Lucifer wouldn’t call it a favorite time of day so much as one he appreciated for the brief quiet before Lux opened its doors and the social stormed the bar and dance floor. Staff wouldn’t be in for a few days and tasks from the previous night done, Chloe otherwise engaged in activities of her own, he sat on the bench in front of the piano and ran his fingers over the ivory keys fondly. Much like the building, the piano existed both in Los Angeles and now here in Vallo, at first familiar in the unfamiliar.
At first he played nothing at all, random notes drifting into a melody entirely of his making and no doubt woven in bits and pieces through the history of music from the genius of former students. He was blessed with a gift for music that the Good Book and every tale of his evil left out - well, except for that Charlie Daniels song in a way. Lucifer was fine with that. It meant it was his to share as he wished.
The idle playing became a familiar set of notes as a slight shift around him, a light vibration of power, attuned him to the presence of another before he saw her. Lucifer easily slid into The Eagles’ ‘Witchy Woman’ as he glanced back at his adopted daughter with a teasing grin. Until he remembered a particular lyric and stopped cold, then abruptly shifted to The Lovin’ Spoonful’s ‘Do You Believe In Magic?’
Sabrina snorted at the abrupt change in song, letting Salem wind around her legs before the cat headed off to parts unknown. No doubt he’d make his presence known again before too long, but she headed over to the piano, leaning against it while she waited for Lucifer to finish his rendition. She’d heard him sing several times over by then, but it was nice to see the theatrics of it being done for fun instead of some crazy ritual like she’d experienced back home.
It had been a bit since she’d gone to see him, her life even more busy--first with Nick and Roz’s appearances and then her Aunt Zelda’s--but Sabrina wanted to make a point to see her adoptive father as well. She’d chosen to let him in her life and he’d done the same for her, both of them there for one another in their own ways, and Sabrina didn’t want to lose that connection. Salem would never forgive her. Who would he turn to terrorizing?
“Do you sing a lot when the club is actually open or just leave it to this before time?” Sabrina asked, sweeping her hand around to indicate the quiet in between.
“Both. Sometimes I want to be alone without requests and being on point as a performer. Other times there is nothing like the high of the spotlight and the applause.” His playing became softer when he began to speak, an idle tune with no real form once his attention shifted to his adopted daughter.
Had he been told that he would slide into a father role of sorts once upon a time, he might’ve asked what they were on and where he could get some. Even the uncle role with Charlie came with a modicum of wariness and unease as he slipped into something that felt unnatural to him. The rebel, the King of Hell, the one said to be evil. Yet...here they were, comfortable in the notion that they made their own and he quite liked it.
Lucifer stopped and shifted to face her. “Were you and your friends not part of bands back home?” he asked as he snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “Perhaps you should play here one night.”
Sabrina sat down on one of the chairs so she could face him better. “Roz was in a band with our friends. Fright Club.” Named after the club she’d created with them to get Nick out of Hell. Not that she’d been part of the band. It was theirs and she hadn’t exactly been a welcomed addition to it. “But Nick and I made one when they kind of got challenged by one of the Dark Lord’s bands in a Battle of the Bands contest for souls.”
Because her version of Lucifer was a dick in every possible way. “Their band is good? But not really up for battling against Hell?” Plus Sabrina had known her father wasn’t going to play fair. “So we had our own band, won the battle, stopped the soul thing. But we were all playing music with Archie every so often before he was sent home, so I’ll see what the others think?” It could be fun to perform. She’d enjoyed doing it back home and in the musicals she’d been in so far.
“How does the souls thing work for you? And deals?” She didn’t think making a deal with him equaled going to hell like it did in her world.
Lucifer made a sound of disgust in regards to the alternate version he chose not to name. “Of course he would ruin music by putting souls in danger,” he muttered. There was not a single good thing Lucifer had to say about the other version of him which was truly something considering he’d even been able to find something nice to say about Cain or his father and he felt no good will towards either one. The other Lucifer was truly a disgrace to the name and he intended to rectify that, starting with the teenager that deserved a better father than the one genetics tried to assign her to.
