Chapter Text
Relax. It’s only been a few hours. Even if he said they are professionals, Charlie is not going to make it easy. Stolas says I can trust in their skills. They’ll find her.
Lucifer tried to keep repeating that to himself as he sat in his drawing room, a cup of tea in hand. His eyes wandered over to the large portrait of Lilith and Charlie that hung over an ornate mantelpiece. This one he had painted himself rather than commission an artist. One of his best paintings to date. His lovely wife, Lilith, smiled gently as she held a small Charlie in her lap, who was laughing joyously.
The day he painted this, he had created a small spatial space, one that mimicked Earth as he had remembered it. Lilith had worn a billowy light purple sundress in lieu of her customary fuschia dress that hugged her hourglass figure like a second skin. They had spent the day strolling around, enjoying the faux sunshine and the small picnic he’d had his imps prepare for them. Charlie had played amongst a giant field of pinkish flowers, picking different kinds to weave into a crown to wear in her flaxen hair.
He smiled fondly at the memory, wishing he could be there again instead of here, alone and wallowing in said loneliness. He still cannot understand why Lilith chose to leave him all those years ago. The night before she left, they had laid together, and she had whispered sweet nothings into his ears as she had rocked her hips against his, his claws gripping at her waist. She had laid a hand on his cheek and kissed him with as much passion as she always had. The next day she expressed that she had wanted to visit Earth, see what had become of it, and then just like that, she had not returned.
The first few years he had thought nothing of it, why he had done the same over the last few centuries. Sowed some chaos for entertainment, cavorted with the humans to relieve his boredom, but he always returned. She, however, did not. And he never got a single explanation for it. Not even a note. It had honestly devastated him. It still did.
And now Charlie…his precious little miracle, was off on Earth. Why? Why would she leave Hell? Has he not catered to her every whim? Given her everything she had ever desired? When she had wanted companions to play with, he created Razzle and Dazzle for her, when she had wanted to visit an amusem*nt park because of books she had read, Lulu World opened its doors. He’d done everything for her happiness! And yet she still decided to leave! Why?!
And to think she had crossed paths with Adam of all humans. Him! The grip on his cup tightened, and he ground his teeth together. That…that…bastard! He remembered him. How he had tried to keep him from Lilith, when she herself had sought him out. How he had easily turned on both of them, rejected them, disowned them. How they had both been replaced by Eve so easily and barred from ever seeing him again. How-
He felt liquid dripping from his hand and glancing down, he noticed that in his ire, he had actually broken the cup. Shards of glass stuck into his skin, golden ichor dripping down to his elbows, staining his suit. Grumbling to himself, Lucifer sat back down, waving a hand to magic the mess away.
He’d allowed his emotions to get the best of him. Again .
It was all in the past now and he could reminisce all he wanted, but there was no going back.
—
A street light flickered overhead, threatening to go out. The night air had gotten colder, and two figures sat upon a curb, huddling close for warmth? Safety? Perhaps both. They sat there undisturbed, the street was empty and one of the figures held a phone in her hands, magenta eyes squinting at the screen.
Next to her, Loona had lit a cigarette she had pulled from her pockets, taking slow elongated drags and breathing out smoke rings. A little something to amuse herself while the Goetian princess tried to pick up a signal.
“Still nothing?” Loona breathed out another puff of smoke. Her own phone was out as well, but suffered from the same predicament and she had long since given up.
“No…oh wait, yes!” Octavia leapt up to her feet, jumping up and down in triumph as she waved her phone around. All right, all that was left was to call Charlie and maybe, just maybe she was in a position where they could help each other out…
Three short rings and she heard Charlie answer with a very muted greeting. “Via…? This is a surprise. What’s up?”
Octavia opened her mouth, ready to explain herself but then paused. Oh sh*t. How can she tell her…no, better to suck it up and just go for it! “So uh, I may or may not be on Earth right now and…”-she looked over to Loona, who nodded encouragingly-”uh, I could use your help.”
She heard Charlie suck in a breath. “What…what do you mean you’re on Earth? Did something happen?”
