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[b][u][center]Heaven Damned 11

These Are Our Children!

For DuskCypher

By Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]

As the World Begotten was overwhelmed with the forces of Heaven, Hell responded with an uproar. Demons of every vice were making their way to the Great Palace of Hell, situated between the seven realms of the seven vices, and Lucifer watched as they arrived by road or by sky, by foot, beast, and wing. They alighted in the courtyard outside his palace, and the black panther shook his head as he imagined what they’d have to say.

“They need the lord of Hell to make a decision.”

The panther looked over his shoulder. His ‘wife,’ as she called herself – and as her damned father bragged her to be – waited on the far side of their chambers. She was dressed in a crimson red dress, something more akin to a ballgown than anything more suitable for the matters of state, but she did look beautiful. The lioness was white-furred and twinkle-eyed, looking almost too knowing at all times, and she had her head tilted back just enough to nearly look down her nose at him without actually doing it.

Lucifer looked away, glancing back out the window.

“I know.”

“They’re going to be upset. You have a plan for them?”

“Always.”

“Good, good…”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I believe a great deal, but I know you. You aren’t from here, and while we all appreciate what you did to save Hell all those eons ago…there are concerns in the ranks. Not among mine, but you know how Hell is.”

“Ever treacherous.”

“In parts.”

[i]Everywhere,[/i] Lucifer thought, the Morningstar shaking his head as he watched the demons of all sorts trundle in. Houses of Wrath, of Pride, of Gluttony and more were at the gates. Houses of Lust, half-starved from the new war that had already cut down on the fucking, and the presence of Heaven that had shut down their powers in different worlds on the borders of the Theocracy in the World Begotten. There were all kinds of demons with complaints and demands out there.

And each and every one of them would believe that he was a traitor because of where he came from, because he hadn’t already declared war and let loose the entirety of Hell upon the powers of Heaven.

The panther’s fingers tightened around the curtains of the bedchamber, his own wrath rising. Unlike them, however, it had an entirely different source. God was playing games, his creator forcing his hand, and…

And Lilith was no better. He gritted his teeth as he remembered the promise that he had made on her deathbed. He had promised to look after Jesus, Mercy, and the World Begotten, and here he was doing none of that. The promise pulled at him, weighing on his heart and soul, and the power behind his promise was nearly enough to rip him in two.

Selene was there. The lioness was shorter than him by just over a foot, yet she wrapped an arm around him from behind. She pulled him back, his spine against her chest, and rested her head against his back.

“I have faith in you, Morningstar. Show them why.”

Lucifer hesitated, then reached back and took her hands. She squeezed him, then let go, walking out of the bedchamber and leaving him alone.

It wasn’t the first time that she had offered comfort. As much as Selene was a wife of convenience – and a means of gaining power over Pride, the most stubborn of demons – he found that she had enough confidence in herself that she could give comfort without losing her power. She was…suitable enough as a companion, though they had done little of late together. They were…more akin to friends than they were a couple, though most of Hell was kept in the dark about that.

He wondered if he could have loved her without Jesus in the equation.

Shaking his head, the dark-furred cat turned away from the window. He adorned himself in a dark mirror of his creator’s suit, dark as sin with a red undershirt and a black tie, and he smoothed it down his body as he looked at himself in a mirror that came when it was called. Pride had many sublayers, and vanity was but one of them.

As he examined himself, straightening out wrinkles here and adjusting the suit there, he saw the changes that had come over him since being banished to Hell. Red lines ran through his black fur like veins, thin as spider-silk but with the glowing power of something far more deadly. His fangs were sharper, and when he pulled his lips back, he could, at times, resemble an older Sabertooth Tiger.

And yet, the muscles and power of his old body had never faded. He was still blessed with the powerful physique of an archangel, and he had carried that to Hell with him. His wings, ragged as they were, were no longer suitable for easy flight, and he had to take different measures to lift himself aloft these days when the occasion called for it. He looked like something that had fallen on hard times if he wasn’t careful, and yet…

And yet, there in his eyes was still the power of Heaven. A power of honesty and integrity, despite all that he had done. That light was still there, and it was that light, he imagined, that made the demons believe him when he told them that something needed to be done. They could see it, feel it, know it when he was there with him.