Even if Lucifer was hardly father material. It didn’t stop him from trying and if he screwed it up too badly at least she still had Dan.
“Of course. We’ll make a night around it. Mocktails for those under 18, bands from the local up and comers. Maybe the door charge will go towards a charity geared towards your age group,” he added thoughtfully, the idea beginning to take on a mind of its own. He’d have to run the idea past Maze later and while it didn’t have the scandalous nature that would immediately grab her attention, the two of them could come up with something somewhat appropriate.
He reached for the glass of whiskey sitting on top of the piano and scooted over, patting the extra space on the bench beside him for her to sit. “My deals are nothing like the stories to begin with. Quite normal actually. The world works on the exchange of favors which I accumulate by offering assistance.” Lucifer rest a hand on her shoulder. “Hypothetically let’s say that you wished to make a break into the acting industry. Well I happen to know a producer that I assisted in acquiring a film that would make his name known to his peers and in doing so, he owes me a favor. So I pull some strings and get you an audition and maybe a nudge with the producer to land the role. Now you’re a movie star and owe me a favor down the line.” He took a drink, looking thoughtful. “But I will never ask for more than someone is capable of giving. That is one of the few rules. I think it’s quite fair.”
It was so strange to hear just how different everything was for the Lucifer that was sitting beside her. Deals were just deals, ways to actually help people out with what they desired and not some twisted way to bind their souls for a realm where they would be tortured day in and day out. It sounded almost too good to be true. She hadn’t done much with collecting souls during her brief stint of trying to claim the crown, but it had been hard, knowing she was walking people to their torture.
Aside from the guy who abducted kids and tortutred them to death so he could live for eternity. She was more than fine with his endless torment. But there were so many others who didn’t deserve the hand they had been dealt.
She tried to focus on the bits about the band night, thinking the idea was a good one, but it was hard to steer her brain back to that after learning about Lucifer’s types of deals. “I like your way better for deals.”
Sabrina liked most of his ways better for all of it. Why had she been saddled with the worst version of her father? It seemed like some cruel cosmic joke. But considering the other angels in her universe were all happy trying to kill her it didn’t surprise her much.
“Do you still do that here?”
He regarded her silently, thinking back to conversations previous, if she’d said anything outside of her version of Lucifer collecting souls. If it was something she’d had to do. “I don’t need to make deals for souls because I’m no one’s judgment. Don’t misunderstand me, I do judge but judging someone on their horrible taste in prints isn’t their sentence for eternity. Humans are responsible for their ascent or descent. Punishment is my area of expertise and if it is to be anything, that is what I prefer,” he mused quietly.
Lucifer smiled slightly. “When I can. For a while I didn’t have the connections I once did but as I’ve been reestablishing those, I have more to trade. Mostly I give people a waystation. Some enjoy working as a bartender, some use it for a stop along the way that helps them get where they’re going. It doesn’t take much to understand that may be all someone needs.”
Drawing the bottle to him, he added a little more to the glass and slid it into Sabrina’s reach. “Is that something he made you do? Go questing for souls?” he asked.
She took it but didn’t bother to take a drink yet. “I had to collect on deals once. I didn’t mind doing one of them. The guy was killing kids once a year and offering them up as a sacrifice so he could extend his life. I nulled the contract and took him to Hell.” And she’d saved little Suzie from being Jimmy’s latest victim. Not that it had mattered much since the Returned had killed Suzie’s mom only half a year later. No one seemed to be able to catch a break in Greendale for long.
“But the other guy...I didn’t want to bring him to Hell.” But she’d had to and it had sucked. Sabrina couldn’t even remember what he’d traded his soul for--was it chess? Something like that maybe.
She did take a sip then, enjoying the slight burn of alcohol as it slid down her throat. “I just...I wonder if...all these pieces of my world’s Hell keep showing up and they’re not good places. And I don’t understand why they’re here but part of me wonders if I’m supposed to be doing something about them? I can’t figure out what though. Cause I’m not going to start dragging people to them.”
