Chapter Text
Lucifer Morningstar hated going to the Heaven Embassy. Even the appearance of the building was enough to put him on edge. But this time he couldn’t have his daughter go in his stead. They had specifically asked for him. So that was just fantastic. Heaven was all painful memories now. A reminder of his utter failure to change the minds of the others. So every time they wanted to talk with him he got a pit in his stomach.
But something was different this time. Lucifer had turned it over in his head the entire way over, and he couldn’t figure out why, instead of the usual archangels or exorcists, the Seraphim had called him to this meeting. He had thought Sera would have been comfortable with never seeing him again. So it had to be important. All the more reason he couldn’t just skip and go back to his lonely-ass house that was still infinitely better than the embassy.
He sighed, straightening his bow tie and attempting to look slightly less like he was dreading this whole thing. Oh god, he hoped this wasn’t something catastrophic. Knowing Heaven, and knowing Sera, it probably would be. Lucifer stood in front of the door, trying to prepare himself for the angels waiting for him. God, he loved having anxiety. It was so so great. He took a deep breath and slowly opened the door into the meeting room.
Well, this was already odd. First of all, the angels sitting across the table were definitely corporeal. Did that mean they had actually bothered to show up? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Even stranger were the angels who had chosen to come here. Each one was an utter shock in its own way. Sera, the angel he hadn’t seen in millenia, Sera’s lesser Seraph (what was her name again…?), and…
“Holy shit!” he blurted. Sera raised an eyebrow. “S-Sorry,” he said sheepishly to her. Then he turned back to the snake sitting at the Seraphim’s side. “It’s you! The, the–Charlie’s guy! From the hotel!” He was blanking on the former sinner’s name. “You’re…You’re an angel now! That’s pretty…That’s pretty neat.” The snake waved awkwardly, seemingly trying not to make a fool of himself.
“Not just an angel,” The young Seraph piped up. “He’s a Seraph!”
Oh. So that was why he was here. On closer inspection, that was right. It had seemed like he only had one set of wings, but he actually had three. The signifier of a Seraph. Holy shit. A human becoming a Seraph? That was entirely unheard of. Well, a sinner becoming an angel was apparently unheard of, too. Somehow this…special little man had defied all odds. Lucifer didn’t know what to think about that.
“That’s cool! Got another snake to replace me, eh, Sera?” he joked. No one seemed to find it funny. Oh, god, what should he say?
“Um.” He shuffled in his seat. “We should…get on with the meeting now.”
“Okay!” The lesser Seraph beamed. “By the way, it’s nice to meet you, Lucifer. I’m Emily! I’ve met your daughter.” She reached her arm across the table. Oh, it was so that Lucifer would shake her hand. Okay.
…Wait
Oh god that was his niece. Niece niece niece! Did she know he was her uncle? Oh, god. He had to make a good impression! It was so much harder to be a cool uncle than a cool dad! One slip-up, and he’d be labeled the “weird” uncle forever!
“Hey…girl.” Aw, shit. That was horrible. He awkwardly took the girl's hand and shook it a few times. “How…How have you been doing?” Wait, he’d never met her before. What kind of question was that? Oh, this was already going terribly, and Sera hadn’t even said anything yet. But his niece didn’t seem to think so.
“We’ve been doing well! Very busy. Which is exactly what we wanted to talk about,” the girl said. “Sir Pentious, Sera and I.” She smiled at the other two, and they each responded in their own way. The new Seraph–Sir Pentious–smiled slightly in return. The fellow seemed to be acting shy. Perhaps he was still nervous around the King of Hell who had once been his superior. Lucifer wondered idly how it felt to suddenly be thrust into such a position. Hell, when he was a Seraph he could hardly handle it. He couldn’t imagine how it must have been for a former sinner like him.
Sera cleared her throat. “We are gathered here today to discuss Sir Pentious and Emily’s future plans for Heaven and Hell.”
“And I’m just here to mediate.” Another voice chimed in. Lucifer didn’t notice the short four-winged angel was here. Unfortunately, Lucifer remembered who he was. The little crony who followed Sera around and agreed with everything she said. He doubted if he had changed much in ten thousand years.
“Their future plans?” Lucifer turned back to Sera, ignoring Gabriel entirely. “What about yours? Why are you here?”