He sighed as he looked away, rubbing his forehead. The palace was already pulsing with the power of the assembled houses of Hell, and he knew that they were going to make his life harder. He…

[i]You have a plan. You will stick to it.[/i]

Lucifer looked himself in the eye. He saw the twinkle, and he leaned closer, closer, closer to the mirror until his nose touched the reflective surface.

[i]You are the Morningstar. You know what they do not. And you know what must be done. You will do it, and you will have no regrets.[/i]

The promise. The promise pushed at him, and for the first time in eons, he pushed back as he left the room.

#

The throne room that also served as the great court of Pride was full as he sat on his throne. Boars, lions, rats, and more lined the wall, all of them embodying their vice to the fullest. The Gluttony demons feasted even as they wasted away, the loss of mortals in the other world and their hunger draining them. The Lust demons were twitchy, as exposed as could be while still trying to hold some element of dignity as they fidgeted in pain. The Wrath demons were all but gagged by the guards of the palace, ensuring that there was still silence as he took his throne, but it was clear that it was barely holding.

It was the way of the World Begotten and its ties to Hell and Heaven alike. Born out of the blood and juices of two gods, the mortals that lived there were able to contribute to the power of both their parents. The demons fed on the vices of mortals, while Heaven fed on their virtues. He imagined that if there were any that lived on the World Begotten that worshiped him rather than God or the Eternal Council, then it would have been just possible that he might have fed on that faith as well.

But that was not the point of the meeting. The point was –

“I will not be silenced any longer!”

One Wrath demon, a great bear, stepped forward. Brown-furred with the same red crackling as all the other demons around him, the head of one of the Wrath houses walked to the center of the room and held center stage. He pointed to the ceiling, growling.

“Up there, our children are dying!”

Lucifer bit back a sigh, knowing that anything that wasn’t either neutrality or supportive emotion would lose him the crowd at that moment, and even neutrality was a bit of a risk. He sat with his arms on the throne, his back straight, his head even, but inside he stewed as the bear continued.

“Whether we are fallen angel or the first demons, what lives in the World Begotten now belongs to us. They were born of our blood, of Hell and its people. The first demons fled, and sired many. More of us have gone through the portals and lain with the mortals over their millions of years of existence. Their Council is descended from our power, and they are [i]dying.[/i]

“Every moment we waste down here gives Heaven more time to break them, to destroy them. Planets, whole systems are being put to the torch, and the people that live on them are being tortured even as they die. They are our children, and we’re turning our backs on them.

“So, Morningstar.” The bear turned to him. “Loose us. Declare war. The longer we wait, the weaker we look, and the longer that he has time to shore up his defenses against us. Release us, and let us bring pain and suffering to the hosts of Heaven. Let us show them that we demons have as much claim on the World Begotten as Heaven does. Let us show them that Hell cares for its children.”

The bear had been surprisingly articulate, all things considered. Lucifer looked him in the eye, saying nothing, and the bear kept staring back. Stately robes faded into armor, thick and golden, and an axe of power and dripping blood ran down the bear’s back. He wanted to be unleashed, but at the same time, he waited.

The power of the Morningstar continued to hold sway in Hell.

He looked around the room, meeting the eyes of the other demonic realms. The various houses met his eyes in turn, and most looked down and away. They were not ready to make their own argument, for the most part.

One, however, did. A creature of Lust, a minor otter noble of a Brothelic House, stood up and looked at him. The river rat twitched, shivering from head to toe, but took the floor as the bear surrendered it.

“My Lord Morningstar, there are many things that can be said for the World Begotten. It is a place of beauty, of hope and indulgence. There is not a mortal that doesn’t understand that there is pleasure to be had in [i]living,[/i] which is more than what Heaven has managed to discover in far more time than they’ve had, heh.

“And yet, we’re allowing those that are closest to us, children and allies, to be put under threat. The power of Hell is being rent apart the longer that the destruction continues. The sheer power of the World Begotten and what it gives us is not to be underestimated. The raw power of the lust that the mortals have pumped into our realm has done wonders for our economy, our pleasure, and our power, and yet…”

The otter paused, the young man hesitating as he took several deep breaths. All of the room had paused for that, and he knew why. Another world had burned, and the Theocracy shrank yet further, pulling further and further inward as the World Begotten continued to suffer destruction.