“It couldn’t have happened to a better person. The torture options for someone like that would be many and well-deserved. Had it been my Hell, he would have been assigned to Maze.” No one knew the methodology or the many ways to cause pain like his left-hand demon and some the two of them devised together. Since Falling, Lucifer became just as well versed in the ways but his moral code of sorts stayed intact even as the Devil became an inseparable part of him by his own devising and adaptation.
Yet he was far older than any mortal when he’d Fallen, not a teenager who should’ve been out with her friends and participating in after school activities. “Should your biological father ever show up here, I’m going to castrate him and then feed his balls to your hellhounds. He never should have been allowed to breed much less share our name,” Lucifer muttered, feeling that particular current of anger flare again at the Lucifer responsible for the paternal side of Sabrina’s DNA. Protective. He was protective of the young witch and every new thing he learned about the other devil only made him want to punish him more. He didn’t deserve a daughter like her. She certainly didn’t deserve to have him invade her life.
“It is my understanding that while all contracts are binding, they are not without their loopholes. The sitch is that you have to find someone with a good enough understanding of the contract to find and then devise a way of slipping out using that loophole. Perhaps there is a way to do so even with an infernal contract. The souls that condemn themselves to my Hell are able to make their way to the Golden City eventually but the problem is they never figure it out. Like being sent to Hell, escaping from it is also entirely their doing.” So few souls ever managed and good for them that did even if Lucifer had no warm feelings for the domain of his Father and Siblings.
He tapped the keys thoughtfully. “Is there a chance that perhaps some of these souls from your Hell that maybe you felt were undeserving of their sentence are in those pieces of the kingdom that show up? A second chance to free them if they have?” he asked, choosing to mull his thoughts on her question outloud for them both to work through.
It helped to hear this Lucifer’s protectiveness, to know that at least he had accepted her into his life. After being so thoroughly rejected by Edward Spellman upon his brief return, Sabrina had been reeling, unsure where she even belonged any longer. If she even belonged anywhere. Part of her knew that it was ridiculous to feel that way--hadn’t she made her own home there in Vallo? But she couldn’t shake the feeling, not completely. Talking about it in therapy helped some, but it didn’t quite alleviate all of her feelings of inadequacy completely, convinced if she misstepped somehow that everything she’d created for herself would come crashing down.
Sabrina wasn’t sure about the rest of what he said though. “I don’t know if that’s a thing that can be done?” Manipulating loopholes seemed like a good way to try though. If she could figure out what they were. “I haven’t noticed any...one in the forest that showed up but I didn’t really go looking while I was in there either.” So maybe he was right? Maybe that’s why it had showed up. Maybe she was supposed to help any souls unfairly trapped inside of it to find their own version of peace and free them.
“I guess this means I have to look through the contracts.” Well. Probably only if she actually found any souls. Trying to go through all of the contracts in Pandemonium sounded like a headache and a half.
“A good rule of thumb is usually that anything with no prior knowledge of it being done or not done is just waiting for someone to try and do it.” No, no it wasn’t but it was a personal rule of Lucifer’s over the centuries and he did have invulnerability on his side to take the brunt of his less intelligent choices. If he was going to live forever, why always defer to the intelligent choice anyway?
His brow furrowed as he listened, staring at the top of the piano rather than Sabrina as she spoke, the rare expression of focus. “This is purely theoretical of course as your Hell and my Hell seemed to take different cues from Dante,” he joked, then waved a hand as if to indicate that should be scratched. Clearly Dante drew inspiration from the Lucifer of her world.
“If you plan to search the forest and see what turns up, I happen to know an excellent bounty hunter who would no doubt love to go for a jaunt through there. It would probably remind her of home.” It would certainly be a new one for Maze as well. “Hates paperwork though and really, who bloody doesn’t? I suppose that would be the next step to take only if the first yields any results should you decide to go that way.”
