satan will have to bring him into this, the someone he's sure lucifer will rush to defend.

"or i should go and ask your wonderful lord diavolo to convince his lover to apologize?"

lucifer's fist clench at that, and something dark swirls in the red of his eyes—and satan grins in triumph, because the arrow has hit its mark.

"he's not my lover."

satan shrugs tauntingly, merrily striding towards the papers on the ground, and promptly picks up one and tears it into pieces, testing lucifer's patience. "so, he's your master then?"

lucifer growls as a warning and satan revels in the sadistic joy it brings him. it only fuels his wrath even more, and gives him satisfaction to rile his brother up, to make him feel what he's feeling too—anger.

he gazes outside the window, in the woods which are devoid of any leaves, barren and lacking life. time for the final blow, the final hit on his pride.

satan knows his brother considers himself the best, acts full of himself, and looks down on everybody else because he considers himself to be the top dog in the room, as his pride dictates. lord diavolo and barbatos are the exception, and satan wants to know why.

"why do you stiffen up when matter concerning your 'lord' diavolo come up? just because he's royalty, doesn't mean that you keep kissing his behind."

lucifer's eyes seem to burn even brighter at the comment, and satan grins internally.

"or have you sworn allegiance to diavolo, sold your soul and given your loyalty in an act of humility? is that why you can't bear to hear anything bad about him?"

it's a joke in bad taste, to get lucifer to lose control and get angry, but the demon stays eerily silent, his gaze falls on the fire raging in the fireplace and satan can see the flames dance in those red irises.

"no," he mumbles, striding forward until he's face to face with his brother, whose still avoiding his gaze, still staring into the fireplace, and satan makes his eyes forcefully meet his own. "tell me this isn't true."

but all that lucifer does is nod, and in that moment, satan doesn't see lucifer, the avatar of pride, he sees a defeated demon.

"how?" he asks desperately, searching in lucifer's eyes for any trace of dishonesty, any sign that he's lying, but all he sees is helplessness.

"my loyalty to diavolo is my duty and my burden."

"i—i don't understand." satan confesses, his voice cracking at the end. he didn't expect for a joke to be true. he's even more surprised at how a demon like lucifer could swear loyalty to a demon like diavolo.

lucifer smiles sadly.

"when i dived after lilith when she fell," his voice shakes lightly at the end, and he turns his attention to the papers lying on the ground. he begins collecting them one by one—to perhaps distract himself from the eons-old pain as he speaks.