“Sorry,” the otter muttered, rubbing his forehead. “But you can feel it. We can all feel it. With every successive death, more of our resources fade. If we cannot do it for our families, think of doing something for the practicality of it. There is much that we will lose if we don’t rise to defend it. And it may not be a war that we can afford to lose.

“Lust may be blind to anything but its pleasures, but at this point, even we have opened our eyes. If we do not take care of them, the mortals will no longer be there to offer us anything, pleasure or profit. Greed, you understand me?”

The demons of Greed nodded, and Lucifer could feel the tide in the room swaying, the courage of the different demons growing. He could only imagine the sort of things that they would say if they were completely aware of just how much Hell did rely on the sins of the World Begotten; it was more than most of them could understand.

“Lord Morningstar, please, declare war. There are pleasures to be had in battle, no doubt, and Wrath will take those pleasures. Greed will take the plunder. Envy will drive the mortals to compete with us, to fight on our level. And Lust will be the reward at the end, as well as Pride,” the otter said, gesturing to the other demons around him. “There is much to be gained if we just make the declaration of war. At the very least, the power of Heaven will be forced to take stock, to decide if it can afford a war on two fronts.”

The otter bowed, yielding the floor and stepping back. He nearly collapsed before he could rejoin the rest of his house, and the other otters had to pull him back into their ranks, holding him close and supporting him as he nearly fainted.

Lucifer suppressed the urge to shake his head. So far, he was allowing them to speak, to give their evidence, but he knew what he had to do. This whole thing was nothing more than a charade, a means of giving them the illusion of believing that they had a voice in the proceedings. The moment that this was done and all had said their piece, he would deliver his decision.

He glanced around the room, seeing if there were any other demons that wished to talk. None in Envy dared meet his eye, and Sloth had been half-asleep, disturbed by the nightmares they doubtlessly saw in the World Begotten. Wrath and Lust had spoken, and Gluttony was too busy desperately feeding themselves to keep from dying of hunger from their food sources drying up. Even Greed seemed to be content with what Lust had said on their behalf, and had nothing to say themselves.

The panther shifted his weight –

“I have but one thing to say.”

It was a lion from the Sertus house, Selene’s old home. Not her father, but one of the other, more minor nobles within it, but he stood with the same dignity that she did.

“Morningstar. Heaven has long looked down at us. The ruler of the angels had long seen us as less than him, and he has even sent one of his subordinates to us as a punishment. We could have killed you back then, but your efforts saved our realm, and we offered you a pardon, and rulership. Let it not be said that the realm of Hell does not acknowledge its debts,” the lion said, turning in place. “Let it not be said that we do not acknowledge when something is owed, and that it is paid.

“Time passed, Morningstar, and you have proven yourself time and time again as a wise ruler of Hell. You have held us together, despite the many problems that the realm has had, and you have ensured that we have not fractured as our vices would encourage us to do. For that, again, you have shown you have understanding, power, conviction.

“Yet, you have done it by having us behave as if we were angels. You have had us forget the individuality that was the core tenet of Lilith when she lived. We are no longer our free-willed selves, but rather subordinates to you, bound in chains of authority rather than by want and desire. You hold us to a higher standard, but you have done it by changing us, little by little, just as your fallen angels have become part of us, little by little.”

“What’s your point?” one of the Wrath demons shouted.

“My point is this,” the lion said. “Morningstar, this is the time where the Pride of Hell itself is at stake. This ‘God’ of Heaven has made a declaration of war by attacking the World Begotten. He will annex it, pulling it into his circle, and he will make of them a toy that he can play with for the rest of its existence. The World Begotten was the child of him and Lilith; the World Begotten is as much ours as it is theirs, and to surrender the fight before it has even begun is a loss of not just resources, but Pride.”

Lucifer should not have let him speak. He could see the warmth of Pride moving through the room, the sin that so many demons shared waking and giving them courage. The few that were not already stirred to battle were feeling the hunger, now, and it would only get worse. The panther lifted one hand from the throne, resting his chin on it as the noble from House Sertus continued.

