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“I thought you’d be off doing the nasty with Decker,” She stated, eyes not leaving the form of the woman walking away from her. Every instinct she had told her to follow. To protect. To save.
But she resisted her instincts and stayed firmly in place, watching the woman she cared for just ... walk away. All in the name of helping Eve ‘find herself’. Despite her resolve to stay, to let her go, Eve's last words rang in her head, stabbing her in the heart she wasn’t sure she had. “I need to do that alone.” And somehow, as much as it hurt, she understood that need. She’d done the same thing not too long ago … only more self-destructive.
She could hear his footsteps behind her as he moved to stand next her. Her best friend. Her King. At one time, he was her everything and, in some respects, he still was.
“Apparently, there is some distress about what to do with a hundred or so corpses in a church. I thought it best to leave it to her expertise.”
Maze hummed her agreement, longing filling her as she watched Eve disappear around the corner and move out of her sight. She could follow her. Eve would never know she was there. She could make herself known when the other woman seemed more settled. More assured. Happy even. But she knew it was wrong. Eve would hate her for it and she mentally cursed Linda for giving her enough awareness of human emotions to understand she couldn’t hunt Eve. Eve needed to come back to her on her own volition. She’d wait. She had nothing but time.
“I’m sorry, Maze.” He stated, breaking the silence and she turned to look at him, trying to figure out what he felt he needed to apologize for. He never apologized to her, not in that tone. Not in a way that sounded so … broken. So final. Words spoken out of sincerity and not out of requirement.
“I don’t need your apologizes.”
He hummed his agreement and a moment of silence stretched between them and Maze found herself looking at him, studying his expression. There was something there she couldn’t quite read and it was starting to unnerve her. She thought she knew everything there was not know about him. They’d been inseparable for longer than she could remember. Less than five years ago, she existed only for him. And now … they’d both grown and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it. She'd been fine with it before but now ... after everything they've gone through together, it feels more and more like they're going through it alone.
“I remember when we first met, Mazikeen,” He stated, giving her a smile but it looked wrong. His smiles were always a light in the darkness but there was something dim there. And she found herself trying to catch up to him. To figure out this new … emotion and part of herself hated it that she cared. That she was still so tied to him. Her oath has been released. She was her own demon. But why did she feel like she still belonged to him? And he to her.
“That was a day,” She said, grinning at him, her wolfish grin, shoving aside the useless emotions to reminisce in their glory days.
“You had just finished torturing some sorry human with, wasn’t it a bunny?”
“Oh how he screamed,” She laughed, picturing the scene. The human had some kind of phobia over bunnies. She remembered how she had made sure the fluffy creature followed the human. Had manipulated its eyes to look less animal and more intelligent. How she’d changed those oversized teeth into fangs that dripped with blood. How it's little paws had razor sharp claws. It wasn’t her best work, but it was simple and effective.
“Squee had called you something. I don’t remember the exact words now, but it had implied you were soft. Weak. That your bunny torture wasn’t”
“’up to our King’s standards’.” She quoted, a snarl in her voice as she remembered that insignificant demon’s insulting words against her.
“You tortured him for … how long?”
“About two centuries…give or take,” She said, her grin going serene, remembering how that stupid demon had begged her to stop. Squee had broken within the first week she’d held him captive in her dungeon but she kept him as her plaything until she got tired of it. Until she’d proven that she wasn’t soft but effective. “I should have kept him as my pet for longer,” She added, her voice whimsical as she remembered all the ways she’d inflicted pain upon him. It was different, torturing one of her own kind. They were more resilient. They didn’t break as easy, physically or emotionally.
“I would have let you,” He stated, simply, his voice filled with fondness.
“You couldn’t have stopped me if you wanted to,” She told him and he laughed, a laugh she knew that wasn’t meant to hackle her but out of companionship. “Is that why you asked me to be your General?”
“Mazikeen, Daughter of Lilith, General of the Lilim, Head Torturer, and former consort to the Lord of Hell, do you really think I picked you solely out of fear?” He asked and she honestly didn't know how to answer it. She never knew what made him choose her. But she knew it had always felt right.
"You forgot Auntie," She quipped after a moment and he gave her a sad smile that took the light out of his eyes and she felt something go cold within her. He was hiding something from her. This wasn't just a random visit. He'd been waiting for Eve to leave, to get her alone.
