'Cause In The End, You Are Part of Who I Am

The Fallen's Little Nightmare

"Huh?"

"Where am I?" The place he was in looked like Eden, but... with how creepy it is, perhaps this is an Eden imitation recreated in hell?

Then again, the real Eden had been the start of his little nightmare. It might as well be the start of his personal Hell.

He tried to sit up from his fetal position, only to scream out in agony as pain shot through his back. "What...?" His eyes widened in disbelief at what he's witnessing. His wings, or well... what's left of it, were torn so messily as if they had been attacked by a heavenly beast. And his surroundings... they were painted golden.

In his current condition, flying was not an option.

'Then, with my feet,' he thought, his entire body heavy with exhaustion.

His body needed more than just a moment to rest, let alone heal, but Lucifer knew he couldn't stay here a second longer.

He has duties, responsibilities to attend to, and... a family to look after.

So, dragging his feet, he tried to move his body, which was not only betraying him but actively screaming in pain. Yet no matter how many steps he took, he saw no exit. Instead, his surroundings remained the same, and even the physical markings he left behind seemed to disappear.

It's almost as if, no matter where he goes, he's trapped in the same place.

"W-what is happening?" he whispered, panic edging into his voice.

He hadn't been this frustrated since The Fall. Wings broken, magic depleted—the difference this time was that instead of a blazing wasteland, he was trapped in a forest, with trees that seemed poised to ensnare him. And worst of all, he was completely and utterly... alone —

His breath came in rapid, shallow gasps, each one sharper than the last. The air around him seemed to thicken, as if the very atmosphere were conspiring to suffocate him. His chest tightened, a crushing weight pressing down on him, making it impossible to draw a full breath. His heart pounded wildly, erratically, as if it were trying to break free from his ribcage, the thudding in his ears drowning out all other sounds.

His vision blurred at the edges, darkening as if the world were closing in on him. Thoughts raced through his mind, each one more chaotic and disjointed than the last, a whirlwind of fear and confusion that he couldn't control. He clutched at his chest, trying to steady himself, but it felt as though the ground beneath him was shifting, slipping away, leaving him teetering on the edge of an abyss. His stomach churned, a sickening wave of nausea rising up, threatening to overwhelm him. Every muscle in his body tensed, as though bracing for an impact that never came.

And in the midst of it all, a deep, primal terror gripped him—a fear that had no name or shape, but that consumed him entirely, leaving him paralyzed and gasping for air as if he were drowning.

—The chaos hit him like a storm, enveloping his entire being in an instant. He felt his energy drain away as his limbs finally gave out, and he collapsed to his knees, sagging to the ground.

Everything was painful and hard.

'how... suffocating.' His pain was, thankfully, numbed— perhaps because of his ruined nerve system —but so, too, had his mind.

Thinking was becoming difficult, a chore.

...That was when—

"Oh my, what do we have here?"

He met a man. He couldn't see much beyond the silhouette, but he could tell the man was as old as oak. He's wearing a top hat and holding a staff.

Something in those sunken eyes screamed danger, but the gentle smile was a familiar symphony.