The Cosmos' Journey (Obey Me! x OC)

Chapter 24: There Are Some Wounds Time Can't Heal

Ivy and Beel ended up in front of a wall. Beel seemed disappointed. "... There's nothing here. It's just a wall. But the dollhouse... it definitely showed a small room here. But there's no door. And if I remember correctly, the only thing that should be on the other side of this wall is Lucifer's room. Could the dollhouse model be wrong...?"

Ivy hummed. Her eyes snapped open at the realization. "No. Neither is your memory."

"So you're saying that there's a room there, but you wouldn't know it from the outside--in other words, a secret room?"

Beel was silent for a while before his eyes found something. "... Take a look at this, Ivy. Look at this spot on the wall. It looks like a decorative pattern, but I can make out the words written there."

Ivy trailed over to see what he was looking at. Beel kept speaking. "It's a message written in the language of angels. This is what it says: 'When the morning star dwelt in the heavens, its light shone down upon this one, sparkling brilliantly, the eighth of eight'. It's a riddle. And more importantly, I know the answer to it. 'The morning star' is another name for Lucifer. So 'when the morning star dwelt in the heavens' means 'when Lucifer was an angel'. 'Its light shone down upon this one, sparkling brilliantly, the eighth of eight'. That part refers to someone Lucifer loved deeply: the eighth child of eight, our sister. Her name was Lilith."

The door then opened. Ivy stared at the new area, curious as to what lay beyond the door. Beel's voice reached her ears. "... Let's go."

They entered a beautiful room. Ivy was mesmerized by it. Beel blinked in surprise. "I... I know this place... It's Lilith's room from back up in the Celestial Realm. I'm sure of it. What's Lilith's room doing here, in the House of Lamentation...?"

Ivy hummed. "I'd like to know more about Lilith."

"Like I said before, Lilith was our little sister. But she's gone now. She died. In the Great Celestial War. Do you know about the Great Celestial War? About what happened then?"

"I do not."

"My brothers and I were originally angels. That was back before the Great Celestial War--before we were cast out. Lucifer incited a revolution against our father, and we aligned ourselves with him. Those who followed our father fought against those who followed Lucifer. That was the Great Celestial War. In the end, our father crushed our rebellion, and cast us out of the Celestial Realm. During the battle, my sister Lilith's wing was pierced by an arrow. Both Belphie and I saw it. It happened right in front of our eyes... She fell down out of the heavens and... died."

Ivy felt her heart clench. To see something so terrible happen to someone you loved... the more she pictured it, the more she could understand. If something like that happened with Maria, she would have Libra kill them. Beel continued. "Just before Lilith was shot, I saw angels from the opposing side draw their bows and aim at both her and Belphie. I couldn't save them both... the three of us were too far apart. I knew I'd only be able to get to one of them in time. Then suddenly Belphie's eyes met mine... and just like that, I rushed over to him and shielded him from the attack. I wasn't able to save Lilith. She died. And it was my fault."

Ivy walked over to him from where she had been pacing around the room and grasped his hand. "You said it yourself, 'I couldn't save them both'. You couldn't help it. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time to save both of them."

"If only I could believe that. But I can't, so the memory still kills me, even to this day. I keep thinking... if only that arrow had hit me and not her... Belphie hasn't ever come out and said it, but I think he blames me for not being able to save Lilith. I know he wanted me to save her instead of him. In fact, I knew that at the time, but I chose to save him instead. ... Ivy, what would you have done? If you had been in my shoes, who would you have saved, Belphegor or Lilith?"

Ivy bit her lower lip. If it were her own siblings, she would've just taken the blow for herself while holding them both. She had to force herself to decide. Her eye stared up into his own orbs. "You're really putting me on the spot here. But, if I had to choose, I'd say Lilith, I suppose."

Ivy's D.D.D. started ringing. She looked at the caller ID. Mammon. She picked up after getting the okay from Beel. Mammon's voice met her ear as soon as she picked up. "HEY! Ivy... where are you?! Something seriously bad is about to happen here! Get your butt down to the underground tomb now! Hurry! The dog is down here, and Lucifer's about to kill him...!"

Beel blinked. "The dog? Does he mean Luke?"

'Cosmos, the underground tomb! We found him and he's in trouble!'

Well that confirmed her doubts. Beel turned to her. "Come on, we'd better get to the underground tomb."

Ivy sent the text.

Ivy:
House of Lamentation. Underground tomb. NOW.

She only hoped he'd receive it in time.

-In the Underground Tomb-

Ivy had no time to marvel or be disgusted by the room she was in. Her eye found Mammon who was trying to calm Lucifer down. "Lucifer, come on! Calm down a little, would ya?! He's just a lost dog, that's all! There's no need to go revealing your true form over this, now is there?!"

Luke seemed terrified. "*whispers* R-R-Right, e-exactly! A-And if you th-think you're gonna s-scare me looking all evil like that, y-you're wrong! It w-w-won't work! *stops whispering* I-I'll h-have you know that I r-report directly to Michael the Archangel, one of the g-greatest--"

Lucifer had his eyes on a book the Luke had in his hands. "Luke. That book you've got in your hand... Do you realize what that is?"

"Y-You mean this...? I found it a minute ago. The sculpture on the stone coffin there was holding it..."

Beel's eyes widened. "I know that book..."

Mammon turned to them. "FINALLY! Ivy, Beel, you're here! IT TOOK YA LONG ENOUGH!"

"That's a grimoire."

"WHAT?!"

Luke was just as surprised. "Wh...!"

Ivy tilted her head. "A grimoire?"

Beel turned his eyes to her. "Yes. It's a book of magic known as a grimoire. Several of them exist. Actually, there's one installed on your D.D.D. as well, Ivy. 'Nightmare' is a grimoire. But Nightmare is nothing more than a trial version of sorts. It can temporarily borrow a demon's power. The grimoire Luke is holding has the power to control a demon--to make him do anything, even if it's in violation of a pact. Everything that we are rides on that book. We can never allow it to be stolen under any circumstances. I didn't realize that Lucifer was hiding it here in the underground tomb."

'I literally used one of those on you for your training.'
'Thank you for telling me Scorpio.'
'YOU USED A GRIMOIRE ON HER?!'
'Virgo, chill.'

Mammon turned to Beel. "This is no time to be standing around lost in thought, Beel! Get with the program! Now listen up, dog! What I wanna know is how you ended up lost in a place like this! No one else but us has access to this place! So how'd you get here?!"

Luke flinched. "I-I don't know! Y-Your guess is as good as mine! I tumbled down out of the closet in Beelzebub's room and found myself down here! And then--"

'I knew there was something wrong with that closet!'
'Virgo, gloat later. This is more serious.'

Lucifer turned his attention onto Luke. "Wait. Beelzebub's room...? Did I hear that correctly? Did you just say the words Beelzebub's room?"

Ivy caught Mammon's mumbles. "Uh-oh, this is bad...!"

"BEELZEBUB...!"

Ivy felt her her fear levels rise at that one word.