Chapter Text
After Satan’s defeat and the rise of Malbonte, it seemed as if Vienna could never sleep. Mimi had told her that celestials can’t dream but everytime she closed her eyes, she would see her mother killing Satan and all at once, all traces of sleep left her.
At nights like these, she would quietly slip out of her room and sit on the roof of the academy, gazing at the infinite darkness above or gazing at Bont’s tower, thinking of a time when everything didn’t go to hell.
Was it somehow her fault? Everything that had gone wrong started when she came here and she did get Bong out of that tower. So maybe, in a way, all that had happened had been caused by her. Laura, Sammy, Admirion Winchesto and Satan; all their deaths were related to her.
She sank deeper into her mind, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping an arm around them, the cold of night seeping into her bones from the thin cloth of her nightdress. The sound of wings flapping brought her out of her spiraling thoughts and she looked up to see Lucifer standing at the edge of the roof, folding his large wings behind him and walking towards her.
She didn’t say anything and neither did he, as he made his way to sit beside her, stretching his legs in front of him and leaning on his arms. There were no sounds, except for the wind rushing past their ears and it was a good ten minutes, before Lucifer said something.
“You’re too loud.”
“Excuse me?” She turned towards him, eyebrows raised in disbelief at his words, clearly taking offense when she knew she hadn’t said anything.
“Not like that,” he rolled his eyes, clearly catching her drift, “your aura is projecting very strongly and it’s making me sick,” he said and Vienna scoffed.
“Don’t let me keep you here, then.”
She turned away from him and continued brooding, eyes fixed at Bont’s tower. Lucifer didn’t say anything for a while, trying to find the correct words. He hadn’t meant to offend her, it’s just how he spoke – brash and rude.
“You have nothing to feel guilty about,” he said finally and Vienna turned to him once again. He could see the struggle, the guilt she was harbouring, practically coming off of her in waves. And what he once recognised as a bright, stubborn unclaimed was nowhere to be found. In her place sat someone who had given up, who had lost.
“How can you say that? You were there when I set him free. All that has happened is because of me,” she said and with a jolt, he realised that her eyes were glassy and shining with tears.
“All I know is that you saved someone who had been imprisoned by Shepha for simply existing,” he said and watched how her eyes narrowed in anger and she straightened up, looking at him fiercely.
“Yeah? Well he had a good reason, didn’t he? The academy is destroyed, hell is in shambles and I’m sitting here, moping around like a pathetic wimp.”
She took a deep breath to calm herself and without any thought, Lucifer pulled her towards himself and wrapped his arms around her. Vienna tensed, trying to free herself from his hold but he only tightened his arms in response and soon enough, she gave up and shakily hugged him back.
Silence returned once again, both of them lost in thought, their own struggles and not knowing what to do, with no one to guide them.
Lucifer loosened his hold around her when she began to pull back and he was satisfied to see that her aura was no longer unpleasant, but a different emotion had taken its place – an emotion that had his own chest tightening.
“I need to go,” he murmured and stood up, not ready to deal with it but Vienna’s hand on his wrist stopped him.
“Stay a while,” she whispered and he clenched his jaw at the unfamiliar sensation spreading across his chest.
“You don’t know what you do to me, do you?” He said and Vienna smiled sadly.
“Because you never tell me.”
Her words felt like a spear, piercing his heart in a way that had him stumbling back and turning away from her.
“Goodnight, Vienna.”
“Pathetic,” he heard her say to herself, as her aura turned sour once again and Lucifer spread his wings to fly.