“This is the time for you to prove that the power of Hell was given to the right man, Morningstar. Show us, show all of Hell, that you understand us the way that we understand ourselves. Show us that you can hold our Pride intact, and lead us into the war now. Declare it, and we will fight until the last demon is standing, until the last of the angels fall, and there will be no need for another mortal to fall.

“Or…stay here, and show us that we made the wrong decision so many years ago. Show us that we made a mistake putting an angel in charge of a realm that was always its enemy.”

[i]…I am going to have to have you killed,[/i] Lucifer thought. [i]Someone that can speak that well is an enemy no matter whose side he’s on. I’m going to have to do something about him, and fast.[/i]

But that was going to be for later. As the lion took his seat once more, all eyes turned to the throne. Selene, standing further down the dais from him, looked over her shoulder at him, her hands at her sides and projecting as much confidence as she could.

He would have to dash it.

Lucifer looked back at the court, but the room faded in his vision as he remembered the last conversation that he’d had with God. The red and black stone faded away, replaced with the gray stone and hard cloud of the prison cells of Heaven.

It was a place that few were ever allowed to see, buried deep down in the bowels of the celestial realm. He had been taken there after his betrayal, after encouraging the mortals to eat of the fruit of knowledge. God had chained him, beaten him, put him in his place as far as a creator could without completely destroying him, and it was only when the tiger turned that the truth started to come out.

“You will never be welcome in Heaven again, Lucifer. For this betrayal, I can never forgive you.”

“It was…what she wanted,” the panther muttered.

“Lilith? You cared more for her than for me?” God asked, shaking his head. “She corrupted you…just as she nearly corrupted me.”

“It was…her last wish…to see the world protected…and her children.”

“…She hated me that much…”

It wasn’t a question, and both of them knew it. Lilith had feared and hated God for what he had done to the mortals, and even before that, the pair of them had been enemies, occasionally rising to rivals but always descending again. Their children had nearly convinced them to put that aside, to try and be better for the sake of the impending cubs, but that hadn’t lasted. He’d known at the time that it wouldn’t.

God looked back at him.

“You promised her. You gave your word. What did you promise her?”

“To look after her children.”

“Her children.”

“The world, and Jesus, and Mercy.”

God’s lips were flat for a moment, but only for a moment. Gradually, they turned up in the familiar deadly smile of a predator, and Lucifer knew that something he had said had been precisely the wrong thing to let past his lips.

“A promise that you will strive to keep, no doubt.”

“…”

“Yes, a promise that you, my greatest archangel, would struggle mightily to keep, considering the way that Mercy and Jesus are already so different from each other,” the tiger said, turning around again. “Yes…and then the World Begotten as well…I doubt that you care so strongly for the world as you do for the others, considering how you’ve behaved…”

“…”

“Yes…Yes…I know what to do.”

God turned on him. Despite their equal height, the tiger loomed over him, and his claws were sharp and painful as they dug into the panther’s cheek.

“This is the only warning that I will give you, Lucifer. The only one. If you ever come between me and the World Begotten again, I will destroy your love.”

The panther’s eyes went wide.

“Yes…my son. My only son. I will destroy him for the sake of spiting you. If you do not interfere, if you never get in my way, then Jesus will live. Jesus will be happy, or at least, happy enough as he keeps breathing. But if you ever, ever get in my way, if you ever thwart another plan of mine…I will destroy him, and see you burn with all the pain that it gives you.”

The memory faded. It had only taken him a few moments to relive it, and it still hurt him to imagine what kind of monster ruled Heaven…and what kind of danger the only love that Lucifer had ever had was in.

[i]God would not destroy his son…[/i]

At least, Lucifer had hoped that he wouldn’t. Yet, he had imagined that God would never dare go so far as to commit this level of full-scale genocide, either. He could feel the chaos of the World Begotten, the constant pain that was rising higher and higher as the monstrous forces of Heaven continued to rampage through the galaxy, killing and slaughtering everywhere they went. And yet, from here, he knew that it would only take a partial force of Hell’s legions to slow them down, to give the mortals a chance to gather themselves. A single strike on Babylon could be enough to retake the Seven and force them into action again, though not without complications.