“If I end up doing this I’ll definitely hit up Maze for help.” Because Sabrina knew her friends and family wouldn’t want her to do it alone. The last thing she wanted was any of them in that forest experiencing their worst fears all over again though. Did it not work on demons? She didn’t think it worked on the demons back home at least. Hopefully it wouldn’t work on Maze either. If it did then she’d just take Salem and the hounds.
It helped to have plans. Not that Sabrina wasn’t known for running off without one more often than not but she’d learned the hard way that trying to deal with Hell without a plan didn’t tend to work all that well. Though, at least here she didn’t have the scheming Plague Kings or Caliban trying to overthrow every step that she made. Or Lilith whispering in her ear to manipulate her for her own gain. Maybe she could actually help some souls if they were trapped in the Forest of Torment.
Sabrina leaned against Lucifer. “Thanks for the advice, dad.”
“Maze was the only of her brethren in Hell that I ever trusted. She also misses Hell occasionally so she may be thrilled to have the chance to frolic around the forest.” Lucifer grinned at that thought. “I just pictured Maze frolicing. Somewhere she started scowling and can’t figure out why.” Of course it was a Hell forest and she just might which made the upbeat interpretation more likely. Conditions of the frolic.
Sabrina posed an interesting question and Lucifer was certainly intrigued now. While she was well and truly capable of taking care of it, it didn’t mean she had to. At the very least, he could offer a hand to take should she ever need it. His arm went around her shoulders. “Well I am occasionally capable of providing some good advice,” he teased, “and while my knowledge of your Hell may be lacking, I offer my devilish sixth sense may you need it at any juncture.”
“I’ll be sure to remember that.” Though hopefully she wouldn’t need too much help with it. If the idea panned out anyway. Was she supposed to want souls trapped in the forest? It seemed almost bad to want that for even a fraction of a second, but knowing the place had actually come for a reason and she could help someone out was a lot better than Vallo simply tormenting her.
“Your version of Hell seems a lot better than mine. That’s probably comparing apples to oranges though.” Neither of them wanted to be stuck in any version of it, preferring the mortal world over that particular realm. “I’m sure you’re way better at decorating too.” Less dragon and snake motifs.
“Decoration is a strong word. It more or less came as is when I fell. Cold stone, ash falling from a sky that is eternally night. Doorways leading to the prison of each soul there. It certainly isn’t a tourist destination but even that is better than his idea of decor.” Lucifer haphazardly waved a hand in the air as if he could dismiss the other version of himself across worlds. “I have the ability to change the setting of prisons but rarely can you do better than the torture crafted by those who know them best - themselves.”
Lucifer tapped his fingers gently on top of the piano. “I imagine your Hell may be the result of influence long exerted on it by one ruler. Perhaps that is a theory worth testing on it if it insists on showing up. Maybe you can’t change the nature of Hell itself but maybe you can recreate the rules. Make Hell Great Again.” The last was said with a teasing wink and a playful smile. “As if it could ever be.”
“Oh, I’ve already done that before. I turned it into a Hello Kitty playland for Maze briefly before setting it back to how it was so she could still redecorate how she wanted.” It had been fun to do but aside from keeping the hounds and her little salamander there, Sabrina had no intention of redecorating any parts of it. That gave it too much meaning in her life and she would rather that Maze be able to make it into what she wanted. She doubted that the demoness would appreciate it if she undid all of the hard work she was putting into redecorating the place. And something told her that she didn’t really want to be on Maze’s bad side.
“I’m going to let her do what she wants with it instead.” After all, Maze was trying to make it into her home and Sabrina knew how important those were to have. “But yeah, it is possible. Maybe I can try it with the forest part though.” Because it would be interesting to see how she could manipulate that.
Lucifer’s smile turned to a grin, mischievous and amused. “That is certainly a choice and I’ll be interested to see what Maze does with it. A sex swing here and there at least, maybe a dungeon for play. She does have style.” He’d seen plenty of heads turn when the demon walked by, men and women alike that would most likely follow if she crooked a finger. Maze never let anyone dim her light, one of the many things he’d always appreciated about her.
