Chloe closes the door to her apartment, letting out a sigh.
"Hard day at work?"
She spins around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, grabbing one of the knives Maze had hidden around the place, silently thanking the demon for what she had thought was unnecessary. Chloe tenses, seeing the black-and-orange haired man sitting calmly in the living room.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asks.
"Name's Nyxeus. I came to talk," Nyx replies. "Come sit down, and if all goes well, no one will get hurt. Isn't that right, dear?"
"Mommy," Trixie says softly.
Chloe's blood turns cold as she slowly walks forward, now spotting her daughter next to the unknown man.
"Trixie," she whispers. She looks to the man, "what do you want?"
"To talk, like I said," Nyx replies. "About my dearly beloved, Luci."
"Lucifer?" Chloe says. "You're his ex. The one he thinks has been killing those people."
"Oh he's quite right about that," Nyx says casually. "They deserved it for everything they did to me. Now, I am on a rather tight schedule. I wanted to ask, what are your thoughts on Luci?"
Chloe sighs, thinking of how to reply. "He's... annoying. Confusing. Hard to understand. But he does get work done and he is a help on cases."
"You don't see him as anything more than a friend?"
"Oh, no," Chloe says, rather surprised. "No, we're— I see him as a partner. A friend too, I guess. But no, I don't have a romantic interest in him."
Nyx studies her for a few seconds then nods, smiling. "Good, because he's mine. Even after all this time, he is mine."
Chloe doesn't say anything, thinking that she'll need to let Lucifer know later once this man is gone.
While Chloe stays silent, Nyx reaches out with his power, tapping into her mind. Finding a dark corner, he plants a small part of his magic there, just enough to be able to monitor her and her activities and feed in more magic to control her if the need arises.
"What makes him yours?" Chloe asks eventually.
"Well for one, my mark on his chest," Nyx replies like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "And I never betrayed him like he thinks. I'm the one who stood beside him when his father threw him out. I'm the one who protected him through everything. Me."
Chloe's eyes widen ever so slightly, hearing the tone of insanity in Nyx's voice.
The door opens again and Maze steps in, going still when she sees the draxon.
"You!" she growls, grabbing one of her blades and striding forward.
"Mazikeen!" Nyx says happily with a smile, standing up and walking around the side of the couch. "I was wondering when you would show up. Long time, no see."
"You won't be seeing anything when I'm done with you," Maze hisses, lunging forward.
Chloe runs over to Trixie as Maze starts fighting with Nyx, Maze letting out grunts and shouts while Nyx remains silent.
"Nice try, Maze," Nyx says, managing to pin the demon to the floor. "But you will never be good enough to defeat me."
"You don't know that," the demon hisses.
"I do know that," Nyx counters. "I am a god, you are a demon. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have someone else to visit."
He stands up and heads for the door, stepping out. Maze gets up to chase after him, but when she steps outside, the draxon is already gone.
⚯
"Come in."
Nyx opens the door, stepping into the room. "I'm sorry if I'm disrupting you, Doctor."
"Oh, not at all," Linda replies, studying the man before her. "What can I do for you?"
"I wanted to talk, about one of your patients."
Linda's eyebrows furrow. "I'm sorry, but you know, patient confidentiality and all."
"Oh, nothing about your sessions," Nyx says, sitting on the couch. "I just... wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"For helping him," Nyx clarifies. "I know, Lucifer can be hard to deal with, and I'm thankful that you haven't... given up on him."
"Lucifer?" Linda asks. "You know Lucifer?"
"Yes, I do. If he's the devil, then I'm the draxon," Nyx says with a soft smile.
"Wait, are you his previous lover?" Linda asks, remembering Lucifer's mentioning the man during one of their sessions. "Uh... Nyxeus Draconian?"
Nyx smiles and nods. "Yeah, that's me. Luci told you I tried to kill him. I didn't."
"Well he seems utterly convinced otherwise," Linda says. "Though knowing Lucifer..."
The two both chuckle softly.
"Oh dear, look at the time," Nyx says. "I must be going. Thank you again, Doctor, for helping Luci."
"Well, that is my job," Linda replies.