And yet…

Lucifer clenched his hand into a fist over his throne, shaking his head. He made his decision.

“We will not declare war.”

The court exploded with anger, everyone having something to say and the din was impossible to sort through. The panther stood up from his throne, and the noise quieted, though it didn’t entirely disappear. He forced himself to meet their eyes as, for the first time in his tenure as the lord of Hell, he lied.

“The Reaper has the power to stop everything Heaven has in its tracks. All the Reaper has to do is choose to use that power. If Death does not come, then our presence would do nothing but extend the war,” he said.

“You would let our children die?!” one of the houses of Wrath shouted.

“If they matter to you, bring them here. If they can stand the pressure of Hell, then drag them from the World Begotten and save the individuals that matter so much to you. But Hell itself will not march.”

It was the only way that he could be sure that Jesus…

He saw the younger tiger in his head. Nothing but smiles, that one, nothing but gentleness and happiness and the honest desire to see others feel the same. So many memories in the short seven years between the death of Lilith and his banishment, and all of them were good. The tiger, born of two gods, had grown so fast, and they had been so close, and –

And there were things that he remembered that they had done when Jesus was full-grown that made him smile to this day, and at the same time plunged daggers into his heart to think of them at all.

“Hell. Will. Not. March.”

He left it at that, and turned to leave the throne room. The houses rose from their seats, screaming at him, and he rounded on them. Rage filled him and he said more, glowering and ranting as he did.

“Hell will not march to its death to save that which can save itself. I will not strip the mortals of their Pride, nor of their rightful Wrath. If they will live, then let them save themselves. Heaven will not have demon lives as well as mortal ones.

“Challenge me if you dare, but look me in the eyes and tell me that I have ever led you wrong…”

The court went silent. All eyes of every demon turned on him, and Lucifer held a stare with each and every one of them. One by one, they looked down, or up, or anywhere but at him, unable to muster an argument against him.

He turned again, and this time, nobody stopped him from leaving the throne room.

It didn’t take long to return to his chambers. As soon as he stepped through the door, he picked up the nearest thing to hand – a tome of demon names and houses – and threw it against the wall. The book cratered the stone, then fell, shattered, as Lucifer barely restrained a roar of pain as the promises dug into him.

He had given his word, and it was more than just an archangel giving a promise to a god. It was [i]his[/i] word, his power, his sense of his honor and his self. He had given it to Lilith, and now, it was being broken.

He literally could not fulfill his word. He could look after the World Begotten, but that put Jesus at risk. He could look after Jesus, but that meant abandoning the World Begotten. And that was putting Mercy to the bottom of the list again, as he had always done, because there was no helping someone that didn’t want to be helped like she did.

It felt like three hands had seized hold of his heart and were trying to rip it out of his chest in one direction after another. The black panther stumbled forward, leaning against the wall that he’d just damaged, and closed his eyes as the tears tried to come.

[i]No, no, no…[/i]

This was the only option. This was the only viable option. The world could burn. The mortals would eventually come back. The world itself would still be there, it would just be the mortals themselves that would be gone, and – and –

And the lies that he told himself were no longer enough. He could see what would happen as clearly as if it was playing out in front of him. Whether God won or the Reaper killed them all, the world would be completely empty compared to what it had once been. The entirety of the World Begotten would be nothing but ash, destroyed, and eventually, God would come back and reshape it, turning it into what Lilith had always dreaded he would.

And Lucifer…was doing nothing…to stop it…

[i]I’m saving him…saving him…[/i]

He clenched his hands into fists, leaning his head against his arms. The tears came, but at least nobody would see them. His shoulders hunched as he wept, but he kept it quiet, not letting a single sound leave his throat.

[i]I’m saving him…[/i]

For even he couldn’t believe that there was a guarantee that God wouldn’t kill Jesus if it meant spiting Lucifer, or even if it would just improve the odds of God’s plans going forward the way that he desired. When the tiger grew impatient, the principles that he claimed to hold were thrown to the wayside, and there was nothing that would be considered off-limits. The blackmail that he had used, the murder that he threatened, was something that no God of good would have ever done.