“What was her reaction to Hello Kitty paradise though? This is an important detail to be put away for future shenanigans,” he added. “At the very least, if you don’t find anyone you’ll have a good idea of what is out there. Forests are notorious for hiding many things.”
Maybe she would need to let Maze know ahead of time when she was going to pop on by if that’s what she turned the place into. It would definitely be an improvement to what was currently there but Sabrina didn’t really want to walk in on anyone using a sex swing. And the dogs were used to coming out to her anyway. There was no reason for her to head inside to get them.
Sabrina tilted her head as she remembered that particular conversation. “I think she was mostly annoyed that I hadn’t changed the place into something more interesting in the first place.” It could be hard to read the demon’s expressions at times--either annoyed or exasperated. They tended to blend together. “But then she helped me search for any other demons hanging around the place. Thankfully there were none. So that was a plus. I know the forest has creatures in it. I sensed them when it came. I just didn’t think to look for souls.” But she knew there were harpies in it.
He hadn’t thought of that, Vallo bringing bits and pieces of her Hell might also bring some of the demons along for the ride. Thankfully Maze covered that and at the very least, Pandemonium didn’t have any stragglers. At least none that wanted to face Maze, which was not unusual.
“I did volunteer Maze in a way but if you need another set of hands, I hope you know you can always ask me and I would be happy to,” Lucifer added after a beat. “I think after demonic goats, murderous turkeys, and an idiot Goomba, I can handle whatever your Hell would like to throw at us.”
“I know I can,” she assured him. And she would if it was a problem that she thought would be best suited for. Checking for souls that she wanted to release seemed fairly easy though. The forest didn’t affect her like it did others who went in or near it. Her mind wasn’t plagued by everything awful that she’d ever done or all of her fears and nightmares. So walking through it was a breeze. She just didn’t like analyzing why that was the case.
Sabrina rose, sensing the time with her magic. “I should probably get going before the crowds start to descend on this place.” She wasn’t in the mood to deal with a lot of drunk adults without being drunk herself and wasn’t quite in the mood to get drunk yet either. Plus she had plans with Nick later. “But thanks for the advice, dad.”
He nodded once, a silent acknowledgement. Idly he realized that what once seemed so strange, the offer of reliance, now seemed as natural as breathing. Waking up beside Chloe, running the club, patrolling, playing a father figure of sorts to Sabrina. The Devil was becoming domesticated. He slipped the glass back his way and knocked half of it back, drowning out the minute feeling of panic that wiggled into his gut at the thought. Just because he had more to mess up didn’t mean he would. Probably.
Lucifer rose from the piano bench with her. “Ah yes, things do tend to get a bit noisy then. Hard to have a real conversation. I hope something will be of assistance but you’re always welcome here to muse more.” He slipped his arms around her in a hug. “Or just to escape.”
She reciprocated the hug. “I know I am. I need to bring Nick and Roz here one night too.” They all deserved a night of letting loose and dancing for hours on end. Lux had always been good for that in Vallo and there hadn’t been enough opportunity to do so recently. She’d need to carve out time to do so.
“And we should do family dinner again soon. With you and Chloe at the mortuary and then Nick and me again with the two of you.” Sabrina stepped back, letting out a whistle for Salem. The cat appeared next to her seconds later, looking entirely too pleased with himself. She shook her head as she scooped him up, wondering what trouble he had gotten himself into. “I’ll see you later, dad.”
“Let me know when. I’ll reserve some VIP seating.” Being the owner of the club had its perks though people seemed to spend more time on the floor than in the booths. Still it gave them space away from the center of chaos while remaining close to it.
He glanced over at Salem, an eyebrow arching at the smug look on the cat’s face. His Father only knew what the familiar had gotten into while they spoke and he wouldn’t be surprised if he found a dead mouse in his office, which honestly spoke of more problems than just their little battle. “Travel safely, Sabrina. I’m sure I’ll speak to you soon.”