Young Writers Society

In retrospect, he should have seen the staff coming.

He felt a dull pain in the place where it contacted his face - all pain was dull these days, now that he had to rely on sensors instead of actual nerves. "I'm not an enemy," he said, absentmindedly reaching a hand up to touch the injured area. "I don't know why you haven't had any...visions yet. It could be that the forest is manipulating how you think, making you believe that you've been inside of it for a long time when it's really only been less than an hour."

He knew his explanation wouldn't do anything to help. Aegeas was apparently quite stubborn, and Azazel didn't want to even think about what he would be like when he reached adulthood. He needed a better way to go about doing this. It didn't take long to come up with one - the truth usually was a good solution to any problem. This time, however, Aegeas could still doubt him. He frustratingly didn't have the ability to change his form thanks to being stuck in this robotic shell, and that would have been key to getting him to believe him.

He crouched down in front of Aegeas so they were eye to eye.

"There was a reason you left the group you were with earlier," he carefully said. "Two boys - one a demon named Azazel, and another an angel named Saentiel - went running off into the forest, and you wanted to find them. You ran in the same direction as them. You should have reached them by now, but all that you found were me, the vampire and my friend Gabriel."

After a moment passed, he opted to sit down on the ground instead, watching Aegeas with eyes that never looked quite right to other people. "I lied to you earlier when I said I was a robot. I'm trapped in one right now, but I haven't always been. Gabriel also hasn't been entirely truthful - he's a demon, just as I am. We're different types. I was born a demon. Gabriel is the type that were formerly angels, but did something to be sent away from their home."

He took a deep breath.

"My real name isn't Issac Drake," he admitted. "It's Azazel. Gabriel's real name isn't Gabriel, either, though I suspect he likes it much more than his actual one. His real name is Saentiel. The forest did something to us - it took our memories, turned us into children, and let us wander around without even remembering why we came here in the first place. When we left the group - after thinking that the other was a murderer, and a monster - we regained all of our memories and turned back to how we are now."

He folded his hands and rested them in his lap. "Whether you believe me on that last part or not, it doesn't matter. But I am Azazel, Aegeas. You and I were going to make a deal. I might not be experiencing any of the visions now, but I did earlier. You saw what it did to me. Would I really want to do that to myself if I was responsible for the visions?"


The question made another ugly sob leave him.

"No!" he replied, his voice muffled by the werewolf's chest. His grip tightened ever so slightly. Memories of Joshua flashed through his head - the memories of when they first met, when he gave him the name Micah, when he first got his job, when Joshua showed him his sword, when they got their home...All of them hurt so much now that he knew he would never see his brother again. He couldn't even remember saying goodbye to him!

A strangled cry left his lips. He...He didn't even know where his brother's body was buried. It was really, really unfair - he wanted to visit him. He wanted to...to say goodbye, and to tell Joshua that he was sorry for forgetting the truth.

"Joshua...Joshua died," he whispered, raising his head up for the briefest of moments. "She...She stabbed him...right in the heart and through ar-armor...And then I-I held him in my arms, but it was too late, and I couldn't feel his heartbeat or hear him breathing! And if I had just been a little faster, maybe I-I could have saved Joshua! But now I c-can't ever see him again, because I c-can't die and I n-never told him that. I-I can't go to H-Heaven and s-see him again, and he's going to think I abandoned him! And I did, because I forgot he was dead! And n-now I don't even remember where he's buried..."

Ciaran sighed heavily, watching as Ethan ad Quinn took off after Gabriel. He followed at a slightly slower pace, glaring at every noise the forest made, regardless of the fact that he would not be able to see what was making those sounds. At one point, he was certain he heard a tree come crashing down somewhere in front of them, but he quickly dismissed it because Ethan was closing in on Gabriel and Ciaran could feel Ethan's hunger rising again.

And then Ethan caught the demon and brought him down. Ciaran rushed to pull his son off before the boy could bite the demon. He held Ethan tightly to his side, staring down at Gabriel. There was a bit of a red smear across the man's neck and cheek, and Ciaran wasn't sure if that was from the blood that had already been on Ethan's face or if it were Gabriel's. He decided not to comment on it and glanced up to find the boy with the black wings, the werewolf--who had apparently returned to his adult form at some point--and a new creature, hiding beneath a hooded cloak, staring at them.

