*The attacks seem to be getting worse.*
*We can't keep this up forever. We're starting to tire.*
*What do we do, Nyxeus?*
The king paces the floor of his throne room, tail swishing in aggravation. Jinx, Vortex and Qietiye watch him silently.
*We need to figure out what they're after,* Nyx hisses.
"Well, there are a lot of things the Dragonlands have that Hell doesn't," Lucifer suggests from his position lounging on the throne. "Fresh air, warm sunlight, non-ashy environment—well, except for the fire dragon regions—laughter, and great alcohol. That one still confuses me, why do dragons make alcohol anyway?"
*We enjoy it like you do,* Vortex replies. *And your celestial stuff wasn't strong enough for us, so we created our own.*
"And I'm glad you did because it's amazing."
Nyx rolls his eyes. *You better head back to Earth, Luci. I'm sure there's a case that needs solving.*
"And you?"
*I'll be staying here for the day.*
"Then I'm staying with you."
*Luci—*
"I may not be as strong or powerful as you or the dragons, but I'm still a king of this realm. I'm staying."
Nyx smiles softly and nods, *Very well, my king.*
⚯
"I never expected you to be one to cover your face at such a party, my love."
Lucifer turns, a smile coming to his lips seeing the draxon next to him. He's dressed in an elegant black suit, his long hair down and resting on his shoulders. A beautiful black mask covers the top half of his face and dips down on one side to cover part of his cheek. A plume of black and silver feathers sprouts from this same side while silver decals form a crown on the top edge of the mask and thin silver lines swirl around the rest of the surface.
"I was wondering when you would show up," Lucifer replies. "You stayed down there for longer than I expected when I left."
"I thought I would stay for only a few hours more," Nyx says, "But another attack had me staying longer. Tell me, what's going on here? And why are you dressed as such?"
Lucifer hesitates, "I..."
Nyx's brows furrow. He looks into the devil's mind, going through his memories of the day.
"Luci..." Nyx whispers. The devil looks away, remaining silent. Nyx grasps Lucifer's gloved hand, squeezing tightly, "You know I'll never be disgusted, Luci. I'm going to stay with you forever. I'm going to help you through this."
Lucifer nods with a shaky breath. He looks around the club, searching for Chloe. So far, it seems like the sting has been useless.
Luci. Luci, help me.
The devil's gaze returns to his lover, his eyes narrowing as he sees what's going on. The draxon is looking at him pleadingly over the woman's shoulder as she invades his personal space.
Lucifer steps around her to stand at Nyx's side. "Sorry, Darling, but he's not available."
"Are you sure?" the woman says with a pout, "I don't mind a threesome..."
"I'm sure," Lucifer says with a scowl behind his mask. "He's off limits."
With a disappointed sigh, the woman walks off, disappearing into the crowd.
"Is that how you say no without looking rude?" Nyx asks, his head tilted.
"One way to do it," Lucifer replies, one arm wrapping around the draxon's shoulders possessively, Nyx snaking an arm around the devil's waist. "You can always pretend you have HIV or something... It's a sexually transmitted disease, Love."
Nyx closes his mouth, the question having been on the tip of his tongue. Lucifer smiles softly, the draxon's inexperience never failing to amuse him.
"Luci," Nyx says, "Why do women do th—"
"Nyxeus," Jinx hisses, appearing next to the two, "We have a problem."
"Again?" Nyx asks with a sigh.
"No, but it's urgent."
Chloe appears out of the crowd, "Lucifer. Nyx, Jinx, when did you get here?"
"We were just leaving, actually," Nyx replies, his unhappiness showing. "I'll be back as soon as possible, Luci."
The devil nods with a sigh, "Alright."
⚯
"Staris? What are you doing here?"
The dragonet let out a small squawk, looking around the office. She walks around the desk, sniffing at Linda's stomach curiously before looking up at her in confusion.
"Oh, I'm pregnant," the woman explains. "I'm going to have a baby soon. Now really, what are you doing here? Does Nyx know you're here?" The dragonet freezes, her tail curling between her legs sheepishly. Linda sighs, "I'll take that as a no."
Staris lets out a small hiss. She sits on the table, pretends to reach for something then points to Linda.
"You wanted me? You left on your own to come see me?" The dragonet nods proudly. Linda gives a soft smile, "As happy as I am to see you again, you can't just sneak out of the Dragonlands. Does anyone know you're here? Parents or anything?"
"No!" Staris says.
Linda's eyes widen. "You... You spoke English."
"Yes!" Staris says proudly.
"Who taught you?"
"Me! You!"
"You're learning on your own from what I said when I was babysitting you?"
"Yes!"
A knock at the door has both Linda and Staris alarmed.
"Here, hide here," Linda says quietly, pulling open one of her desk drawers.
The dragonet quickly climbs in and Linda slides it in until it's only open a crack.
"Come in," she calls. The door opens and Dan steps in. Linda lets out a sigh of relief, "It's just you."
Dan smiles sheepishly, "Sorry if I'm bothering you, I just... Need some help in dealing with Charlotte's death."
"No bother," Linda replies, "Just wasn't expecting anyone and if it was anyone but you, Chloe or, you know, your friendly neighbourhood divine being, it would be a problem."
"Why?" Dan asks, confused.
Staris pokes her head out of the drawer. Linda pulls it open and the dragonet climbs out onto the desk.
Seeing Dan, Staris' eyes light up, "You!"
"Staris?" the man says, surprised, "What are you doing here? Nice English by the way."
"Yes?" Staris replies, looking confused. "No?"
Linda chuckles softly when the dragonet looks to her for help. "You don't know enough English yet?" Staris nods with a pout. Linda turns to Dan, "She apparently came to see me."
"Does Nyx know?"
"No!"
