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Lucifer glanced at the decorated fir tree in the family room as he passed toward his office. No presents, but that wasn’t expected on Christmas Eve in Devildom. After all, the House of Lamentation brothers spoke of the holiday like a curse rather than as a celebration, and for good reason; after their fall, for many years, they chose not to celebrate the holiday as though terrified that it might bring on the wrath of the Celestial Realm.
In the end, they all chose to overlook Christmas and everything for which it stood.
He sighed, inwardly wondering if they would choose to have a Christmas breakfast like the old days. Surely someone would prepare a feast after all of this time. At least they agreed together to allow a Christmas tree into the main room of the house, or they didn’t take it down despite their initial desire to do so.
Oh, yes. The tree…
It appeared on December first without warning, nearly a month prior. No one admitted to putting it up, and no tracks could be found around the house to target the intrusion to any particular brother. Instead, it appeared like a ghost, and perhaps it was, in some way.
Satan was the first to notice on his way to the library for an early morning return of his nightly read. Having not known of the celebrations well enough, even with Lucifer’s memories scattered throughout his brain, he paused and approached with caution. Not long following his investigation that, yes, the tree was in fact alive, palpable, and decorated with authentic, traditional ornaments, the group texts began rolling into their phones.
What was this? Who did it? It wasn’t me! Well, it wasn’t me either! You’re the one who’s been sneaking in and out of the house this week. Well, you’re the one who never shows up to the dining room when we eat. How do we know it wasn’t you?
When Lucifer awoke to the fifty-seven unread messages, he rolled his eyes and crawled out of bed in his pajamas to see what the racket was about. Finding the other six brothers in the family room, arguing in-person over whose fault the Christmas tree’s appearance was, Lucifer watched from the doorway.
Just like old times, he thought, but different. Instead of arguing over who put the star on top or who strung the lights the wrong way, they argued over the act of finding the tree by themselves without discussion with the others. So little time had passed since the fall. It was inappropriate, some argued. Others claimed it was hideous. A few said it reminded them of the times before…
The times before…
Well, what did it matter, Lucifer thought. The sight of seeing them behave like the old times sent a wave of warmth into his chest.
“It doesn’t matter who put it up. We’re leaving it,” he declared, catching the other six’s attention.
“Leaving it?” Levi asked, stunned. “It doesn’t even have any personalized ornaments like we used to have! What’s the point in having a tree if the ornaments don’t have any meaning in the first place? What about my Ruri-chan keychains?”
Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “Your keychains are keychains, Levi.”
“They can be ornaments too! That’s why you can’t blame me for putting it up. I would never overlook my precious anime like that.” He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. “It had to be Asmo. He’s the only one who would coordinate the colors like this.”
“It wasn’t me!” Asmo argued, pointing to the star on the top of the twelve-foot behemoth. “I would never climb on a ladder that high without someone to catch me if I fall, and do you really think I’d choose cheap ornaments like these? There aren’t even any pink ones! It was definitely Belphie.”
Belphie lifted his head from his lounge on the couch and sighed. “It was Mammon. Since when would I sneak in a real tree that big by myself?”
“Well, maybe Beel helped you!”
“I didn’t do it either,” Beel mumbled through a bite of a granola bar he’d had in his pocket. Fortunately, it was enough to hold him over until someone made breakfast, but they’d have to work quickly before he went on a rampage. “I was at the gym early this morning, and I didn’t see or hear anyone. It might have been Mammon. He stays up later than the rest of us.”
“Oi! It wasn’t me! I woulda used something more gold, and where d’ya think I’d get the money for somethin’ like this? I ain’t wasting any grimm on anythin’ that reminds me of that place. Satan probably did it since he stays up late too, and none of ya wanna rag on him!”
Satan rubbed his chin in curiosity and kneeled at the base of the tree. “Perhaps it was Lucifer?” he asked, glancing up at the eldest out of the corner of his eye. “I can picture him choosing to surprise us with something that has intimate meaning.”
Lucifer rolled his eyes. “I’ll have you know I had my first full night’s sleep in several months last night until all of your messages woke me this morning,” he growled.
His gaze drew up the height of the tree to the shimmering, golden star on top, which really looked like Mammon’s handiwork. The placement of the ornaments was so precise that it seemed Asmo and Satan worked together, not to mention the mass-marketed style seemed like something Levi might order online. The sheer size of the tree must have been hauled in by someone as strong as Beel, and no one but Belphie would have chosen a tree skirt so fluffy and comfortable. Finally, the lights wrapped so perfectly around the branches reminded Lucifer of himself flying around the Celestial Realm’s main tree to place them as perfectly as possible. No one else had the dexterity of wings to do as wonderful a job as he could, and he knew it.
It truly appeared as though they had worked together to build this monstrosity, but no one had worked on it at all.
“We’re leaving it,” Lucifer repeated, decided. “As gaudy as it is, we’ll leave it until the season is over.”
“But…But why?” Asmo asked, motioning to the entirety of the eyesore. “It’s hard to look at! After all these years…”
The room grew silent at the words that hung in the air between them.
After all these years…
They hadn’t seen a Christmas tree in nearly a century, yet here one was, strung up in the main room as though someone wanted them to celebrate such a sore holiday.
Minutes passed, the brothers looking away from each other at random parts of the room, until suddenly all of their eyes drew toward the Christmas tree. Its bright lights. Its shimmering ornaments. Its Celestial warmth.
And they all wandered from the room one by one, with Lucifer as the last to leave.
Now, on Christmas Eve, he stared at the lit tree and its lack of presents beneath. Back in the Celestial Realm, there were stacks upon stacks of gifts surrounding the base. With all of their brothers and sisters, the now-demons shared the holiday with at least a dozen of their closest friends. Now that it was only them, it was smaller.
And on their first Christmas since falling, the underside of the tree remained empty.
He should have bought them all gifts. One each, at least. But he hadn’t, and he regretted overlooking it. How much pain they had lived through in so many years…and the least he could do was make their first Christmas about something other than the memories of the Celestial Realm.
Sighing, he stepped up to the tree and reached out to caress a bright red bulb. In its reflection, he saw himself—his tired eyes, his frustrated frown, and his poised hair.
“Well,” he mumbled to himself, letting it go. “I suppose a late night shopping trip is in order, isn’t it?”
He would buy the usual Christmas breakfast ingredients and make the meal himself, if only as a reminder to his brothers that he loved them. It was the least he could do—the gift of a new tradition in their new home.