Sighing, she started pacing, tapping her fingers against her phone nervously. “It’s…don’t get too upset, okay?” Charlie didn’t say anything, but Octavia imagined that the heir to the Hellish Throne had probably tensed up. “Your dad hired someone to come looking for you and uh, well…”
“He did WHAT!?” Charlie’s voice became more like a feral growl, much like the very rare occasions when Octavia’s own father would get angry. She heard her shuffling about, as if Charlie was walking down a hallway maybe? “I’m sorry, I’m just…what do you mean Dad sent someone after me?”
“He showed up at my house and talked to my father and then he went to call these imps that apparently are specialists. Look, I came here to see if I could help you but…I’m-I’m sorry Charlie.” Oh, this was going to be the hard part. Gripping her phone tightly, Octavtia continued, doing her best not to choke on her words. “I think I may need your help insead.”
“May?” Loona muttered in the back. Octavia rotated her head, the sound of her neck cracking hard. Her magenta eyes narrowed into a glare, her now human vocal chords somehow still able to make a low owl-like warning bark. The hellhound only lifted an eyebrow at her, gesturing at her to get on with it.
“No…I do need help. Kind of stranded myself in the middle of nowhere trying to find you. Uhm…well, not completely lost? I know you were here earlier…”
There was a hum, as if Charlie was thinking it over and was quiet for a few seconds. When she finally answered, her voice sounded a bit hesitant. “All right, tell me where you are and I’ll come get you, okay?”
“Okay we’re at…”
–
Whatever Adam wanted to say to her, it would have to wait. Via usually never called her. So seeing her name on the caller ID was a pleasant surprise. She wasn’t overly familiar with the Goetian princess, they had hung out sometimes at several royal parties that she had gone to, when she was allowed to go that is. Lucifer had called it beneficial for her to make ties with other families and the Goetias in particular.
Octavia had just so happened to be one of the few princesses she actually got along with. She was like a little sister that Charlie wished she had had. Though they didn’t get that many opportunities to actually meet up. A few concerts here and there, a little shopping trip once in blood moon, but she still considered her a friend, despite how young Octavia was. Those moments, however brief they were, had always been fun.
Excusing herself from his presence, Charlie walked out of the living room and answered, a little confused as to why Octavia would call her. Hearing her friend’s voice brought a smile to her face but it quickly faded once she knew why she was calling.
“He did WHAT?!” she yelled a little too loudly, her temper flaring, horns and tail manifesting themselves on her body. She heard Adam in the living room call out to her and she poked her head back in to flip him off before walking into the kitchen to continue her conversation with Via.
“I’m sorry, I’m just…” she sighed, unsure of what to make of this piece of information. “What do you mean Dad sent someone after me?”
Octavia went on to explain while Charlie glared at the wall, trying to keep her emotions under control. She ground her teeth together, pissed that her father would do something like this. Things had been going…okay, not well, seeing how tonight had made things between her and Adam weird again. f*ck, what did Octavia just say?
Thankfully, the Goetian repeated herself, that she had apparently stranded herself somewhere and needed help. Well sh*t, okay. She guessed she could…try? Humming pensively, her eyes flicked back down the hallway where she knew Adam was still waiting for her.
“I’ll come get you, okay?” she listened as Octavia told her where she was at, her eyes widening a little when she realized, yeah she knew exactly where Octavia was. Right where she had helped with the Sinner tonight. Well sh*t, okay. She was going to figure out how to get to her if Adam refused to help.
Mumbling a quick farewell, she hung up and let out a heavy sigh. Okay, she can do this. She can definitely walk back into the living room and ask him to drive her all the way across the city to pick up her friend. Her demonic friend.
“...yeah that’s not gonna work…” she grumbled as she took a few deep breaths to compose herself, her face back to its normal neutrality and went back to Adam, who was scowling at his own phone. His eyes flicked up and he co*cked an eyebrow.
“Friend of yours?” he didn’t seem to actually care if she answered him or not, he already looked a little annoyed. Well, given that the call interrupted him in the middle of their conversation, understandable.