Ciaran cleared his throat, feeling awkward when he noticed that apparently the werewolf was comforting the new creature. "Hello," he said, meeting each person's gaze carefully. He coughed, glancing down at Ethan. "We didn't mean to surprise anyone--"

"Papa! I like the wings!"

He glanced down at Ethan with a frown. "Ethan, that was rude."

"But Papa! The wings!"

Ciaran covered his face with one hand and groaned. Ethan was impossible. He should have remembered that fact. "Ethan, no."

While the tree falling had failed to frighten him, Lucifer let out a scream and ducked his head back into the werewolf’s chest when a group of people suddenly emerged from the depths of the forest. His grip tightened considerably - not enough to hurt, but close. He still felt like crying when he thought about his brother, but the arrival of more terrifying people was enough to momentarily get his mind off of Joshua.

After a moment passed, he hesitantly raised his head to get a second look.

A man had been knocked down to a boy who had to be a vampire; he could see the fangs! The hands holding onto the werewolf shook. He had heard lots of stories about vampires, though they were usually from the villagers who thought he was one. But this boy was definitely an actual one, because he was sucking the man’s blood. When the other man arrived and the first hopped up to his feet, Lucifer let out a strangled cry - his eyes had suddenly turned completely black. The sound rang out through the forest. Even a girl - dressed almost like a princess - that emerged from the brush a moment later stared at him.

The man with the black eyes stared at him.

His eyes flickered back to their original color. He raised a hand to wipe away the blood, but paused as recognition seemed to appear on his place. The little girl hurried forward and threw her arms around the man’s legs, but this didn’t appear to stop him. He walked forward despite this. Lucifer barely held back a scream when the man tore him from the werewolf’s arms.

“It’s okay,” he reassured Lucifer.

Lucifer didn’t believe him.

He carefully placed him down on the ground. They stood there awkwardly for a moment, the girl looking up at him with wonder in her big dark eyes and the man with unnatural eyes continuing to watch him. Suddenly, the man was reaching his hand forward. He tucked Lucifer’s long bangs behind his pointed ears, and went to push back the hood - but Lucifer realized what he was doing by this point, and frantically held onto said hood to prevent his face from being fully seen.

“Lucifer?” the man asked.

He whimpered. How had he known? Was he with them? They had known his name, too. But he couldn’t let this man know that he had guessed right - he had to keep pretending that he was Micah, especially when it was the last bit of Joshua he had left. “My-My name’s Micah,” he whispered, voice shaking.

The man frowned.

“Micah, then,” he said. “Well, Micah, I’m Gabriel. Gabriel Eberhardt.”--

--The moment they stepped into the party, everyone knew who they were. It didn’t matter that God’s face was hidden behind a Darth Vader mask - everyone could put two and two together. He was clearly Luke Blythe in their eyes, and God was clearly his older brother Dante. Their popularity was to be marveled at; Lucifer wasn’t supposed to be so loved by humans, and God wasn’t supposed to be the source of infatuation. He could hear people whispering all around them, making way as the two strode through the masses.

“They’re going to flirt with you,” Lucifer quietly muttered. He didn’t like being in crowded places like this. He didn’t think God did either, but he was always better at hiding it. He scanned the crowd for anything that looked unnatural. Focusing on the job helped, even if it was just a little.

“I was expecting it,” God softly replied. His voice was muffled by the mask, and it was hard for even Lucifer to easily recognize it. “Although I think I might have a little competition for mysterious newcomer - look over there.”

He followed his gaze to a group of girls. In the center of them was a boy he didn’t recognize. Lucifer started instinctively heading towards him. Blond hair with blue streaks, bright blue eyes peeking out from behind a pair of stylish sunglasses, black leather jacket - everything about him made him Hollywood’s stereotypical bad boy, and the girls clung to his every word because of it. He was new, he was mysterious, and he definitely appealed to the teenage ideals of sexy.

“Hey,” the boy said with a wave. God lingered behind him. “This is pretty good party, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Lucifer quietly answered. He was waiting for the right moment to check - a quick Christo under his breath, and their suspicions would be confirmed. “Are you a new student?”

The boy shook his head. “No - just visiting. My friend used to go to school with you, and she had a bit of nostalgia. Oh! There she is right now.” He raised a hand and pointed at a girl who looked just as overwhelmed as Lucifer secretly felt. She was dressed as a witch, with a stereotypical witch hat perched in her black hair. He felt like he was seeing a ghost when he looked at her; she was the girl who had run away two years ago, and the one everyone had been sure was never going to be seen again.

