The Sin Hunter: Double or Nothing

A Message for the King

"And put those imbeciles who set the trampoline on fire OUT of this mansion!" Lucifer poured over the deep red carpets of his home in disgust, rubbing his eyelids while attending to a very tedious and expanding list dragging beside him while he attended his morning routine. Sweeping into the kitchen, Lucifer checked off another set of lists while he waited for his toast to finish. "Shipping orders, check. Lust's new premiere, 'Shot in the Dark'? Approved. Wrath's new Angelic Security?" At this segment, Lucifer's eyes widened in stunned puzzlement. The King of Hell pulled the text into the air with his fingertips, dragging through the news headline from Doomsday Inc.  

"In our latest interview with the newly crowned Lord of Wrath, tensions rise between Wrath and Envy as the race for the most highly advanced security protocols clash in the sales department." Lucifer threw the words back against the piece of parchment in disgust while he retrieved his toast, spreading pads of salted butter and fresh jam across their crisp surfaces. "Good Heaven above. You'd think Azazel would realize his older sibling in Sloth has cornered such a market as security." Lucifer took his seat at the head of the dining hall when one of his imp butlers arrived from the warming room, carrying a large, leather bound book. "L-Lord Lucifer! The Rulers of Hell wish to speak with you!" The King of Hell turned in surprise, retrieving the book from the small imp.

"I see. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Melia." Lucifer glossed through his book of spells and lists when the long piece of parchment hovered against his shoulder. Lucifer turned, irritated when he snapped a finger, sending the parchment crashing against his wall, breaking into piles of text and scrambled messages. "Send those to my Recovery Department, not me," the King of Hell muttered through a mug full of coffee. "Alright. Now then, let's see what my little Children have to say today," Lucifer continued, sweeping along the important information. "Azazel just transferred thirty more prisoners. Good, good. Satan had a 'very' lucky night out? I'll have to ask her how that went.

"Mammon, the new Prince of Greed," Lucifer grinned, turning to Melia and faking a gagging impression, to which the tiny imp maid chuckled. Lucifer slid back in his seat, ignoring the book for a moment while crossed his fingers. "What happened to Beelzebub? He wasn't my favorite, but I'd take that snake-oil salesman any day over that worthless clown of a Ruler." Lucifer sat forward, returning to the book. "...has a report of a fated arrival from the Living World...to...Hell..." Lucifer droned away, suddenly very quiet with widened eyes. Melia inched around the table, her lashes batting in concern. "Uhm...Lord Lucifer?" She asked.

The King of Hell snapped back to reality, his attitude frayed and distorted. "Eh? Oh. Oh, no. No no no, this will not do!" Lucifer pushed away from the table, downing his coffee before shouting, "LILITH! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" then quickly sprinting away from the room. Corners flashed by, trophies appeared and disappeared, tapestries portrayed the bloodiest battles and the most bloodstained Kings and Queens of Hell to ever grace myth and fantasy forever as Lucifer swept through his mansion, finally encountering his wife, Lilith, in the private study. Lucifer broke through the doors in a panicked rush while Lilith turned in shock, cradling their child. "Lucifer? Is something wrong?" she asked.

The King of Hell strode forward, eyes vacant and tears forming as he planted both gloved hands firmly on his wife's shoulders in a desperate fear. "He's coming back to Hell." Lilith raised her cream blond eyelashes, puzzled. "He? Who's he?" Lucifer shook his own dirty blond hair, eyes quivering in panic as Lilith put a hand to her ruby red lips. "Oh. Oh no...not him..." Lucifer wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder, using his other to cradle his sleeping infant. "The Sin Hunter will NOT be tolerated in Hell. Not again, not after all the carnage he caused the last time he was here." Lucifer lowered his brim to his child, who had just woken from their nap. "And especially not now that I have something greater than any amount of wealth or power in my home."

Lucifer stood from his lowered position, snapping his fingers as he turned to face a new imp butler, and perhaps his most trusted individual in all of Hell. "Winfrey!" Lucifer summoned, and the aged butler, with a wispy white mustache and iron gray hair, stepped into the room with clicking hooves. "Yes, Lord? What has you so worked up?" Lucifer gritted his teeth, striding to the study window, overlooking all of Hell. "Prepare my Deathwing Knights. Hell must be ready if it's to receive a very unwelcome guest in its gates once again." Winfrey exchanged a panicked glance with Lilith and the child. "So it's finally happening, sir?" Lucifer twisted his top hat to face Winfrey, golden eyes slitted in beads of red.

"Of course it is, my dear butler. And by the Good Lord's faith and good promise, and all my fathers and their fathers have sworn to fulfill, Hell will not crumble beneath that man's boot again. I swear by that, and will now be addressing him first and foremost myself the moment he enters Hell again." Winfrey nodded, seizing his dustpan and broom like weapons of war. "At once, and at your service, Lord. I will alert the Deathwing to their positions." The imp butler sprinted from the room while Lilith turned to her husband in concern. "But darling, we made peace with the Sin Hunter. Jack himself made peace with us. Why would he try to harm us again?" Lucifer shuddered a breath, popping out the collar of his tailored white suit.

"The protection is not for the Sinners and demons. It's for Jack." Lilith widened her eyes in surprise. "I...I don't understand, dear," she responded. Lucifer turned away from the window, taking Lilith's hands in his. "You are correct. The Sin Hunter has made peace with us. But I'm worried about the chaos that will run like the blood of our people in the streets, coating our way of life when he returns. The nightmares, the wars, the Sin Hunter is a harbinger of chaos and destruction. The protection is for him and his allies, whatever brings them to Hell." Lilith nodded, and Lucifer directed his attention to his infant child. "And they will protect you as well, my little one. Do not worry, do not shed a tear. I will always be here to protect you."