Halo Of Horns (Discontinued)

THREE

Lucifer never knew the joys of being a parent and he never thought he would have the chance. To be a father was next to being Godly and he was anything but similar to Him.

It wasn't all fun and at times the stress, anger, and worry consumed him. The pain and trials of raising a young girl would never end, up to her dying breath, but he would be there all the while to brush away the tears and hold her hand. She had no one else and truly... neither did he.

He loved her dearly, waiting for her to wake every morning and come bounding into his office or bedroom if he was sleeping in late, prepared for breakfast. Sometimes she would ask him to do her hair or help her pick out an outfit but now that she was six years old she was becoming wildly more independent.

His pride was overwhelming and grew to an unhealthy degree. Watching her grow meant losing her and he would rather burn in the Lakes of Fire for a thousand years before allowing her to age another second. He would encourage her to develop and explore, but at the same time wanted to wrap her in protective padding and lock her in her room.

Time and time again he found himself distracted from his work and evading his confined office to watch over her while she played. Recently, her new obsession was the small snakes that would slither through the cracks in the doorways. It wasn't common but just like mice in the mortal realm they would appear and make the castle their home.

Irina loved to watch them quickly race down the corridors and chase them to the end. Then she would hold out her tiny hand so they could glide up her arm and curl around her wrist.

The serpents were harmless and came from Leviathan, who Lucifer sensed was sending more every day to play tricks on him.

All the fallen knew of Irina, the secret not able to be held very well. It was obvious something was different about Lucifer and whenever one of the brothers was to visit, he was distracted and erratic. More than usual that was.

He figured, in order to keep her safe, it was best all learned of her existence and to keep quiet around others. If word were to reach the heavens, they would take his gift away.

He would never allow that.

She was such a light in the dark gloom that hung over what the mortals had so correctly deemed Hell- he would die before losing her. That was if he could. In that case, he would rather live the most horrific of lives and suffer every day before harm came to a single hair on her head.

Six years and counting...

And Azazel was counting.

Mortals only lived for an average of 70- 80 years. In that time she would hopefully mature enough to be somewhat tolerable. He struggled to find a single good point in her existence but other than the smile on his brother's face, he came up short.

Every time she had a nightmare he could hear her cries and Lucifer running to her aid. Because of this, he moved into a tower on the west end of the castle, as far away from their bedrooms as possible.

The tower was a decent walk from the throne room, the dining room, Irina's chambers, and really any other room used on a daily basis. It was completely out of the way and no one entered except for Azazel and a shade who would dust and clean for him.

No one was supposed to be in his tower.

But this invisible wall did not stop the wandering mind and legs of a young girl, who wanted to find new places to play and explore. It did not stop her from following him when he retired to his bed at night, just to see where it was he went. She had this magnetic desire to know everything about her housemate who paid her very little attention.