Giving him a slight nod, Charlie came close to him and sat next to him, her hands on her lap. He looked surprised and gave her a funny look. It made her a little self conscious, since she knew he had been trying to tell her something earlier and here she was about to ask him for something. “I need…I need a favor from you.”
“Oh?” he leaned in a bit closer, still minding her personal space. Still it was close enough to make her face feel a little hot so she angled her body away from his, her fingers tapping together. He didn’t say anything, but there was an annoyed exhale from behind her. “All right, what is it?”
“I need to go back to where I was with Lute earlier.” She racked her brain to find some sort of excuse. It’s not that she wanted to hide Via’s sudden appearance, but more because she didn’t know if he’d freak out over another demon. Or maybe she could tell him? Would it be fine? “I have…a friend…”
She felt a hand on her shoulder and she was pulled back so that she actually tipped backwards into his lap. Blinking rapidly, she found herself looking up at his face. “Friend?” His tone was clipped, pierced brows furrowed together. “Didn’t leave a witness, did you? Lute was with you, she wouldn’t ha-”
Reaching up, Charlie put her hand over his mouth and shook her head, which caught him off guard because he immediately shut up. “No. Not a witness. Like…an actual friend.” She tried to get up right then, but he had already settled a hand on waist, keeping her from moving.
His mouth was set in a tight line, “So someone you actually know?”
Pursing her lips, Charlie turned her head, unable to meet his eyes. She crossed her arms, and let out an annoyed huff, “Yeah, now can you let me up?”
“In a sec, princess. Tell me more.”
—
Seeing her leave in the middle of an apology had really irritated him. Did she know how f*cking rare it is for him to ever say sorry to anyone? Whatever, she can go do whatever she wants. He doesn’t care. Really.
He kept an eye on the doorway she had just walked out of and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and then lounging back in his seat, trying to keep himself from going to her. One interrupted phone call was enough. Still, tempting…
As he was debating going over to her or not, he heard her screeching. Startled, Adam got up from his seat, but he saw her peek around the doorway and before a single syllable could form in his mouth, Charlie flipped him off and ducked back out of sight. What the f*ck was that about?
“You’re so damn weird…” he muttered. If she wanted to be all secretive and sh*t, it was perfectly fine by him. It was just irritating how eager she was to get away from their conversation. From him. The only solace he could see this time was that at the very least whoever was calling her was not that motherf*cker. She wouldn’t have had a look of relief on her face if it was.
She was still not coming back so Adam decided to look through his own phone, finding one of those random sorting games. He found them oddly comforting when his own thoughts were a jumbled mess. He only got to clear a single level when Charlie shuffled back into the room, looking a bit troubled.
Huh. Hadn’t she been smiling when she walked out?
She came to sit next to him, a lot closer than he was used to from her, but he didn’t dare question it. She was talking about the call, but he wasn’t really listening, didn’t want to know about this friend, until she mentioned going back to where she had been with Lute.
Lute never made any mistakes so if anyone had seen them then-oh. He narrowed his eyes at her turned back. The audacity of this girl. Asking for a favor without even having the balls to look at him? He wasn’t having it.
Yanking her back down into his lap, he asked her about this friend of hers. It could have meant anything really, but he wanted to be sure. She assured him that no, this was an actual friend of hers and not some witness. For a moment he let himself breathe easier that at least his Lieutenant was safe, however…
“Tell me more.” As if he was going to let her go. She had at the very least proven to not be a threat, but another Hellborn, (and how could it not be another Hellborn?) was not something he was going to overlook. Charlie refused to meet his eyes, so he used his free hand to make her look at him. The angle was awkward with both her arms pinned, but it kept her still. “Come on, babe, don’t keep me waiting.”
She glared at him, sharp teeth bared as much as she could between his pinching fingers. “Really? You’re really doing this right now?”
“Can you swear on your life, girlie?” he said quietly, one finger idly rubbing at her cheek. “That this friend of yours won’t do anything?”