“Well, I better go,” the boy said with a wink. The girls scrambled for their phones; they clearly wanted his number before he disappeared among the crowd. “Nice Luke Skywalker costume, by the way.”

God gave a strangled cry behind him as the boy darted off into the crowd.

Lucifer glanced back at him.

“I can’t believe it,” he whispered. “That’s Gabriel Eberhardt, and that girl is Quinn Holt! I didn’t recognize him at first because he made himself look younger than he is.”

He followed God’s gaze. “Those are the hunters you’ve been watching.”

“Yup,” God said, a proud tone to his voice. “My wonder trio of hunters - well, one of them is mine, anyways. Quinn’s a Christian, and I intend to keep it that way. I want her in my afterlife someday. Now, come on, Luci! They wouldn’t be here unless they were on the same job as us.”

God grabbed onto his wrist and dragged him over to Quinn and Gabriel before he even had a chance to get a word in. Quinn and Gabriel both fell silent when they saw them approach, clearly wary of them. “Hello,” God said with a wave. “I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I’m Dante Blythe, and this is my little brother Luke. You’re Gabriel Eberhardt and Quinn Holt, aren’t you?”

The two exchanged a look.

“We have the same line of work, from what I’ve heard,” God added, and the two somehow grew even more tense. Lucifer studied Gabriel - an angel who had fallen centuries ago, and now was a demon. No wonder he was scared at that revelation; most hunters would have been lining up to kill him, especially since he had clearly changed his appearance to look younger. “Don’t worry - Luke and I are pretty chill with the supernatural in general. But we both must be here at this party to find the person responsible for all of the disappearances, and I’m sure you wouldn’t mind the extra help.”

Gabriel crossed his arms. “What do you get out of it?”

“Just some bonding times with other hunters,” God replied, his voice cheerful.

Another look was exchanged.

“I guess that would be helpful, especially since Luke goes here,” Gabriel said. Quinn nodded, though her wary gaze wasn’t as hidden as her demonic friend’s--

--He stared at Gabriel.

“I know you…?” he hesitantly said, not quite sure where that memory had been from. He had felt so weird, like he was smaller than he was now. He raised a hand up to his cheek. His cheek had felt smooth, too, and his hair was much shorter. But he hadn’t felt the things that made him cursed. His hand traveled up to his forehead. His horns were still there; he could feel the stubs of the ones that he had just shed a few days ago. And his tail was wrapping around his stomach underneath his shirt, so why couldn’t he feel them in the memory-

He let out a startled gasp.

“I-I know God!?” he exclaimed, an excited tone to his voice. All of his fear immediately left him. The thought of God made him feel happy, like they were really close. A small smile spread across his lips, revealing his fangs. “Joshua’s going to think that’s so cool-”

His smile faltered.

“...Joshua’s gone…” he reminded himself.

Tears threatened to fall again, but he suddenly found Gabriel pulling him close. Gabriel rubbed his hand on his back, whispering soothing words under his breath. The words held little meaning - just comforting phrases - but Lucifer eagerly threw his arms around Gabriel’s neck and rested his head against his shoulder.

Taber took a long breath and pulled himself up. It turned into a sigh of relief when he saw that Micah was hugging Gabriel. As much as Gabriel had yanked him around, asked him personal questions, and seemed very interested in that hood, Micah at least tolerated Gabriel. That was good, Taber decided; otherwise, he probably would have had to do something he'd regret.

"Hi!" Taber said, extending a paw out to Gabriel. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Taber!"



Hesitating for a few seconds, fury gripped Aegeas's heart again. "What if they just told you to say that?" he said, hitting Azazel with the stick. "Or you forced them to tell you that? People can't change like that." Another hit. "And if you're really the demon, why don't you make a deal with me and just. Leave. Us. Alone." The otter punctuated the last few words with a few more blows from the staff, only stopping when something reached up and grabbed his arm.

Aegeas looked down to see Tristan glaring up at him. They stood still for a few seconds, Aegeas trying to figure out how to respond (and Tristan likely scared out of his mind).

Then, letting go of the staff, Aegeas sniffled, wiped a few tears from his eyes, and ran past Azazel, heading deeper into the forest.

