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It was never outside the realm of possibility to expect total chaos when arriving at the House of Lamentation, but even I had to admit that I hadn’t seen it this bad for a while.
As soon as I came in the door there was loud music playing, but even that couldn’t cover the sound of arguing.
“Who gave you the right to eat my pudding!” Satan’s voice roared from the parlor.
“You were so busy reading your book I didn’t think you wanted it!”
Mammon rushed around the corner, looking behind and under things. “Gotta be here somewhere.”
“Are you looking for something?” I called to him.
He shot up instantly, a suspicious grin on his face. “Ah, hey Helena. No, not really. Just, um, inspecting the mansion. You know.”
“Did Lucifer take your credit card again.”
“Yeah, actually about that, you wouldn’t have to have some extra money lying around—”
“For the last time, turn the bloody music down! I’m trying to read!”
The dull sound of impact followed Asmodeus screaming.
“You just made me spill my nail polish everywhere!”
“You shouldn’t be doing your nails on the couch anyway!” Satan snarled. “Now turn it down!”
I ignored Mammon and headed past him toward the parlor just in time to see Satan about to heave a lamp in Asmo’s direction.
“Hey, that’s enough!” I snapped and crossed to the stereo, turning the music way down. “What is going on here?”
“Helena, save me!” Asmo cried as he jumped off the couch.
“Put it down, Satan,” I commanded.
He made an annoyed sound but set the lamp down.
“It seems pretty early for you to be at each other’s throats,” I commented blandly. “Where is Lucifer?”
“Oh, about that,” Asmo started.
“He got mad at dinner last night and we haven’t seen him since,” Beel commented.
“Considering everything, I’m sure he had good reason.”
“Actually, he’s just been kind of crabby for the last couple days,” Mammon said from where he was peeking under couch cushions. “Have you noticed?”
I frowned. It was true that Lucifer had seemed on edge, but he was always pushing himself too hard. If he hadn’t shown up yet, maybe he was finally sleeping in—although I found that hard to believe considering the noise. Only Belphie could sleep through that.
“I guess he has seemed a little more tired than usual.”
“No, he’s just being an asshole like usual,” Satan snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No, Helena’s right, he did seem particularly exhausted last night,” Asmo said. “Maybe he’s sick or something.”
“I’ll go check on him,” I volunteered, a little worried myself now.
“Just be careful,” Mammon warned. “You know how he gets in his moods. But, if you could ask him where my credit card is…”
I ignored him and left the room, heading toward the stairs. I nearly bumped into Levi on the way. He was standing on the top of the stairs, looking at something in his hands.
“What’s that?”
“Ahh! Oh, Helena, it’s you,” he said, startling slightly. “I’ve just been finding these feathers everywhere the last couple days. I thought it was strange—I have no idea where they came from.”
I reached out and took the feather from his hands to inspect it. It was long and black, bigger than any bird feather I had ever seen….
A sudden suspicion wormed its way into my head. “Levi, have you seen Lucifer today?”
He shook his head quickly. “M-mn. He stormed off at dinner last night after yelling at everyone and locked himself in his room.” His eyes suddenly widened. “Wait…you think these might be his feathers?”
“I don’t know,” I said slowly, running the feather through my hands. “I’m going to go see him.”
“Oh, please be careful! If…if he gets really mad at you, just scream—I’ll come save you!”
I smiled. “Thanks, Levi. But I’m not afraid of Lucifer. I have a feeling he’s just a bit under the weather.”
I continued down the hall to the oldest brother’s room. As I looked down, I could see several more feathers of varying sizes collected around the gap at the bottom of the door. I frowned, worry settling heavier in my stomach as I raised my hand to knock.
“Lucifer?” I called. “It’s me…can I come in?”
There was the sound of shuffling from the other side of the door. “Helena? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I came by to help out with whatever you needed today, but I got worried when everyone said they hadn’t seen you since last night. Are you all right?”
“I’m busy,” came the curt reply.
“Then let me help you! You haven’t let me help you with work all week.”
There was a soft grunt of discomfort and more shuffling. “I just want to be alone right now.”
“Lucifer,” I coaxed, putting my foot down. “Please tell me what’s wrong.”
There was no reply and the seconds stretched on interminably. Finally, I reached for the doorknob. “I’m coming in.”
“I didn’t give you permission to do that!”
The voice was slightly strained and that made me even more worried. “As your friend, and your assistant, who is worried about you, I’m coming in.”
There was a swift scramble as I opened the door and I sighed as I slipped in in, hearing the door to the adjoined bathroom close.