She grew still in his arms then. A minute ticked by with the two of them glaring at each other until Charlie apparently had enough. Thrashing fiercely, she freed herself from him (not that he was holding her down that tightly anyway) and pointed a clawed finger at him. “I don’t need to give you any reason to believe me. She’s my friend, she’s lost and alone out there. She’s not as strong as I am. If you’re asking if she has any powers that can level a city, then no. Compared to me and especially to you, she’s nothing but an unfertilized fetus. So yes, I can.”
He watched her place that same hand she had been pointing at him with over her heart during this impassioned speech and he let out a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Bitch, do I need to repeat myself?” After hearing such a heartfelt plea from her, can he really say no? An image of a laughing Vaggie entered his mind, but Adam waved that thought away as quickly as it came. “Doubt you’d be able to get there by yourself anyway. Can you even drive?”
She seethed for a moment, her face blazing red. “I…no. No, I can’t.”
“Thought so. Let’s go.”
—
Honestly, she was glad he agreed because if he hadn’t…well she didn’t know what she would have done. As the First Man had pointed out, she couldn’t drive. Growing up as the princess of Hell, Charlie had had servants drive her around to places she needed to go. There hadn’t been a need for her to learn.
She leaned against the passenger window, feeling the cool night’s breeze brush against her skin. Sparing a glance over at Adam, she noted how big his hands looked on the steering wheel. She had felt those same hands plenty of times on her, but she never really took into consideration their size.
His eyes flicked over to her, catching her staring and he offered her a fanged grin. “What’s up?”
She quickly turned her eyes back to look at the road in front of them, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. “Nothing, I was just…wondering how long it took you to learn how to uhm, how to drive.”
He tilted his head in her direction, and his fingers tapped on the steering wheel. After a few moments, he answered. “Can’t remember exactly when. I remember the first one I had. Not as nice as this one was, I had to crank that sh*t every time I wanted to drive it anywhere. Had to keep a jug of water in the front seat just in case the radiator overheated. It has more or less gotten easier since then. Still keep a jug though, can’t be without one in the case of an emergency.”
They were both quiet again for another mile or so, until finally they reached the same stretch of road she had been at earlier, though now it was even emptier than before.
“I think it was around here…” Charlie squinted her eyes to see down the road. Had it been this dark when she was out here earlier? She looked at her phone, but the signal was too low and it made her wonder how Octavia had managed to call her in the first place.
“So, this friend of yours…”
Right. She should probably be a little more transparent about Via. “A rather new one. I met her maybe…5 years ago. I was told to go to this party because…” she paused and frowned. Probably best not to mention her dad right now. “It was basically a royal’s party. Some anniversary or other, I was only there because I wanted out of the palace.”
Adam snorted, as if he knew exactly what she was omitting. “Mhm?”
Rolling her eyes, Charlie continued on.
—
It had actually been a while since she had attended a Goetia party. They didn’t usually extend invitations outside the family, preferring to keep to themselves. Not that she minded, she actually didn’t care for most of the Goetias anyway, but one in particular Charlie had had a fondness for. Stolas, one of the Great Princes. He was a scholar, and she had befriended him in the past, as he had taught her some botany even if she wasn’t particularly good at it. Though it seemed that he was a bit too busy to see her today, talking with other guests, his wife at his side. Or was it that his wife was the one talking?
Eh, whatever.
Charlie had simply walked around, a flute of champagne in hand, politely greeting the other guests but never lingering longer than necessary until she found a wall to lean against, glass pressed against her lips. She watched the Goetias and their invited guests dance and mingle with each other, and she was actually perfectly happy with being ignored.
Until she saw another person on the far end of the room, doing the exact same as her. Huh, interesting. She finished her glass and moved through the throng of people, setting her empty glass down in a passing imp’s platter to pick up a fresh one.
The lone person turned out to be Octavia, Prince Stolas’s one and only daughter. She had just been sipping on some juice as she was too young to have any liquor. Charlie noted her state of dress, a little too casual for a party such as this and the headphones she was wearing. Octavia’s eyes were closed, her head nodding along to the music.