Still holding Lucifer close to his chest, Gabriel shook Taber's hand with a smile. He was distracted by the sobbing god in his arms - Lucifer had never mentioned a Joshua before, and Gabriel could only guess why. Maybe Joshua was a human he had befriended long ago, one that had died some unfortunate death. It seemed to be the case, given how much Lucifer was crying.

"I'm Gabriel," he replied. Lucifer continued to cry into his shoulder, and Gabriel desperately wished that God was here - even though, he realized in retrospect, God would have been just as young as the sobbing child (because that was what he was, despite his apparent age) in his arms was.

Lucifer suddenly reached a hand out and touched his neck. "You're bleeding," he said, a sob catching in his throat.

Gabriel withdrew his hand from the handshake and touched the spot, feeling the warm blood underneath his fingers. "It looks like I am," he said. He glanced back at Ciaran and Ethan. "Someone's good at playing hide and seek-"

Lucifer muttered something under his breath, and suddenly he could feel the wound healing up. Had he just cast a healing spell? Lucifer look incredibly alarmed when the change occurred, going as far as giving a startled cry and covering his mouth with his hand.

"I d-did something bad," he whispered, staring at what was now clean, untouched skin. "I'm-I'm sorry! I'm not a bad person, I promise! I-I don't know why I can do that..."

"It's alright," Gabriel said. Quinn was clinging to his leg now and giving Lucifer a very jealous look, but he momentarily ignored her. "I really appreciate you healing me, Micah."

Lucifer sniffled. "But m-magic is bad. That's what the villagers say..."

"The villagers are wrong, then-"

Lucifer's eyes widened, and he sobbed once more into his shoulder. "That's what J-Joshua used to say!"


"Aegeas!" Azazel shouted, but it was all in vain - the otter was already gone by the time the name left his robotic lips. He let out a frustrated groan. Aegeas had done exactly the thing that Azazel had been hoping to avoid; he had just separated their little group. To make matters worse, he had left his younger brother with him, and Azazel barely knew the other otter.

Azazel hurried to his feet.

"We need to go after him," he said. "Will you come with me?"


When he opened his eyes, he was laying in an old, abandoned building.

Or, at least, it should have been old. The amount of dust, cobwebs and rotting wood suggested it was. But the actual design of the building was unfamiliar. Things were more uniform and on a larger scale than what he was used to, and he couldn't help but run his fingers across the wall as he tried to determine why that was the case.

He rested his other hand on the sword in the sheath at his side. The sound of his armor clanking together reverberated throughout the hallway as he started to sweep the building. His chest ached and head pounded, but trying to understand why he felt that way resulted in nothing being accomplished. It was only when he was at the end of the hallway that he remembered why he was in this building, and in the woods he could see outside the window.

He had been trying to find Micah.

Now it was coming back to him. He had done the taboo; he had let himself utter a spell, even though he had told himself he was done with magic. Magic wouldn't keep Micah safe. The world no longer wanted miracles; they wanted witches to be burned at the stake. The spell had brought him here, which must have meant that Micah was nearby.

He somehow managed to navigate his way out of the old, decrepit building and into the forest beyond it. Just as he went to take a step into the darkness, a small, furry thing came barrelling into him. He felt a twinge of recognition as he hoisted it - Them? Him? Her? He couldn't tell the gender. - off of the ground and stared into the oddly familiar face.

"Oh no!" Taber said, setting a hand on Micah's shoulder. "Healing magic is the opposite of bad! It's great! I wish I could use healing magic - I mostly just know how to set things on fire."

He laughed awkwardly. The wolf didn't know how to respond to Micah's feelings over losing Joshua, and it appeared that Gabriel was much better at comforting Micah.

Something popped into Taber's mind. The wolf frowned, looking at Gabriel. "This might be a strange question," Taber said, "But do you remember an otter? Or a couple of otters? I think I need to find them and make sure they're safe."



Tristan grabbed onto Azazel's hand after a few seconds. "'m sorry," he said, looking at the ground. "Aegeas does stuff like this sometimes. He's not a very happy person; I wish I knew why. I swear I should. But let's go get him."



Aegeas ran through the forest, tears flying out of his eyes. He needed to get away from everyone else. He needed to get out of the forest, or maybe just find a better hiding spot. Underneath a tree hadn't worked, so what about a tree's branches? When he looked up, he shook his head - there was too little foliage, and the color of the trunks didn't match his fur.