“Lucifer, please, I’m just trying…” I trailed off as my eyes landed on his bed. It was covered in black feathers, in fact, some of them were still lazily floating to the floor, presumably from Lucifer’s quick retreat.
“Lucifer, where did all the feathers come from?” I asked in shock.
“It’s none of your business. Now leave.”
“Not until I know if you’re okay,” I snapped, heading over to the bathroom door and standing firmly in front of it. “You’ve been so tired lately, more than usual. Are you sick?”
“No,” he snapped but the hoarse tone of his voice said differently.
I sighed and leaned my shoulder against the wall by the door. “Lucifer, please. I just want to help. At least let me see?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s nothing!”
“Lucifer, you’ve lost half your feathers, that’s not nothing!”
The door was finally wrenched open and I jerked upright, face to face with the eldest demon brother. I was surprised to see just how disheveled he looked. Lucifer was always so put together, but today he was only wearing his slacks and his black shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were red-rimmed and had dark circles under them as if he hadn’t slept for three days.
But despite that, I couldn’t help but notice his wings. They drooped at his back, patchy and ragged. Since he usually hid them out of convenience, I hadn’t seen them for a few days and, well, they looked pretty bad.
“I’m molting,” he snapped, jaw tight. “That’s all. Nothing to concern yourself with. Happy?”
“Oh,” I said, realization dawning. “I didn’t realize demons molted.”
“Well, only if they have feathered wings,” Lucifer gritted out. He pushed past me and went to sit on the bed. “But it’s a very uncomfortable process and I would like you to leave me alone.” He attempted to reach behind him, scratching at one of his wings, before growling in frustration as he couldn’t seem to reach the right spot.
I stepped forward. “Can I help? It must be hard to reach—”
“I said it’s nothing to concern yourself with!” Lucifer snapped hoarsely, smothering a cough with his hand.
I frowned, noticing a slight flush to his face and boldly reached out to press my palm to his forehead. He jerked away in indignation, but I’d already found out what I needed to.
“You have a fever,” I chided.
“I am fine,” he insisted stubbornly, pressing his back against the bed post and gritting his teeth in frustration as he rubbed his wings against it. He pulled away quickly though as I continued to stare at him, glowering in indignation, hands clenching in his lap.
“You’re sick,” I stated. “Which means I am obligated to take care of you.”
“It means no such thing!” he tried to scratch at his wings again, shoulders shifting uncomfortably. He finally growled and reached for the lower wing on his right side, wrenching it around and digging his fingers into the sparse feathers. I glanced over his shoulder and saw the raw skin on his wings where the feathers had been.
“Lucifer, stop; you’re hurting yourself,” I said, reaching out to grab his wrist in concern.
“Don’t touch me!” he swatted my hand to the side.
I huffed in annoyance. “This really has put you in a bad mood, hasn’t it? The others said you yelled at all of them last night.”
“You think they didn’t deserve it?”
“I think despite what your brothers say you’re not usually this upright.”
“Yes, well, the…the itching—it’s infuriating!” Lucifer cried, digging his fingernails harder into his wing, scratching until he winced.
I reached out and grabbed hold of his wrist again. “Stop!”
He froze, both of us staring each other down, but I refused to let this one go.
“I know you hate accepting help,” I said as he continued to glower at me. “But just this once, let me do something for you.”
The staring contest continued for another long second before he finally shut his eyes and sighed heavily, his wings twitching in discomfort. “It would be more helpful if you just made sure the others don’t burn the house down while I’m…indisposed.”
I smirked. “I can do that and take care of you. Just let me collect a few things, then I’ll be back, okay?”
He grunted and I left the room. I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for, so I pulled out my D.D.D. and texted Barbatos, thinking that he would probably be the most likely to help.
After explaining the situation he offered to bring some stuff over to the House of Lamentation that would hopefully help Lucifer in his recovery.
I headed back downstairs to make sure nothing else was falling apart but things thankfully seemed quiet for the moment.
Asmo found me on his way up the stairs. “Oh, Helena, did you get to talk to Lucifer?”
I nodded. “He’s a bit under the weather at the moment. I’m making sure that he rests.”
Asmo smiled softly. “He must really like you if he’s willing to listen. I hope he feels better soon though.”
“Me too,” I replied.
I headed down to the foyer to wait for Barbatos and when the demon butler finally showed up I went to meet him.
“Thank you so much for bringing this over,” I said with a grateful smile.
“Of course, Helena, I hope that Lucifer will be feeling better soon,” he handed over the bag as he explained the contents. “It’s best to brush out all the loose feathers and once you’re done with that, there’s an ointment that will help soften the skin around the new feathers coming in. If the skin gets dry, it’s very itchy and uncomfortable. There’s also a tea that will help his fever.”