Knowing it was rude to interrupt, Charlie simply waited to be noticed until the young girl had finished with her drink and opened her eyes to find another, until they landed on her. Startled, the young Goetia ripped her headphones out of her ears and lowered her head.
“I…I’m sorry, you Highness! I didn’t see you there.” She tried to give Charlie a clumsy bow, but the Hellish heiress held up a hand, smiling kindly.
“No no, it’s…it’s fine. What were you listening to?” Charlie pointed at the little music player Octavia held between her hands.
“Oh uh…This Place Would Look Better on Fire by I Hate You Dad.”
An odd name for both a song and a band. Charlie raised an eyebrow in amusem*nt, taking another long sip from her glass.
“I…yes, they are this new group and I like them…” Octavia smiled sheepishly, reaching up to adjust her crowned beanie to hide her face from what Charlie could only assume was embarrassment.
It was refreshing to see someone acting so…sincerely. Charlie couldn’t remember the last time she had spoken to someone not trying to get in her good graces. It was nice. And also, this music…she had never heard it before. It was intriguing.
“I’d like to know more, if that’s all right?”
—
“And we became friends after that. We went to a few shows together and it was fun to just, well, hang out.” Charlie was playing with her hair, twirling the black strands of her hair streak around a finger. Adam watched that action out of the corner of his eye, still keeping his attention on the road. He gripped the steering wheel tighter to prevent himself from reaching over. He’s already touched her enough for the night.
Thankfully, Charlie seemed oblivious to his inner turmoil, as she jerked forward in her seat, pointing out the windshield. “Oh! I see her!” She was already undoing her seatbelt and waving out of the open window so he eased to a stop and she was out like a rocket from her seat, slamming the door hard enough to make him wince a little.
Adam sighed and sagged back in his seat. He really did seem to be making a lot of…different decisions since she showed up in his life. Shaking his head, he got out of the car and looked towards the direction Charlie had sprinted off in. He spotted her a little ways down, next to-he squinted-an owl? Well, the aura it was giving off was something vaguely owl shaped. A white face and large magenta eyes. However it donned the guise of a human girl with long raven locks that if one looked closely enough, resembled a mane of feathers.
Then he saw the hellhound. He was certain that that was a hellhound. Lupine ears and a grayish white mane half down her back. She stood a little away from who he presumed was Charlie’s friend, red eyes trained on him. She raised an eyebrow and turned her head away, clearly uninterested in his presence.
Which was fine by him, however he couldn’t exactly ignore the fact that in lieu of one demon, there were two.
Walking over to Charlie, who was in a conversation with the owl demon girl, he cleared his throat to get her attention. “Thought we were here for this one.”-He pointed at the owl girl.- “Who the f*ck is that?” he jerked his thumb over to the hellhound who was now glaring at him, her teeth bared, low growls permeating the air.
“She’s with me!” the owl girl waved her hands defensively and stepped in front of the hellhound, defending her. “And I can explain uhm-!”
Charlie placed a hand on his arm and he focused on her for a moment, gold eyes narrowed in a warning. “Adam-” she started but he shrugged her off, turning away from her and dragging both his hands through his hair. Taking a deep breath, he glanced back at the trio of girls. “Do you remember what I am, Charlie?”
She paused misstep and shot him a confused look, her head tilting a little. “A hunter…”
He grinned, all fangs and stalked closer, resting a hand on her head, ruffling her hair a bit. “Well aren’t you a good girl for remembering. That’s right. I’m a demon hunter, princess. For the past 8,000 years I’ve been hunting chucklef*cks like that for a living.” He glared at the hellhound. “And in all that time, babe, only once have I ever made an exception, that was for you. Don’t take that for f*cking granted, bitch.”
The owl girl backed up, now fully covering the hellhound and she glanced at Charlie, eyes wide. “Charlie…”
Charlie was giving him an odd look now, as if she had been taken aback by his words. He saw her shake her head as if clearing her thoughts and shoved him away, her eyes inverting color, the irises a pale yellow and the sclera becoming blood red. The spots on her cheeks became more pronounced and her horns grew out, towering over her skull. He couldn’t see her tail, but he bet it was waving somewhere behind her.