[i]Hypocrite, liar…[/i]

And some part of him, that tiny little bit that still held to his integrity, told him that was what he was becoming. Just as his creator had changed to keep control, he was doing the same. He was changing, warping himself into something just like God, just to try and keep hold of the one thing that mattered to him. The only difference between them was scale; their methods were exactly the same.

[i]No, no, no…[/i]

The world was collapsing around him. Hell felt too stifling, but it was impossible to leave. The room was too close, everything was too hot, and –

“What the hell was that?”

Selene’s voice pulled him from his panic, and he froze. He slowly pulled his arms down from the wall, finding it surprisingly easy to drift back to a state of cold rage at being interrupted, and it eased him back to a state of dignity. He slowly turned around, looking her square in the eye as his wife crossed her arms.

“Do you want to use that tone with me?” Lucifer asked.

“I want to know what that was?”

“I told them my decision.”

“A decision to abandon all your principles?”

He fought the growl that threatened to curl his lips, barely winning. Selene didn’t let up, all but stalking across the room as if she was the predator and he was the prey. She jabbed him in the chest with a pointed finger, her fangs bared as he tried to restrain himself.

“This is not the Morningstar that I have faith in. This is not the ruler of Hell that my father traded me to for power and prestige, and the person that I thought could be good for demons, if he had something to focus on. This is [i]not[/i] you. What is going on?”

“I told you everything.”

“Liar.”

That word, that one word, was enough to make him snap. His word had always been his bond. Even under God, when he had been manipulating things to make the mortals eat the fruit, he had always twisted the truth, but never broken it. He had always found something believable in the long lie, as God had called it, but had never told a direct deceit. His word was his bond, and he was not –

His hand flew before he knew it. The crack of his palm hitting her cheek and his claws raking through her fur was loud enough to shock him, but not enough to quell the anger in his chest. He took a step forward, grabbing her by the throat, and all but threw her against the wall to pin her there.

“Never…call me…a liar…”

“…”

“I am the ruler of Hell. And regardless of –”

And then he saw himself in her eyes. He saw the reflection of his own, and he realized that the spark of power that had helped him hold sway over the demons for all this time, that spark that made him look honest, was gone. There was nothing in his eyes now, no light of the old times, nothing that reminded him of the angel that he had once been. No, he had completely fallen, now, and there was nothing that would pull him from that pit.

He stared at her for a moment before letting go. Selene reached for her cheek, the blood lines already showing along her face. Lucifer opened his mouth, then closed it again; there was nothing that he could say that wouldn’t betray himself further, or take it to a place that neither of them could come back from.

No, the only choice was to let it go, and see what happened from here on. He turned away, and she hustled out of the room. Not once did she shake or scream or even cry, and he knew that she was holding tight to her Pride to make that happen.

He turned his attention back to the wall, and what lay beyond. Lucifer looked to the universe as a whole, past Hell and towards Heaven and the World Begotten. He could not see them, not really, but he could feel the chaos that was shaking everything that existed. The great war between Heaven and the World Begotten would change the balance of everything going forward, regardless of who won. The only thing that could be said…

[i]He’ll be safe.[/i]

God would only strike down his own son if Lucifer got in the way, and he was keeping to their agreement. Regardless of how it wracked him, regardless of the fears of what Jesus would want if Lucifer and him could speak again, he would keep his lover safe.

Just a little longer.

Just a little longer.

Lucifer reached out and seized hold of every vice of Hell that he could. He grabbed hold of Wrath, of Pride, of Lust. He held Greed and Envy. He squeezed Sloth until it slipped through his fingers, and he swallowed Gluttony and everything that it had to offer just to try and bury the pain of his broken word.

For no matter how much he tried to lie to himself, his word [i]was[/i] broken, and he would never be able to get it back. He had broken himself.

[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]

Summary: Lucifer makes a decision about whether Hell is going to be part of the war or not.

Tags: No Sex, Court, Lucifer, Panther, Lion, Various Species, War, Diplomacy, Decisions, Fall, The Final Fall, Broken, Series, Abuse,