Fortunately enough, an opportunity arose in the form of a tall building in front of him. It looked worn down and ravaged by the weather - broken windows, a busted entrance, and dented walls. But it was dark, it was abandoned, and nobody would dare to look in there. He doubled his pace, speeding his way to the door.

And right into the arms of a man in a suit of armor.

The otter flailed, swinging his arms and legs. "Let go of me!" he shouted, trying to hit the black-haired stranger in the face.

Gabriel comfortingly rubbed Lucifer's back as his friend continued to cry into his shoulder. He wished he could do a better job at comforting him, but what else was he supposed to do? He was comforting him to the best of his ability, and Lucifer wasn't saying much about this Joshua person - other than that he had died, which wasn't exactly the most helpful piece of information. Lucifer had never once mentioned a Joshua before; he couldn't even rely on previous information to help him in a situation like this.

He looked back at Taber. "I actually just ran into them-" Gabriel started to say, only to stop when he realized who he was talking to. The wolf was the kid who had terrified him when he first ended up in the forest. How had he missed something so major?

He glanced over at Ciaran, then back at the wolf.

"Taber," he said, his voice quiet. "I'm the angel you met earlier. I'm Saentiel. And the vampire's Ciaran; he was the kid with the fangs. You got your memories back, too, didn't you?"

Lucifer momentarily stopped his staring to stare up at him. "You're an angel?" he asked.

Shoot, he had forgotten how good Lucifer's hearing was.

"I was," he said. "I fell - I'm a demon."

"Oh," Lucifer said. He rested his head against his chest again. "I-I should be scared of you, but you're nice...An-And I don't think I like angels all that much..."


Azazel followed the path that Aegeas must have taken, his hand never letting go of the other otter's as he did. "It's alright," he reassured the boy, giving his hand a little squeeze. "He was right - he didn't really have a reason to trust me."

He looked back at the path ahead of them.

He just hoped they could find Aegeas before something else did.


Strangely enough, he felt like this was an appropriate reaction for the odd furry creature - who apparently could speak the same language as him - even though he still couldn't why the creature felt so familiar. Despite the creature's attempts to break free, he continued to hold onto him. He assumed he was male. The voice certainly suggested it, and also suggested that he was fairly young.

...Which didn't sit with him well at all.

He continued holding the creature up, easily dodging the kicks and punches that could have made contact as he squirmed in his grip. "We've met before, haven't we?" he asked. He peered into the creature's face, dodging another sporadic kick in the process.

No, that couldn't be right.

He narrowed his eyes. "I take that back. I must have met a family member of yours before - have they ever mentioned someone like me?"

But if that really was the case, why couldn't he remember that meeting?

Oof - he didn't understand the whole conversation on angels and demons. At least his memory was up to snuff. "So that's why you both smell so familiar!" Taber said, beaming. "Wonderful!" He walked over to the vampire holding the kid covered in blood - the vampire's blood, it looked like - and extended a hand. "How are you?"

And that's when Gabriel's words registered.

Turning his head back, Taber said, "Where? Are they okay? Can you lead me to them?"



"No!" Aegeas said. "I don't remember anyone who looks like you, and I think my family would tell me if they ran into someone as mean as you. Leave me alone!"

He flailed his legs even harder, arms trying to reach around the strangers' arms to grab his scimitars.

Wait.

Where were they?

He swore he had them.

But, why did he have swords in the first place?

The otter's breathing grew more rapid as he tried to punch the stranger in the nose.

"They're nearby," Gabriel said. "Issac - Azazel - should have been getting them. But if they're not here..."

He glanced into the woods they had just come from. They should have been back by now; it didn't take long to walk in their direction, and they had been standing there long enough for them to catch up.


He easily grabbed the fist that was swung at him before it could make contact. Things just weren't sitting right with him. He must have met someone that this otter was related to! Why else would he looked so familiar, yet far too young?

His gaze dropped down to the creature's side as the action from before registered.

"Your scimitars aren't there," he commented, then paused. Why had he said that? Scimitars were an oddly specific weapon, so it should have never been the first thing he thought of. But scimitars and this creature just felt right when he put them together in his head, just like bread and butter.

Now he glanced down at his own body.

The armor was familiar, but why was there blood staining the front? Letting go of the creature's fist, he reached a hand up to touch his forehead. There was dried blood there, too. He didn't remember getting hurt, but didn't the blood suggest that he had?