"It looks like she snuck out," Linda says. "Which was not a very good thing to do."
Staris whimpers at the scolding tone in Linda's voice. The dragonet's eyes widen suddenly and she dives back into the drawer just as Nyx appears in the doorway, his mask still on.
"Linda, Dan," he greets. "You haven't seen a naughty young dragon here, have you?" The two can tell he already knows the dragonet is there by his tone. Nyx continues, "See, I was at Lux, and Jinx appears and tells me her parents came to him worried and scared that she'd gotten lost again."
"Well," Linda says, "I may have seen her."
Staris whines, slinking out of the drawer, her tail between her legs.
*You, little missy, are in a lot of trouble,* Nyx says, his arms crossed. *You know we have a demon problem and what could've happened if they had captured you?*
The dragonet looks down in shame a small whine escaping her, *I sorry, King.*
Nyx nods once, *I accept your apology. I know you like Linda, and you can visit her, Staris, but you need to tell someone and have Jinx or I bring you so you're not alone. Do you understand?*
*Yes, King. I will.*
*Good,* Nyx says. "Now let's get you home and let Dan talk to Linda."
Staris nods, lightly headbutting Linda's arm as a fond gesture before doing the same to Dan. Nyx's wings come out and he picks up the dragonet.
"Wow," Dan says softly, having never seen the wings before.
"I'll let you look closer later," Nyx says with a smile. "I hope you feel better, Dan. Oh, ah, Linda? Maybe hold down any loose papers, there tends to be a small breeze as a divine flies away."
Linda nods, doing so. In the blink of an eye, the draxon and the dragonet disappear.
⚯
Nyx lands silently on the balcony of the penthouse. Lucifer stands with his wings out, his body in devil form.
"From rebellion against Dad to now," Lucifer says. "Look at what I put you through. I hate that I am poison to anyone who dares to care about me. Especially you, Detective."
"Luci..." Nyx says softly.
"And you, Nyxeus," Lucifer continues, turning to the draxon. "I literally put you through Hell."
Nyx shakes his head, "You know I don't blame you, Lucifer."
The devil doesn't reply and instead turns away, walking to the bedroom. Chloe meets Nyx's eyes and the two follow after the devil, Nyx setting his mask on the piano.
"Lucifer, this isn't about me," Chloe says. "This is about you. I'm not gonna let you use me as an excuse to avoid dealing with what is behind all of this."
Nyx walks around to stand in front of the devil, grasping his hands tightly, his eyes meeting Lucifer's and his magic gently caressing the devil's mind. The draxon doesn't say anything, knowing Lucifer won't listen or truly believe words from the draxon's lips, not with his belief that Nyx says some things just to comfort him. The devil needs to hear it from someone else.
"Lucifer," Chloe says, "You need to forgive yourself."
"I can't," he whispers, looking away from his lover's eyes.
"Why?" Chloe says.
"I don't know how to." A soft smile comes to Nyx's lips as Lucifer turns slowly, "But... I want to."
As the devil's form begins to revert back to his human one, Nyx meet's Chloe's eyes.
Thank you, he projects to her. He really needs this, especially from someone he sees as a sister.
Chloe smiles, Of course. I care about him, a lot.
I know.
"We did it," Lucifer says almost disbelievingly. "Well, it looks like evil won't be released after all."
Nyx hums doubtfully, "Prophecies can't just be avoided, no matter how hard you try... Trust me, I tried very hard to avoid one a long time ago... In the end, my actions caused it..."
Lucifer tilts his head, "This was before we met, right?"
"It was... A prophecy created with the dragons and erased from history. Only two souls know it now..."
Nyx looks away, falling silent. Lucifer watches his lover, his brows furrowed. He's never heard of such a prophecy, but it would have happened centuries before he met the draxon. And only known by two souls? One must be Nyx, but who would the other be?
"Don't make me talk about it, Luci," Nyx whispers, seeing the devil's mouth open. "Please... I don't want to remember it..."
Both Lucifer and Chloe frown but don't ask. What could have happened with this prophecy Nyx seems to rather forget?
Chloe's phone rings suddenly, drawing all attention to it.
She answers it, her brows furrowing in confusion, "Hello? Yeah, hi Dan... Really? Alright, I'll be there in a while." She ends the call, turning to the two males watching her curiously, "Linda's had her baby."
"She has?" Nyx says, his eyes lighting up. "Luci, you're officially an uncle!"
Lucifer smiles softly, "It seems like it. And so are you."
Nyx pauses, seeming to have not thought about that part. "Oh... Right, I guess I am! Um, what do human babies look like?"
"Potatoes for the most part," Lucifer replies, getting a chuckle from Chloe. "Very loud and needy potatoes."
"Do you guys wanna come with me to see them?" Chloe asks.
The two divines look at each other, having a silent conversation before Lucifer replies.
"As exciting as it sounds," he says, "I think it might be best we stay home for the night. It's been a long, wild day of devil bits and dragon problems. I think we'll visit Linda in the morning."
Chloe nods, understanding. "Alright. I'll be on my way then. Have a good night, Lucifer, Nyxeus."
The two watch her leave before Lucifer turns to the draxon. "Nyx?"
"Luci?"
"Cuddle me."
Nyx smiles softly, pulling the devil to their bed and using his magic to remove their clothes. The draxon lies on his back, the devil on top of him. Nyx's arms wrap around Lucifer's body and his magic washes over the devil's skin. A small moan of content escapes Lucifer's lips at the warmth that spreads through him and he cuddles closer to his lover.
"Are you alright, my love?" Nyx asks softly.
"I think so. I'm going in the right direction, at least."
"You are. Forgiving yourself is never easy, Luci. It takes time."
"Well then it's good that we have time... I love you, Nyxeus, more than anything."
Nyx smiles, "I love you too, Luci, forever."