by Abbie Payne
Personally, I served Prince Gus before I was promoted to the Angel Hunters and Athena served Prince Wyatt. I wasn’t sure about Nine or Finn, though.
It wasn’t like Kai was ever required to become a minion. Even though Victor was one of the big reasons that most of us were still alive, he always made it clear that we didn’t have to serve him unless we wanted to. I always kind of worried that Kai became a minion just because I did, but he seemed to be handling the whole thing well enough regardless.
Then again, he served Prince Lachlan and the prince of Lust was by far one of the easiest princes to get along with. At least, that was what I always heard.
Finally, I came across the house. I only knew it was the right one, though, because I spotted Oliver standing outside, watering one of the flower beds that was filled with dark red roses.
Roses were a pretty popular flower down in Hell - they were Victor’s favorites (other than Edelweiss flowers) and so they were essentially Hell’s flower, as some called it.
Oliver looked up when he heard me approach and grinned at me. Oliver was a fallen angel and one of the first kids that King Victor ever took in (Will was the first and Oliver wasn’t too far behind him), but the darkness that he held within him didn’t show even a little bit on the surface. He had lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, and bright blue eyes - frankly, he was one of the brightest and most happy-go-lucky fallen angels that I’d ever met.
“Good to see ya’, Koa,” Oliver said as he trotted over to me and pulled me into a hug (despite my attempt to protest against it), “You lookin’ for Kai?”
I pulled away from him and nodded. “Yeah. Where is he?” I asked.
Oliver pointed towards the house as he brushed his bangs out of his eyes, “Inside with Will. Pretty sure he’s helpin’ with dinner, but I don’t know. I’ve just been out here waterin’ plants.”
I smiled and nodded before heading inside the house. I eventually tracked down Kai in the kitchen where he was busy chopping some carrots while Will stirred some soup that was in a pot on the stove.
Kai looked a lot like me - though I supposed there was a good reason for that. Both of us had the same darker, reddish-toned skin, the same black hair (though Kai had a few streaks of blonde in the mix - literally the only appearance modification he was ever brave enough to get), and the same brown eyes. We were even of similar builds, though I was a little over an inch taller than him. A lot of people often thought that we were twins, but we weren’t at all. In fact, I was six years older than Kai.
Next to Kai was William - or Will as he preferred to be called (and, as far as I knew, was called unless the person that called him anything else had a death wish). He was ghostly pale compared to Kai, Oliver, and I, though that was probably because he hated going on the surface and rarely got any kind of sunlight unless Oliver forced him to. He had jet black hair, brown eyes, and gauges in his ears. He was covered with tattoos, too, in pretty much every place he could get them without getting them on his face. The demon seemed to be the embodiment of darkness at times and rarely put up with anyone that had more energy than him unless they were Oliver. He and Oliver seemed to be pretty close, though Will would deny that until the end of Earth as we knew it. No one could ever figure Will out, but Oliver always seemed to have a decent time guessing at it.
Maybe that was because they’d spent the most time together out of all of us. They grew up in the Palace of Darkness together during a time before most of us - save the princes, Newt, Roscoe, and Victor - existed. Athena, Phoenix, Finn, Kai, and Princess Edelweiss weren’t even twinkles in anyone’s eyes yet.
I walked into the kitchen and softly cleared my throat. Kai jumped, nearly catching his fingers with the knife he was holding in the process as he looked up at me with wide eyes, breathing heavily.
I grimaced as I saw him. “Sorry, Kai,” I mused.
I didn’t want to scare him like I did, but I didn’t have much of a choice either. I needed to get going soon and, honestly, Kai was going to be startled no matter what I did. Kai was well-known for being afraid of almost everything, including his own shadow (I’d personally seen him scream at the sight of his own shadow at least three times before).
Kai shook his head and put the knife down before making his way over and giving me a hug. I hugged him back and looked down at him.
“Can we go somewhere to talk?” I asked him, “I have something I need to tell you.”
Kai furrowed his eyebrows at me, but nodded and led the way up to his bedroom on the second floor.
I looked around his room and smiled a little. The smell of paints filled the air and there were books, art supplies, and unfinished paintings and drawings scattered all over the room. It was obvious that Kai hadn’t changed much since the last time I saw him.
He plopped down on his bed and looked up at me.
“What’s up?” He asked.
I sat down beside him and leaned back against the wall, “I’m leaving for the Middleworld with the Angel Hunters. It’s a mission we were ordered to go on by Prince Lucifer. I don’t have a choice but to go and, no, you can’t come with me.”
Kai hesitated as he looked down at the floor. He picked at the dried paint on his hands. “Oh... how long will you be gone?” Kai asked me.
“Two weeks at least,” I shrugged, “We aren’t really sure how long this is going to take because we don’t really know where we’re supposed to be looking.”
I reached over and put my hand on top of the one he was using to pick at his skin. If I didn’t, he wouldn’t have ever stopped picking. I knew that much about my brother at least. Kai made a face at me, but he stopped.
“You shouldn’t go,” Kai said, “It doesn’t sound very safe.”
