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The streets of Hell are empty as I shamble forward, not quite remembering how I got here or where I was even trying to go. My legs hurt. How long have I been walking for? I'm not sure. Thankfully, I have finally found a familiar sight: the fountain of the nude woman in the square. It seems so odd to see no demon here, but there is one being. A woman with jet black hair and pale skin stands in front of the statue, staring up into her stone eyes. Looking at this unfamiliar woman feels like looking into a mirror.
"Your powers are waking up." The woman says as I stand next to her. Her voice is soft and kind. "I can talk to you now. You must have met him."
"Met who?" I ask, but I feel like I'm far away and not in control.
"I miss her."
"Her?" I look up to the statue and her perpetual smirk, then back to the woman to find her smiling at me as well. I feel like I know her, but much like Emmanuel and Asmodeus, I can't place where I've met them. It must be from the time before I was in Heaven.
"Her name was Lilith. She was my best friend."
"Lilith? As in the first human, Lilith?" I turn back to the statue. Why does that make me sad? "If that's Lilith, who are you?"
"I'll see you again, soon." The woman pats my shoulder. When she touches me, I feel something like a shock where her fingers rest even though they leave no mark.
"Wait, who are you?" I look up from my shoulder to find I am alone. I check behind me to see where she went but am met with only darkness until I blink and find myself in a vaguely familiar room on a comfortable bed. It takes me a few minutes to register that this is a room in Lucifer's mansion. The decor matches, though lacks the personality the library and his office have.
Last night—at least I hope I haven't been out longer than that—comes back to me slowly as my head throbs. As I examine my arms and legs, I find I'm still in the dress but I'm not hurt and the fabric isn't damaged either. There is no indication that pure insanity took place, though I do feel weak when I stand.
Sounds of arguing in the hallway catch my attention. As quietly as possible, I slip across the room and put my ear against the wood to see if I can make out the conversation. I can hear Lucifer's usually calculated voice, now irate and uneven, though not a yell or even raised. Michael is also here, and with them is Asmodeus.
"...was a disaster. How'd he get in? You wouldn't know, would you? Is that why you were late?" Michael sounds livid. He's never yelled at me like that, never at anyone in front of me either.
"Are you trying to insinuate that I let Emmanuel into Heaven? You think I'm that stupid? You think I'd put Allie in that kind of danger?" Asmodeus yells back. His rage makes my blood run cold.
"You're both stupid." Lucifer is the only one not yelling. Instead, he sounds eerily calm about the entire situation, though still clearly aggravated. "Emmanuel wants us to fight, and wants us to distrust Asmodeus, so don't give him that satisfaction. He has broken into Heaven twice now, that we know of, and that needs to be our focus."
"You need to stay away from her. It was a mistake to let you anywhere near her, and it's going to end now." It doesn't take a genius to know Michael is talking to Asmodeus. "If anything happens to her, I will make sure it's the last thing you do."
"She can make her own choices, and she's clearly stronger than any of us expected. She'll be fine."
"I sincerely doubt that." Lucifer speaks up again. "If she knew the truth, I doubt she'd choose to remain around any of us. We should have waited to do this... She's not ready."
"Maybe if we told her everything, she'd be fine. Look at what happened yesterday, we can't keep her in the dark."
"She ran out of that ball over having to do just a little public speaking. What about that makes you think that her knowing everything at once will be any better?" Michael's words drip with venom.
"I'll tell her myself. She'll listen to me." The pure confidence in Asmodeus' voice, coupled with the vivacious anger in Michael's, flares my curiosity about what truth they could be talking about.
"It's too much to put on her right now. We need to give her time to process her powers and her role before she gets distracted with your nonsense." Lucifer says.
"Oh, you should have seen her. She's knee deep in his nonsense." Michael scoffs. "You're going to ruin her just like you ruined Ast."
I finally push on the door and reveal myself. At first none of them speak, but Lucifer breaks the tension by taking Michael aside and leaving me alone standing in front of Asmodeus without a word. While they whisper, I turn to Asmodeus, who smiles genuinely at me and makes my heart backflip.
"How are you feeling, Allie?"
"My head hurts, but I'm okay. I'm not sure what happened at the party..."
"I don't even know where to begin to explain." He shrugs and sighs. "I'm kind of shocked you've been kept in the dark about everything. I thought they'd tell you something. Even Sel—"
"Who is Ast?" I ask and watch his face fall at the mention of her name.
"Your predecessor. She..." He takes a deep breath. "She was Emmanuel's equal. They were in charge of Purgatory together."
"Why did Michael say you ruined her? What happened?" I don't hesitate in my questioning. He doesn't answer me right away, and for the first time it feels like he's hiding something.
"I... knew her." He pauses and avoids looking me in the eye. "I was there when she died, but it's complicated—"
"That's enough." Lucifer calls out to us as he and Michael rejoin us. His attention is solely on me. "As unimpressed as we are with the situation, you do need to know what's going on."
"So, you're going to fill me in on everything?" Though I feel like I'm going to puke, I look Lucifer straight on and try to appear confident.
"Well," Michael rolls his eyes, "since yesterday was such a huge success, we need to figure out how to get you up to speed without you having a giant meltdown."
"That's not fair," Asmodeus says. "You've had time to tell her, that's on you."
"Don't start again." Lucifer glares between both men before he sets his sight on me. "How do you want this to go? Where do you want to start? Let's get this over with and get you focused on what you need to do."
"Wait," Asmodeus interrupts before I can say anything. "Ast had a collection of journals she kept at her library. Why not let her read those, then we can fill in the blanks?"
"You"—Michael rubs his forehead in annoyance—"want to take her to Purgatory to read some books that might not even still be there? Are you insane?"
"I'll make sure she's safe. Emmanuel wouldn't suspect we'd actually let her go there, and besides, her powers will be strongest there. After last night, he wouldn't want to face her where she has an advantage. He's going to need time to recover."
As I open my mouth to ask why he would need to recover, Lucifer turns to me.
"What do you think?" Lucifer asks me, and for once all three are silent, waiting for my answer.
"If Asmodeus can go with me, I'd... I'd feel safer." My justification is flimsy, and they both see through it, I know. But Lucifer gives me a hard look before he turns back to his son.
"If you're going to do this, you're going to tell her what happened. All of it."
Asmodeus only nods and I can sense him tensing up.
"You two would have the easiest time being there... and Heath still stays at Ast's library. Maybe he'll be able to help." Michael says to Asmodeus like I'm not even here.
"Heath is still there?" Asmodeus raises an eyebrow. "Lovely, I'm sure he'll be completely unbiased."
"More so you." Lucifer glares at his son. "This was your idea anyway."
"You'll come back to Heaven when you're done." I finally exist to Michael again. "I'll meet you at the gate myself to make sure you're returned safely. Tomorrow we can talk about a better plan moving forward."