“Is it common for someone to get sick while molting?”
“Fairly common, actually. It takes a lot of energy to grow new feathers. It would be best to make sure Lucifer has some nutrient rich meals while he recovers. I’ll send over some recipes later, if you wish.”
“I really appreciate it, Barbatos,” I said gratefully.
“Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help,” the butler said with a small nod before he left. “I’m sure Lucifer will be well looked-after in your hands.”
I first went to make a cup of the tea then brought that up to Lucifer with the rest of the stuff.
He was still sitting dejectedly on the bed, an annoyed frown on his face as he tried to reach his wings, back arching in discomfort.
“Alright, no more of that,” I told him firmly, handing him the tea. “Drink this.”
“What is it?” he asked suspiciously.
“Tea for your fever and sore throat,” I told him as I took the other items from the bag and set them on his side table.
Lucifer eyed them suspiciously as he sipped the tea. “While I appreciate you bringing these for me, you don’t need to help me further.”
“And you’re going to be able to brush all of your wings out by yourself?”
He glowered and I raised my eyebrow pointedly. “I’ll manage,” he lied.
I rolled my eyes and picked up the fluffy brush Barbatos had brought. “Not today, you won’t. I’m here to help, and you’re just going to have to deal with it.”
He looked indigent, but I simply motioned him backwards. “Why don’t you get comfortable? This will probably take a while.”
After some obvious inward struggle, Lucifer finally sighed, his shoulders slumping in pure exhaustion. “Fine. If you insist.”
He flopped into the middle of his bed a bit petulantly, wrapping his arms around one of his pillows as he settled on his stomach. I climbed up beside him and settled the first of his four wings across my lap.
“I’m going to start by brushing out the loose feathers,” I told him as I wielded the brush. “Please let me know if I’m hurting you at all.”
I started at the base of his wing, moving slowly outward. His wing twitched in discomfort several times, but the feathers seemed to be coming out easily enough, leaving a pile of black around my knees.
“How often does this happen?” I asked him.
Lucifer huffed. “Every few years. It’s…abysmal.”
He sounded so tired it went to my heart. “I imagine it’s hard to sleep, especially if they itch so badly.”
“It’s the new feathers coming in that are the worst,” Lucifer grumbled into his pillow. “It’s like cutting a thousand teeth at the same time.”
I winced. “That doesn’t sound very nice.”
I could see the new feathers coming in, little black buds breaking through pale skin. A lot of the areas looked dry, some red and irritated from Lucifer’s scratching. I tried to be as careful around those areas as possible, knowing how sensitive they must be.
Thankfully, though, Lucifer seemed to be relaxing more and more into his pillow by the time I finished the wings on his right side.
“That’s that side done,” I said, getting off the bed in a flurry of feathers attached to my skirt as I moved around to his other side and continued the process.
Lucifer made a soft sigh as he turned his face toward my direction, eyes half closed. “It actually…feels pretty nice,” he admitted tiredly.
I smiled as I continued brushing. “I’m glad I could help a little bit. Barbatos also gave me a salve to help the new feathers grow in.”
Lucifer hummed softly, eyes sliding shut. I finished up the last of the brushing and reached for the little pot of cream.
“I’m going to use the cream now, so it might be a little uncomfortable,” I told him in warning.
He nodded into the pillow and I opened the pot to an herbal smell, taking some onto my fingers. I started to spread it over the bare patches of skin on the arms of Lucifer’s wings. He flinched initially.
“It’s cold,” he grumbled.
“Sorry,” I apologized, continuing to work it in with my fingers, careful around the new buds of feathers coming through the skin. Lucifer twitched in discomfort a couple times during the process, but he seemed to relax again after a while.
“How does it feel?” I asked.
He gave a soft hum. “Not bad,” he admitted. “They actually don’t itch nearly as much now.”
“Good.” I continued applying the salve to all of his wings and finally closed up the pot and set it aside.
“Feeling any better now?”
Lucifer glanced up at me, raising his head slightly from the pillow. “I actually do.” He admitted before looking down. “Helena…thank you. I know I’m not easy to deal with but…I appreciate you and your stubbornness.”
I smiled fondly and reached out to squeeze his hand briefly. “I’m just glad you’re feeling a little better. I would be happy to come back tomorrow and do the same thing.”
His even breathing told me that he had simply fallen asleep. My heart warmed at the sight, glad he could finally rest peacefully. I pulled a blanket over him before I left and quietly closed the door behind me.
Now I just had to make sure the rest of the brothers would be quiet enough to let Lucifer sleep for the rest of the day.