Taber followed Gabriel's gaze. "Oh dear," he said, raising a paw to his face. "We'd better go get them."

Shutting his eyes and concentrating, Taber felt himself stumble forward and shrink down as he shifted from his bipedal body to that of a regular wolf. Turning back to Gabriel, he sniffed and cocked his head in the direction Gabriel was looking.



Eugh, running was hard. Azazel was so fast and his legs were so long and it was so hard to keep up. Tristan had to watch out for rocks, fallen tree branches, roots bigger than he was, and whatever else the forest decided to throw at him.

Worse yet, he was having a hard time paying attention to any of it. He felt strange. Mostly about Aegeas. Aegeas never acted like that. Maybe he'd get annoyed or tell Tristan to go back to their parents, but he'd never freak out and run away. And yet, Tristan wasn't too surprised. Why? Why wasn't that weirder? And why did Tristan feel so...hollow? He hadn't felt like that since-

Tristan bolted upright and screamed.

Taking a few deep breaths, he looked around him. Not that he could make anything out - it was some kind of a dark room with fuzzy objects on the walls and corners. Stupid eyes.

Hmm. He'd thought it was his nerves, but his stomach felt a little strange. Almost like it had been patched back together. Looking down, Tristan frowned. He was sitting on some kind of a metal table. Everything from his chest down to his ankles had been wrapped up in a thin blanket, which helped explain why he was so cold. He couldn't see anything out of the ordinary about himself, but he wasn't particularly interested in looking.

He couldn't remember how he'd gotten here. He couldn't remember the last few hours, actually. Or however long it'd been since he'd gone to sleep. It wasn't like the memories had vanished - he knew he could remember them. They just weren't being helpful.

But he had other places to be. Anywhere else, to be specific Pulling himself off the table, Tristan tugged at his blanket. It wouldn't budge. Ugh. At least he could still walk.

That's when a door creaked open, spilling light into the room. A lion stepped inside, carrying a few bottles and tools in his hands. He hummed to himself as he set his things down on the table beside them, then stopped. Very slowly, he turned to look at Tristan.

Then the lion screamed.

"Azazel?" Tristan said. He tried to wipe away the tears in his eyes. "Can we stop for a second? I'm, not feeling so good."



"You're not supposed to know that!" Aegeas said. He flinched - it sounded like a lie. But, it wasn't, was it? How could this stranger possibly know?

In any case, the stranger briefly moved a hand away to inspect some kind of wound, which gave Aegeas the perfect opportunity to aim a kick at his chest.

Ciaran eyed the wolf for a moment, ignoring the hand held out to him, and glanced down at his son. Ethan was staring up at Taber with wide, curious eyes. Ciaran sighed, letting the conversation flow over him without really listening, though he still caught enough of it. Azazel--or rather, Isaac--had gone to find the otter boys, apparently, and had yet to come back. He frowned, keeping an eye on Ethan, who was squirming and trying to escape his hold.

"Ethan--"

"Down, Papa," his son said determinedly and Ciaran scowled.

"No."

"But PAPA! I wanna go hug Lucy. He's saaaad--"

Ciaran covered his face again. Trust his son to want to comfort the literal Devil. "Ethan," he began, trying to find words to explain how that was probably not a good idea. "I don't know if--"

He let out a sharp noise of alarm as Ethan squirmed free, elbowing him in the side in the process, and darted towards where Lucifer still sat with Gabriel. It was too late to grab him. His son had always been unreasonably fast. Ciaran sighed and followed at a slower pace, watching as Ethan squirmed in-between the two and flung his arms around Lucifer's neck.

"Hug for Lucy!" Ethan exclaimed, completely missing the alarmed look Ciaran received.

"I'm sorry about my son," Ciaran said, stopping short of Lucifer. "He's always been an unruly one." He shot Ethan a sharp look. "Ethan--"

Azazel nodded, casting a worried look down in Tristan's direction before doing as requested. A moment passed. He debated all the different options, finally deciding on something he hoped wouldn't scare Tristan. He leaned down and picked the boy up. Unsure if it was alright to keep moving, he just held him close to his chest - easily supporting his weight with his robotic strength.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he softly asked.


Lucifer's eyes widened at the sudden embrace.