Nyx smiles and disappears out the door. He walks down the halls of the building, stopping when he senses someone following him.
"Amenadiel," Nyx says with a smile, turning around to face the angel. "I was wondering when I would run into you."
Amenadiel hesitates, wanting to attack but with his low power level, he's unsure.
"What are you doing here, Nyxeus?" the angel asks, voice hard.
"I came to give my thanks to Doctor Linda for helping Luci," Nyx replies. "Which reminds me." He steps closer to the angel, eyes becoming cold, voice lowering to a growl. "Do not even think about hurting my Luci. I will not lose any sleep if I dismember you and bathe in your blood, Angel. The only reason I don't do it now is because I know Luci will be upset if I do. This will be your only warning."
With that, Nyx disappears, leaving a frozen Amenadiel behind.
Unbeknownst to the angel, a small seed of Nyx's power plants itself within his mind, ready to take over when called.
⚯
"What a pretty place," Nyx says, landing on the balcony of Lux's penthouse. "I do like pretty things."
The draxon steps further inside.
"Luci!" Nyx calls happily. "Anybody home?!"
Nyx looks around, sending a scowl at the bar, his nose wrinkling. "Human alcohol. I never understood it."
"I think it's quite good, actually," Lucifer says, eyes narrowed as he walks down the steps from the bedroom.
Nyx turns, a wide smile on his face. "Luci! How are you, my love? Still sleeping around? Well, I'll forgive you for the ones in the past, but any more and their bodies will never be found."
"What are you doing here, Nyxeus?" Lucifer asks, arms crossed. "Here to try to kill me again?"
"Oh trust me, Luci, if I wanted to kill you, you would already be in pain so great you would beg for death."
Lucifer looks at the angry draxon, a sad, almost forlorn look coming over his face. "What happened to you?"
"What happened to me?!" Nyx practically shrieks, lunging at the devil. "Centuries in Hell happened to me! Centuries of watching my worst fear surround me every second of every day! You can't tell me you would be sane after that!"
Lucifer parries the punches thrown at him, throwing some back. "What choice did I have?! You can't die!"
"I could have forced my magic to implode and kill me!" Nyx cries, throwing the devil over the couch. "But I didn't! Because I wasn't going to let them get away! I am going to flay them alive for what they did!"
"What who did?" Lucifer says, his annoyance and anger becoming more apparent.
"Those fucking demons!" Nyx growls, standing across from Lucifer, both men on guard. "I never thought you would actually believe them of me, but surprise surprise, you do! You believe a group of shitbags over me! Me! After everything we've been through, Luci! You abandoned me!"
Nyx looks away, managing to suppress the sudden tears in his eyes as he whispers, "you abandoned me."
Anger suddenly gone, Lucifer slowly moves closer, finding himself to be concerned about the draxon. A second later, Nyx lunges again, pinning the devil down, hands wrapped around his throat just tight enough to keep the devil down.
"They set me up," Nyx growls, leaning down to whisper in the devil's ear. "They sent that dragon to kill you then came in and saved you. They wanted you to imprison me, and you fell right into their trap, you bloody fool."
Lucifer looks up at the draxon, seeing the mad look in his bright orange eyes. "What have you become?"
"I don't know what I've become" Nyx growls, "but I don't care either... I should lock you deep within Hell, Luci. I should let you feel everything you did to me. I should bring you back to hell and make sure you never escape."
Nyx's hands tighten around Lucifer's throat, the devil starting to claw at the fingers choking him.
Nyx suddenly sits back, scrambling away until his back is pressed against the side of the bar, knees drawn up to his chest, eyes wide. Lucifer coughs and props himself up, looking at the suddenly scared draxon.
"Nyxeus," Lucifer says, guarded but surprisingly worried.
"I..." Nyx drifts off. His eyes meet Lucifer's, and for the first time, Lucifer sees the Nyx he knows, the one that protected him for centuries. "I don't know what I've become... but I'll be damned if I hurt you, Lucifer."
"Nyxeus," Lucifer repeats softly, deciding it's safe and crawling over to the draxon.
"Lucifer," Nyx whispers, eyes wide and scared as the devil's arms wrap around him. "Help me."