They stared at each other a moment and a companionable silence settled over them. A kind of silence that was only comfortable between those who know each other intimately. The kind of silence that wasn't necessary to fill with words. A silence that has been a normalcy for them for the last millennia. And as she studied him, she noted the way his eyes looked both broken and determined. As though he'd made up his mind about something he didn't like.
It was then, when she figured out that look in his eyes, that she knew what this was about. What he was trying to tell her without saying it. She nodded at him, letting him know that she understood and she saw something like relief in his eyes. She did still know him. The look she couldn't read? It was one she'd never had to see from him before. It was goodbye.
“You know this isn’t over,” She said softly, looking into his brown eyes, eyes she’s come to love more than the red and she wasn't sure if she meant the demon uprising or the two of them in this human life. “You’re going back, aren’t you?”
“Always so keen, my Maze.” He stated, and she could see the pain in his eyes. It wasn’t a pain she had ever been familiar with until the last five years. It was a pain that ate at the soul. They’d gotten it wrong in Hell. Physical torture wasn’t the worst. It was this.
“It might not solve things for long," Maze pointed out. She knew this could be a trap. A convenience. She knew her kind in a way no one else ever could. "They could try to usurp you for Charlie or some other angel they can bend to their will."
"They could, yes." He stated, and she knew he'd already considered it. He'd already seen all sides and all options. He wasn't doing this impulsively like his self-declared vacation. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew the players. He knew the odds. It was one of the things that made him such a great King. Despite his impulsiveness, he was a chess player. He knew the board and the pieces. He could predict when he wanted to. He always claimed to have no affinity for telling the future, but she was convinced he did when he really wanted to. When he was focused and resisted his chaotic nature.
"You'll need someone you can trust," Maze stated, and she could feel her heart breaking. She knew he needed her. He needed someone he could trust to watch his back. To protect him. That was her reason for being, her job for so long, no one else could do it better. She wasn't made for him like Decker was, but she was born to be his right hand.
"I won't force you, Mazikeen." Lucifer stated, hand going into his jacket pocket to remove a flask. He took a long drink from it and offered it to her. She shook her head and he pocketed the thing before he turned away from her, hands in his pockets. "I forced you to leave your home and find a new one on Earth. A year ago, you asked me to take you home and I told you no because I was selfish and couldn't bear the thought of you being anywhere but on the same plane that I was," He turned around and looked her in the eyes. "I've recently had an epiphany, and I refuse to continue to hate myself and I would if I took your choice from you yet again."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, Mazikeen, if you want to go back to Hell with me, I'll take you, but if you wish to remain here ... " He looked down for a moment, took a breath and met her eyes, the brown flashing red. "If you remain, I will only ask that you will protect them."
"I won't let anything happen to our humans," Maze stated automatically, almost offended he had the audacity to think otherwise.
He nodded his acknowledgement and took something else from his jacket and held it out to her. A feather. One so pure, so white, that it shone like nothing on this Earth and she knew it was his.
"You know how to reach me if you need to," and she nodded her acknowledgement. Her throat suddenly feeling tight and it was getting difficult to see. Her vision blurred for a moment and when she blinked away the stupid tears that had filled her eyes, she could see him walking away from her.
"Lucifer!" She called out and he stopped, turned to face her with his hands in his pockets and she resisted the urge to bow to her King because that's what he was. She could feel his power and part of her was thrilled to see him as she remembered him. Another part of her broke seeing him this way again, knowing he wanted nothing more than to be something other. "Good luck," she called out and he nodded to her before unfurling his wings and was gone in the next moment, leaving her alone on the sidewalk, holding his feather.
She stroked the fine hairs, reveling in its divinity. She was almost surprised he didn't leave it with Decker but she understood why. She'd keep this hidden away, somewhere safe. Somewhere she could get to if something came up and they needed him. She pocketed the feather and started to make her way back to Linda's. She had an adoptive nephew to watch over.
She'd make sure he grew up knowing of his Uncle. Knowing the sacrifice he made for him. And make sure he didn't turn out too much like Amenadiel. She'd watch over them all, for him and for her. And when her job was done, she'd return to his side.
It wasn't good bye, not for them. It was see you later.