He should have been scared - the little boy was a vampire, and vampires were supposed to be bad. But he suddenly didn't feel like vampires were all that terrible, and he let the boy continue to hug him. Tears sprung uninvited to his eyes. Other kids were always scared of him. He was cursed, and they could tell that just from how their parents and older siblings acted.

His lips quivered.

"It's okay," he said to the older vampire, finally returning the embrace of the younger. "I-I don't mind it."

Gabriel turned to the adult and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," he said. His voice was supposed to be quiet, but Lucifer heard everything he said. He always did, when people thought they were being sneaky and were trying to avoid him hearing what they said. "Lucifer's a nice guy."

The little girl nodded eagerly beside him.

"Uncle Gabriel?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at the demon. "Are we going to find Uncle Issac?"

Gabriel glanced over at the werewolf-turned-wolf. Lucifer felt a little jolt of fear when he saw the wolf sniffing around, but didn't say anything - he was too busy being hugged by the really nice boy he was still hugging back. "We are," he confirmed.

"That's good!" she told him. She raised a finger and pointed off in the distance. "I think we should go that way, Uncle Gabriel. It feels important."

Lucifer and Gabriel looked at where her finger was pointing. Gabriel frowned, but quickly hid it behind a nod and a head rub. The sight made Lucifer want to cry even more - Joshua always messed around with his hair. He gave the boy one more tight squeeze before easily wriggling his way out of the embrace.


The group headed through the woods for a short time until a building began to grow in the distance. The little girl kept humming very cheerfully, but would never explain why when Gabriel asked her. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't put his finger on what. The building looked old and abandoned - like it hadn't been touched in years, even though its design was strange and unfamiliar.

And standing in front of it was a man holding a furry creature up in front of his face. The creature trying kicking the man in his armored chest, but the man didn't even budge as the hit collided.

Lucifer's breath caught in his throat.

"No, no, no!" he screamed. He backed up into Gabriel, who tried - and failed - to look around him as he frantically shook his head in denial. "I'm not seeing you! You're not here! You-You're not real!"

Joshua stared at him.

"Micah?" he asked. He placed the furry creature down on the ground, wasting no time in bridging the distance between himself and Lucifer. The latter continued to shake his head. How could he be alive? He had died! He had seen him die in his memory! He could even see the blood on his chest plate and face now.

"Yo-You're a g-ghost!" Lucifer cried, screwing his eyes shut.

"Micah, it's okay," Joshua said. And it really did sound and look like Joshua, but Joshua couldn't be alive after what he had seen. But ghosts weren't supposed to give such strong hugs, and feel so, so much like Joshua had. "I promise I won't leave you again, okay?"

"I-I saw you die!" he protested, opening his eyes again. "You can't be alive!"

"I haven't died," Joshua said.

He frantically shook his head again. "You did, Joshua! I know you did! I held your body in my arms, and they-"

Joshua suddenly gave a cry of pain, stumbling back away from him and clutching his forehead. Lucifer's eyes widened as he hurried after his brother - it didn't matter that Joshua was a ghost now. He was hurting, and he didn't want to see Joshua in pain.

Joshua finally let his hands drop to his side after a few moments passed.

"You're Lucifer," he said, his voice groggy. "How did I...How did I forget that? And how did I forget who I was? That's not...That's not something that I should forget..."

Lucifer stared blankly at him.

"I remember, Luci," he said. His voice had become soft and reassuring. "I remember seeing them, and I remembered being stabbed. But that's not the end of the memory - don't you remember what happens next?"

Lucifer shook his head for the third time.

Joshua pulled him into another tight embrace. "My name's not Joshua, Luci," he whispered into his twitching ears. "The reason that woman attacked me was to show that. I'm like you, too. My name is...I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think I'm God."

Ethan was humming, the sound vibrating through Ciaran's chest. His son was perched on his hip again, held tightly to his side. Humming. He was not going to live this down. Oh, and the humming was driving Ciaran up the wall, but he'd grit his teeth and endure it as he followed the rest of the group off into the trees. He eyed the cloaked figure of Lucifer warily. So the Devil was nothing like he'd thought. He had to wonder what God would be like. Ethan began squirming against him, and gave a little pained exhale. Ciaran was instantly alert.

"Ethan?" he asked and his son looked up at him with watery eyes. Oh, dear.

