Together through the Gate

The Modern and The Strange

The pair stepped out of the old fashioned wooden cabin, shutting the large oak door behind them. The smell of moss and fresh air filled their senses as they started to walk through the dense forest. Small creatures scurried by as they walked silently. After a little while of just walking through the forest they had found a hiking trail leading out of the forest and decided to follow it out. Lucifer had recognized the area that they were walking towards, following Alastor who was humming a small tune as they strolled out of the forest. The trees parted as they exited the forest, revealing a small neighborhood and a large town just beyond that. Lucifer continued walking before noticing that Alastor was frozen in place. 

Alastor couldn't believe his eyes as they stepped out of the familiar woods and entered into somewhere that he couldn't grasp. He stood still, frozen with shock and confusion as he tried to remember what Earth looked like when he was alive. It looked nothing like this. Some of the houses had familiarity to him but otherwise this was a completely foreign world. The roads were paved as alien looking vehicles drove by, lights from billboards assaulted his sight. Alastor created his now disguised staff and held tightly onto the top of it. People walked by the two, some whispering about the two men. He let out a large sigh before collecting himself. He knew things would've changed since he was last on earth but he didn't think it would change so drastically. He looked back towards Lucifer who was now a couple feet in front of him and watching Alastor like a hawk. Walking towards the angel Alastor kept his smile taut, annoyed that he had shown such weakness in front of such a small man. "Lucifer, what year is it here?" Alastor said as they continued to walk down the sidewalk. 

Lucifer had to hold in a chuckle as Alastor had walked back to his side before they continued their walk to the first guest. "It is year 2024 Al~ Remind me again the last time you were here? It was what, the 1920s or 30s?" The angel was smiling from ear to ear as he saw Alastor barely contain himself from looking everywhere as they walked. This is what he deserves for going somewhere he shouldn't have. Lucifer thought about the deal he was in with that human and remembered the first person they had to 'invite'. The first guest was a young woman with blond hair, tied into a braid behind her back, she was known to work at a coffee shop called the Witches Brew, which is why they waited until morning to leave. He figured they should take a human approach to gathering the guests. This meant that they had to meet the target, learn their habits, and either seduce them or forcibly take them from whatever area they were located. The human stated that the guests had to be alive still when they had arrived to the party. This little clause in their deal had made the job much harder to accomplish in the modern age. Cameras were almost everywhere on Earth now and humans had several ways to record any odd behavior. Lucifer saw the coffee shop that they needed to stop as on the horizon. He turned his head to look at Alastor, just in time to see his face light up at something in the distance. Following his gaze he could see an antique shoppe next to the coffee shop. In the window of the antique shoppe there was an old fashioned radio sitting on top of a dark colored table. Lucifer shrugged and figured they could stop to look at it since it was right next to where they needed to go. " Al, did you want to go look at the shop?" He almost couldn't believe himself. Why was he being nice to this pain in the ass? Alastor has caused him nothing but trouble since he showed up at the hotel to see Charlie. Lucifer thought about the moment they left the forest, the look of panic that washed Alastors' face as they had stepped into the small town. He felt something tug at his chest as he thought of the sinners' face stricken with anxiety. Anxiety was a feeling he knew well. It was sympathy, nothing more he told himself as he turned his focus back towards the demon on his side. 

"If the shoppe is on our way to our first guest, it wouldn't hurt to take a peek inside." Alastor said glancing as Lucifer before he tapped his staff on the paved sidewalk and started to walk a bit faster. The demon felt his chest skip momentarily as they got closer to the store. He was just excited to see the radio, nothing more he thought to himself as the pair walked to the antique store. The smell of old books and dust wafted through the air as they walking into the shoppe. Finally a place that wasn't covered in cameras. Alastor felt the stress that had taken such a violent hold on his body lessen as they slowly walked throughout the store. The light hum of swing coming from a radio caught his attention, strolling towards it quickly. The demon practically glowed with glee for just a second before returning to his usual composure. Picking the radio up off of the wooden table, Alastor slowly examined the familiar item in his hands with a sly smile before turning to Lucifer. "Lucifer look there's an antique duck over there!" He said with feigned excitement, pointing towards the other side of the store. The angel was easily distracted when it came to anything duck related, this time was no different. Alastor watched as the small angel hurriedly trotted over to the other side of the store before he stashed the old radio into his shadow. He watched Lucifer look around the area he said there was a duck, seeing no duck Lucifer turned back towards Alastor and flipped him off. "There was no duck over here Al!" He said stomping his way back towards the front of the store. Alastor could feel his grin widen as he thought about how similar the King of Hell looked to a small child throwing a tantrum. Once the two were side by side again they turned towards the exit. Shrugging, Alastor held the door open as the two walked back outside. No one would notice the radio that was sitting there a minute ago. Alastor hummed slightly to himself the same swing tune that was playing from the radio as the two turned towards their objective of the day. Pausing by the glass door to the coffee shop Alastor looked down at the small angel next to him, "Care for some coffee Luci~?" he said before he opened the door, a small bell ding alerting their arrival.

"Welcome In!"

((Writing this was fun~ I look forward to our first guest and the events  after that..))