“Are you out of your f*cking mind?” she snarled at him. “Look at them, Adam! Take a good long look! Do these children look like threats to you?” She glanced back at the owl girl who quickly shook her head. “If they are enough to make you like this then why did you make the exception for me?”
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other, but he kept his eyes on hers. That was a good question. Why did he do it? In all honesty, it still baffled him as to why he spared her that day.
Intrigue, the angel tried to tell himself. And to a certain degree, that was still true. Charlie to him was someone he found interesting, a little mystery wrapped in emo clothing. A simple distraction from the monotony that had become his existence in the past few centuries.
“No reason.” As if he was going to admit any of that to her. “Just know that it was a whim of mine, Princess.”
—
To see her friend again after so long…it was both nerve-wracking and exciting. Though she kept that to herself, letting her fingers tap against her thigh. The road stretched out in front of them, but she could recognize the smattering of buildings that lined the right side.
Noticing a dark figure standing near a brick wall that had marked the entrance to the alley where she had…taken care of the sinner with Lute, Charlie jumped in her seat, saying to Adam that she had finally spotted Via. Before he had even fully stopped the vehicle, she was out of her seat, rushing towards the raven haired girl that was shyly fussing with the hem of her dark pink shirt.
However it was not a familiar owlish face that greeted her, but a human one. Charlie’s eyes widened in surprise as she appraised the girl. “Leviathan's fin, is that…is that you, Via?”
The girl nodded, a small smile on her slightly pinched lips. “Y-yeah. I learned a new spell from my father’s grimoire.” Via held out her arms and slowly turned so Charlie could fully see her current form. “But that’s not important. We-”
Charlie interrupted her, frowning. “We?” And then she saw the hellhound, standing a couple of feet away, arms crossed over her chest. “A hellhound?” She quickly looked back towards the car and saw Adam was approaching them, one hand in his pocket, his eyes narrowed. He wasn’t looking at her, but rather at the hellhound.
sh*t .
Gripping Via’s wrists, Charlie hurriedly whispered, “You didn’t tell me about a hellhound! That guy, he’s-”
Adam cleared his throat and Charlie froze, eyes wide. He went on about only coming here for Via, so who the f*ck was that? The hellhound did not say anything, but Charlie noticed how her eyes seemed to shine with the slightest hint of feeling hurt before they hardened and she fixed her stance to something a little more aggressive, low growls filling the air.
Not good.
Via, sweet sweet, stupid Via, moved to stand between them, protecting her friend. Charlie knew it was the right thing to do, but Adam…she was glad he had left his weapon at home, so the best he could manage right now was to look threatening. And he was doing a good job at that. Even she felt a bit scared with the tone of voice he was using.
“Adam-” she tried to touch him, but he shrugged her off before turning back to her and asking her if she remembered what he was. What kind of stupid question was that? Of course she knew! She had f*cking helped out one of his Exterminators today, didn’t she?
When she gave her answer, Adam petted her head, as if she were some child who just earned a gold star from teacher. This…motherf*cker. Was he acting like this as some sort of…establishment of dominance? All he needed to be more of a jackass would be to spread his wings to really sell his point.
f*cking asshole.
Only once have I ever made an exception, that was you.
Huh? Yeah, she kind of gathered that, judging from Lute’s attitude towards her but…okay, actually, that did make her feel a little warm inside but no time to think about that. She allowed her more demonic features to manifest, and she challenged him, making a mental apology to Via as she pointed out that they were not threats due to how young they were. If this were someone like say, Paimon? Then he could f*cking worry. And why make an exception for her at all?
The answer he gave her was not something she expected. A whim. He had spared her on a whim. The words stung a bit, and she bit back the hurt she felt from it.
“A whim, huh?” she spat bitterly, missing the brief look of regret on his face. “You said earlier if I was willing to swear on my life, right? Then…” she lifted her head to glare at him and raised her arm, a claw poised at her own neck. “Do you want me to prove it to you, Adam?”