“Like I said, I don’t have a choice. It’s an order straight from Prince Lucifer himself,” I sighed.
I put my arm around his shoulders as I continued to listen to him talk.
“We’ve never been apart for more than three days, though, Koa,” he protested.
I nodded. I knew that, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“You should just try to tell Prince Lucifer that you can’t do it. There’s four other Hunters - let them handle it themselves.”
Again, I shook my head.
“I can’t do that, Kai. You know I can’t and you know why I can’t.”
The Angel Hunters always had five members. There was a power specific to us called the “power of five” that was bestowed upon us by King Victor when we were officially promoted to the status of a Hunter. That was why King Victor held the Hunter Trials every few years to make sure that there were always two or three minions that could be called upon at a moment's notice.
The power of five essentially amplified the powers of all five of the beings that were tied together, but it only worked when we were in the same area. If I stayed and the others went up to the surface, they would still be strong and powerful, but they still wouldn’t be anywhere near where they are now and we all had a feeling that we needed all the power we could get.
It was then Kai’s turn to sigh and he looked up at me as tears welled up in his eyes.
“But what happens if you don’t... you know... come back?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that at first. I knew that was always going to be a possibility, so I didn’t feel right telling him that it wasn’t ever going to be one. The only problem was, though, that telling him that there was still a chance wasn’t such a good idea either. Finally, I relented and pulled my younger brother into a hug.
“I guess, Kai,” I began, “We’ll just have to hope and I’ll have to do everything that I can to make sure that the odds of me coming back are as high as they can be.”
Twenty-Four
Lachlan Palmer
Prince of Lust
Palace of Sins
IGNORING THE FACT THAT MY brothers and I were all hungry, Lucifer insisted on waiting until Koa came back from the minion village before we all sat down to ea
t dinner together. I understood that Lucifer always wanted us to eat together when it was just the eight of us in the Palace of Sins, but seriously? Our numbers were basically doubled in size now, so waiting for everyone to be ready to eat seemed to be a little ridiculous.
Griffin definitely would’ve eaten the entire fridge (and no, not just its contents) by now and honestly... I had been getting to that point myself and probably would have if Koa didn’t show up when he did.
As we sat there, Edelweiss suddenly piped up with a question.
“What do you think of me?” She asked, obviously pointing the question at my brothers and me.
A little taken aback, I could only manage to ask a question in return. “What do you mean?” I asked.
Edelweiss shrugged, “I don’t know... it’s just that you all seemed to hate me a little over twenty-four hours ago and now you... don’t?”
“We’re merely being cordial, Princess Edelweiss,” Lucifer responded flatly, “We don’t like these arrangements any more than you do and we’d like to see them cease just as much as you do. Besides, it hasn’t been long enough for us to actually form an opinion on you.”
Edelweiss looked down at her plate with a soft blush on her cheeks. “Oh... okay,” she replied and then looked up again, “Can you guys call me Eddie instead?”
“Pardon?” Lucifer asked.
“Can you just call me Eddie?” The princess asked again, “I prefer it over Edelweiss.”
Lucifer paused for a moment before shrugging and nodding. He then looked down at his food, but I could read his face well enough to know that he was quite happy to hear her say that. I paused my eating to lean over to Eddie and whisper into her ear.
“For the record, Eddie” I whispered, “We’re all really starting to enjoy your company - Lucifer’s just too afraid to admit it yet.”
❀
Dinner was relatively quiet after that except for my brothers and I deciding to make our way up to Lucifer’s room to spend some time with him for a little while before we went to bed. We wanted to invite Eddie to come with us, too, but she insisted on spending some time with Roscoe and Athena instead and we didn’t want to bar her from that if that was what she really wanted.
We all scattered around in Lucifer’s room - even Wyatt, which surprised me - waiting for someone to strike up a conversation. I looked around Lucifer’s room and smiled a little, realizing just how much this room looked how everyone else expected it to look. It was large and decorated with dark greys, blacks, and reds. There was a massive bed on one wall and the rest of the room was made into a sitting area, complete with a very comfortable couch that Elton, Gus, and I were sitting on now.
This room held a lot of good memories for us, though. Really, the only thing that I didn’t like about this current situation was the fact that Griffin wasn’t here with us.
Lucifer sat down on his bed, watching as Sylas sat down beside him and leaned back against the wall. It didn’t take long for Sylas to start to fall asleep, so Lucifer started talking in an attempt to keep him away for a little while longer.
“Do you boys like Eddie?” Lucifer asked.
Elton shrugged as he pulled his legs up to his chest, “She seems sweet. I like her.”
Wyatt, Gus, Sylas, Pierce, and I nodded our agreement to Elton’s response. I then looked at Lucifer and raised my eyebrow.
“What about you, Luci?”
Lucifer hesitated to respond and leaned over Sylas to grab the glass of water on his nightstand.
