Caught in the Fire

Chapter XVIII: Our Last Goodbye

"Samael, I will wait for you," Chloe prayed, holding the bullet necklace over her heart.

Chloe stood on the balcony, watching as the Archangel Michael flew away in the dark of the night to save the Devil's soul from Hell. Mazikeen, in a drowning victim's borrowed body, had just left through the elevator, and she imagined that she was going to leave the body somewhere and return to Hell to meet up with Michael. Together, she hoped, they would be able to free Lucifer's soul from Hell and return him to Earth. She'd asked Michael to take her with him, but unfortunately, he couldn't take her to Hell without killing her. Alas, she was just a person, and all she could do was pray while the angels and the demon dealt with their celestial craziness.

"Michael said to keep praying to you, so that's what I'm going to do. It's not like I can do anything else."

She hated feeling this helpless. But what could she possibly do? She didn't have wings, and being mortal, she wouldn't last in Hell. So, she prayed, hoping that her prayers would help Lucifer on his journey back to Earth, or at least provide him with some much-needed comfort.

"Remember when I left you three hundred and thirty-seven voicemails when you ran off to Las Vegas?" she recalled fondly.

She imagined him painstakingly going through all those voicemails, muttering 'bloody Hell' as he liked to do. And of course, when she flooded his inbox again a few days back, although sadly, he probably didn't have time to listen to them before... Focus, Chloe.

"This is going to be a lot like that. You can yell at me later for flooding your prayer inbox or whatever you call it."

The prayers helped her feel close to him, and now that she knew he could hear her, she hoped the feeling was mutual. They were separated by unfathomable distance—by space and time itself. How far away was Hell from Earth anyway? Was it in another solar system? Another galaxy? Another universe? Were dimensions even a thing? Not only that, but each day on Earth was equal to around three hundred years in Hell. She had no idea how long her prayers would even take to reach him. If not for Mazikeen and Michael working together to bring Lucifer back to Earth, she would've lost Lucifer forever in space and time.

Chloe went to his bedroom and saw his body lying in that bed, devoid of any signs of life. She sat next to him and stroked his hair, feeling her heart breaking at seeing him in that state. She could see how dirty he'd gotten after lying in bed for two days collecting dust. There was sand in his hair, and beneath the scent of his expensive cologne that still lingered on him, she could detect a strong beach smell. He was always so clean, sweet-smelling, and impeccably dressed, and it was hard seeing him like that.

She imagined Lucifer's reaction to waking up from his long slumber in this state and she decided that she could freshen him up a bit in time for his arrival. She knew he wouldn't mind her doing it. In fact, if he were awake, she knew he'd spend the whole time making lewd comments. And she would've been rolling her eyes while secretly loving his commentary. She missed that. She missed him.

"Hold on, Samael. Michael's on his way."

***

Michael flew to the Throne of Hell, hoping that Mazikeen had kept her end of the bargain and was waiting for him there. He'd just left Chloe at the penthouse, and he hoped to be back in a few Earth minutes. Hopefully, everything would go according to plan and Lucifer would be alive and well by the conclusion of this day. He finally arrived at the throne and saw Mazikeen sleeping on the floor, using her jacket as a pillow. She was just snoring loudly with her long, brown hair all over her face. He couldn't help but be amused at the sight, then he forced himself to be stoic again.

"Demon." He waited for her to wake up, but when she didn't, he nudged her with his foot. "Demon, awaken. We are on a mission."

Upon feeling the touch, Mazikeen jumped back to her feet, grabbing her karambits from the floor, wild-eyed and disheveled. She noticed it was Michael and she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and straightened her hair. "Oh. It's you." She noticed Michael looking at her blades with disapproval, so she put them away. She saw that he was in that archangel armor again—wearing short hair and stubble like Lucifer this time—and she had to admit that she liked what she saw. "Took you long enough to get here, angel." She, of course, simply had to throw in that last part just to annoy him. "I've been waiting here for way too long."