"I had a weird dream, Papa. You were mean to Nich." Ethan frowned and poked him in the chest, rather hard. "Again. You hurt my Nich! No hurting my Nich!"

Ciaran stared at him, mouth open and unable to reply. Then Ethan was squirming free, elbowing him again, and running towards the abandoned building the little girl had apparently been leading them to. Only the rest of them had stopped walking and Lucifer was speaking to a man he called Joshua? And then the man was staring back, looking as if he were pained. Ciaran heard his claim to be God very clearly. Vampire hearing was a curse and a blessing. A curse more days than not, to be honest. This man in armour was God?

Movement out of the corner of his eye had him turning to see Ethan peering up at the human girl, and then he was running full tilt ahead for the Joshua-God person. Oh, dear. If what Joshua had said was true, then that was God. God was, quite literally, in front of him. And Ethan, apparently, wanted to hug him. Goddamnit.

"ETHAN!" he yelled, but it was too late. His son was wrapped around the man's legs and peering up at him with wide, watery eyes.

"Don't be sad," Ethan said. "Sad's no fun. Hug?"

Though he felt a little uncomfortable (and Tristan wasn't quite sure why, but something in the back of his head started to come up with an answer), the otter nuzzled up against Azazel, burying his head in Azazel's chest. "I'm scared," Tristan said, voice muffled. "I'm worried Aegeas is right about this place. I keep hearing and seeing weird things, and I don't feel like I'm going crazy, but they're so weird. They're almost like memories? But I don't remember them ever-"

Water rushed past Tristan's ears. His eyes scanned through the murky water, looking past splintered ships, broken weapons, and bodies of various sizes. The lake was impossibly deep - when he looked down, all he could see was darkness. Which fit with the light show over his head.

He kicked frantically, muscles in his arms and chest screaming as he tried to swim towards the boat whose bottom dipped above and below the edge of his vision in front of him. Explosions shook the surface of the water, painting his vision yellow and red. But he had to keep going. If he stopped, he'd drown. Not that he was all that confident he'd make it out of this either.

Tristan nearly froze when he felt something grab onto a paw. No. That thing was supposed to be dead; it'd barely been moving. It shouldn't have been able to catch up like that, especially not after Tristan had kicked it in the face. The otter began to hyperventilate, looking back in time to see the head of a dragon start to come into a view.

Voices drifted down from Tristan's head, making it that much harder for the otter to resist opening his mouth and screaming.

"Something's wrong."

"No, don't-"

"I need to get to him."

"You can't swim!"

As the dragon opened its maw, making a noise that sounded something like a laugh, a shadow fell over the both of them. The dragon, tightening its grip on Tristan's paw, lunged forward and-

Tristan screamed. Grabbing onto Azazel's shirt, he took a few shaky breaths. "Like that," he said eventually, blinking tears out of his eyes. "What's, what's wrong with me?"



Well, that answered half of the question. Taber had been worried he would have had to rip Aegeas out of the armored man's grip, but the armored man had let Aegeas go almost immediately. Better yet, Aegeas had been so surprised that Taber had been able to sprint and catch up to the otter right behind the entrance to the building.

Now, Aegeas wasn't armed, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. Especially not when Taber had to grab Aegeas by the arm and pull him back. Taber hated doing that - maybe this version of Aegeas wouldn't snap because of it (hopefully), but it was still a rude to thing to do. Still, there was no way the wolf would be able to find the otter in this labyrinth of a building, and it'd be way too easy for someone as small and clumsy as this young Aegeas to get hurt.

And Aegeas must've been prepared for it, because Taber immediately found himself with a shooting pain up his snout and an otter not in his arms.

Taber bit his lip as he clamped his paws around his bleeding nose. That hurt. Even as a kid, Aegeas could still punch.

"C'mon Aegeas," Taber said, eyes clamped shut. He blinked them open cautiously, trying hard not to swear like Eremia (Aegeas was too young right now to learn to those words, and Taber's mother definitely wouldn't approve). "I know I was asking for it, but why did you have to-"

Oh. Aegeas was still standing in front of him.

Tears dripped down the otter's face. "I wasn't supposed to do that," he mumbled, fist still in the air.

Taber immediately pulled his paws away from his face. "No, it's fine!" the wolf said, putting on a smile that he knew looked too fake. "See, I'm perfectly-"

And the otter was gone.

"Aegeas?" Taber called out. "Aegeas! I'm sorry! Please come back!"