I remembered that Lucifer always had a glass or bottle of water at his bedside and had made sure to get us into the habit of it when we were kids. When we fell and joined Lucifer in Heaven, we all needed as much routine as we could get considering in Heaven we were always on a pretty tight schedule as a member of God’s family. Besides, Lucifer was always a creature of habit and couldn’t help but make sure we were the same way.
“I guess I’m still having a hard time not seeing her as how she was when I first met her,” Lucifer replied, “I’m beginning to realize, though, that none of you need my protection anymore and that’s been something I haven’t quite been able to accept yet.”
Sylas looked at him with a sleepy expression. “You’re trying, though, right?” Sylas yawned.
Lucifer nodded a little.
“Hey, can I ask something?” Elton questioned.
We all turned to give him our full attention.
“What’s going to happen? With King Victor missing and stuff... I really don’t want to go back to Heaven, Lucifer. I mean, I will if we have to go after King Victor, but I don’t want to.”
Lucifer’s expression immediately softened and I saw out of the corner of my eye that Gus had his arm around Elton now.
Elton had had a hard time in Heaven - we all did - but he had to fight the hardest to get better after the fall. He’d had an intense bout with drugs while we were in Heaven - mostly trying to drown out all of his feelings - and we all tried everything to get him to stop.
It took him two full years after the fall for him to stop, but we all knew he was still inches away from a relapse at any moment. Maybe he was afraid of going to Heaven because it would stir up those emotions again. I wouldn’t have blamed him if that was the case.
“We’re going to be fine,” Lucifer promised.
“You can’t know that, though,” Elton argued.
Lucifer shook his head, “No, I can’t, but... it will still be okay. It has to be.”
He looked away as he mumbled something under his breath. I couldn’t catch what it was, but I didn’t think any of us (not even Sylas) could.
Elton sighed and curled himself up tighter. “Is it okay if I stay in here tonight, Lucifer? I don’t want to be alone... in case something happens tonight.”
Lucifer looked at him in surprise, but he nodded. It didn’t take long for the rest of us to ask to stay there, too.
Apparently, none of us wanted to be alone tonight.
Twenty-Five
Victor Sullivan
King of Hell
The White City
TIME SEEMED TO PASS BY MUCH slower in Heaven than it did anywhere else and I could feel myself beginning to lose it. I still loved nothing more than to rile up those angels, but the horrors that I was seeing and being subjected to were something else.
Something worse than I’d ever seen before in all of my years of living in Hell as the “king of torture”, as Brayden called me at one point to excuse away the fact that he was subjecting me to a fifth torture session within a few hours.
I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to put up with this before I cracked, but I was still willing myself to fight a little harder and a little longer. I had to do this. It was the only thing keeping Eddie safe now - other than hopefully Roscoe, the princes, and the Hunters - but I was also worried about her.
With me being “missing” and taken as a prisoner to the angels (that fact still made me want to gouge out my eyes, walk off of a cliff, and be impaled by sharp rocks at the bottom of that cliff), it was only going to be a matter of time until the war began to worsen.
I now wasn’t there to make decisions on what my soldiers should do and the Council and the brothers weren’t going to be willing to do much in my absence. I wasn’t even sure that Eddie knew I was missing yet... part of me really hoped that she didn’t know and wouldn’t ever know.
I knew that, if she did find out, she would set out to find me on her own and that was going to a lot more harm to her than it would help me. I would rather continue go through those torture sessions and see Brayden and Gavin’s faces every day if it meant that Eddie was still living in Hell, blissfully unaware as to what was happening to me and able to continue living her life without ever knowing.
But I knew that was just wishful thinking. Eventually, Eddie would find out about my predicament and eventually, she would come in search of me. Then, I would just have to hope that she somehow made it out still breathing, but the
odds for something like that were something equivalent to the angels realizing that they were wrong about everything and apologizing to me and the rest of the residents of Hell for what they did to us for so many years.
I was practically drowning in my thoughts to the point that I didn’t notice anyone walking into my cell until they grabbed my arms and yanked me off of the bench that I was sitting on.
“Let’s go, Satan,” Brayden mused.
“Go? Go where?” I asked.
“To Los Angeles - you’re not going to live here anymore, but don’t worry. We’ll make sure what you go through down in Los Angeles is even worse than what you went through here.”
Brayden and the angel on my other side then began to pull me along, but I dug in my heels. There was no way in Hell, Heaven, or the Middleworld that I was going with them.
If I left, I would be continuing to pander to their every will. If I left, I would be showing them nothing more than the fact that they managed to break me enough that I did listen to them blindly. If I left, Eddie, Lucifer, and the others would be clueless as to where to go to find me.
So, I launched myself from the angels’ grip and turned around, kicking the angel that I didn’t know the name of (I decided to just call him Bob - it was so much easier for me to direct my anger towards someone when I had a name for them) in the nose. I heard the bone in his nose crack and Bob moved back, holding his now bleeding nose in his hands as he stared at me and Brayden.
Brayden scowled at him, “Don’t just stand there - do something!” He ordered before launching himself at me as well.
I fought back - which was significantly more difficult when I didn’t have my powers to help me, but I was determined to succeed. I was not about to go down until I knew there was no other option.