“I am here to…assist them. This is more Emily’s vision than mine.” She looked unsure. Years of distance, and Lucifer could still read her perfectly. And what she said was suspect, too. She was supportive of the other Seraphim’s vision? That wasn’t the Sera he remembered.
“All right.” He leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed. “Take it away.”
Emily cleared her throat and stood up. “All right. Let’s begin.”
The rest of the meeting was surprise after surprise. It seemed that these young Seraphim were really trying to change the systems of Heaven to be a better place for all. He never would have thought that possible, but somehow these angels had managed it. He hadn’t picked up on everything, but what he had sounded quite good. Now the meeting was over, and Lucifer prepared to leave the embassy. Maybe he’d meet Charlie for lunch or something.
“What did you think of their plans, Lucifer?” Sera was trying to get his attention.
“Oh. It was great! It was great,” he said, turning to face the Head Seraph. Seeing her again unearthed such a mix of emotions. What could he say? There were so many things he wanted to say to the angel who had once been his partner, his companion and confidant. She who loved him more than anything, and who turned her back on him when he was cast out.
“It’s…intimidating, but I think it could work!” Gabriel said. Oh, this guy was still here. Great. “Those two are…a pretty effective duo. I have full confidence in their abilities,” he continued.
“I agree completely, Gabriel,” Sera said. “Perhaps you should meet back with them and tell them yourself.”
“But–they’re not going back. They’re going to the hotel to–”
Sera almost glared at him. The archangel finally got the message, mumbled an excuse, and departed, leaving Lucifer and Sera alone in the meeting room. He tried to say something, but it felt like his mouth wouldn’t work. There was just too much to say and not enough time to say it.
“Your daughter,” he finally decided on saying. “She’s…pretty incredible.”
“She is, isn’t she?” She smiled fondly.
“Changing Heaven, eh? That was pretty unheard of, back in my day.” He chuckled. “But I thought redemption was unheard of, too. Seems both of our children proved us wrong. Isn’t…Isn’t that funny?”
She nodded. “I am…apprehensive about this. But I am willing to give Emily and Sir Pentious a chance. They deserve that much for what I did.” Her eyes flicked away with that, her composure dropping only slightly.
“You wiped his memories, right? For a Seraph of Order, that was quite impulsive of you.” He flashed her a grin. Her eyes narrowed as he tried not to laugh. She was usually so composed, but a single redeemed sinner had caused her to fly off the handle? He couldn’t help but find some amusement from it.
“I know,” she replied, exasperated. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so impulsive in my life.”
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that,” he said. “I remember you sneaking out of meetings more than once.”
She blushed purple. “I-I forgot about that!” she declared. Lucifer laughed full-on this time. He hadn’t realized that he had missed his sister. After her betrayal, he had pushed her from his mind. But seeing her again brought back all the little things he used to like about her. He wondered how their lives would have been different if they had stuck together. Would he have been happier? He couldn’t answer that, and he didn’t think she could, either.
“Perhaps…Perhaps that is the role of the next generation,” Sera said after a little while. “To question what we older folk thought were set in stone.”
“Maybe so.” He nodded idly. Things were changing. He supposed old-timers like he and Sera had to get used to it.
“I wonder what happened to my moxie,” he thought out loud. “I wasn’t too different from them.” But he knew what it was. Constantly being beaten down for daring to question, or to offer his own ideas. Being labeled a troublemaker, and eventually, the root of all evil.
Sera, suddenly animated, leaned over and took Lucifer’s hand. “Lucifer, I’m sorry for what happened. All those years ago–I should have sided with you.”
He shrugged. “It didn’t happen that way. What’s done is done. But…I appreciate your apology.” He squeezed her hand, slightly. “I’m glad that…things are working out. For Emily, and for you.” God, it was insane that this was really happening. He and his sister were…on somewhat good terms now.
“You as well, Lucifer. It…It was good to see you again. I…I missed you…Seraph of Dreams.” She waved goodbye wistfully, smiling as he departed the embassy. The use of his former title was…strange. He hadn’t heard that name in a long time, and it brought back such a mix of emotions. What would have happened if he was never cast out by Heaven? How would he be different? How would Sera? Perhaps it wasn’t worth thinking about. If he had stayed in Heaven, none of that would have been possible. But still, he couldn’t help but wonder…