God's Gone AWOL

[4] An Air Humidifier

After eighty-five years of pointedly avoiding the affairs between Heaven and Hell, the last thing Atticus expected was to find himself standing alone and face-to-face with Lucifer.

Of all the angels and demons across all four realms, why did it have to be Atticus? What made him even the slightest bit worthy of being in this particular place? At this particular time?? With this particular deity??? Why?!? Why couldn't it have been someone a whole lot braver? Like Bentley? Or anyone else other than him? He was already trembling in fear and the former bellhop had hardly even said anything yet.

However, no matter how terrified he was, the angel couldn't run away. Not only because he had no idea how he would physically be able to escape if he tried, but also because he was already involved in the whole mess. He couldn't just take off. And he definitely couldn't leave Bentley —wherever she was— so the only choice was to stick around and face off with Lucifer himself.

"That message in the maze was really meant for us, then?" he asked first.

"It was supposed to be, yeah," Lucifer replied, "But you didn't even get through the whole thing before you started blasting holes in my shrubs and cheated your way out of the game,"

It really wasn't much of a game. It was more like an evil psychological torture maze. But Atticus didn't say anything out loud.

"If you were the one who wrote that poem, you already know more about what Bentley is doing than even she does,"

Lucifer lazily stretched out under the light again.

"Well, I didn't write it," he said, "Me Mum was the one who wrote it —and she knows literally everything— so I can't say I have too much insight on the situation, but yes, I do know a little,"

He spoke very quickly, and with great excitement in his voice. It was as if his words were a rushing stream, all seamlessly connected in a steady flow. Everything about him screamed "EXTROVERT", from his intimidating and overwhelming personality, to the way he waved his hands about when he spoke. Atticus, as one of the most introverted creatures in all existence, had some difficulty keeping up the energy.

"Your darling companion Bentley Hellbourne has been employed to finish what she started, and put a stop to the war between Heaven and Hell before it escalates to the point of genocide —which it is doing rather rapidly if I do say so meself.

"This wee little angel, —whom I've forgotten the name of already... ATTICUS, that's it!— has decided to help her. But because he's apparently the only other living thing capable of holding that piece of God's soul he's been carrying around, quite a few people are trying to figure out where he's gone. And I'll tell ye, they are not gonna be happy when they find out he's glued himself to the side of his old rival. Aye, that's gonna be quite the problem. And they're gonna be even less happy when he refuses to let himself become a weapon in the upcoming greatest biblical battle of our time,"

"What did you just say—?"

But Lucy just plowed on.

"Bentley has been given order from a cryptic and utterly aloof figure who revealed itself to her after bringing her back from the dead. First, she was told to find a Nephilim, then to find me. But even now that she's found us, there are still a ton of questions floating around surrounding, well, everything involved.

"Number one: Why can Atticus carry the soul fragment? It makes sense that Bentley is unbothered because at the moment, she is completely and entirely invincible after her original and untimely death. But why can this boring and unremarkable wee baby angel handle the greatest power in existence without instantly evaporating?"