Devil's Daughter

Chapter 0ne

"I'm sorry Lucifer, but she can't stay, she has no powers, and without powers she can't survive down here, she's useless, a weak link, the weakest link, she's a human!"

My father, Lucifer – yes, that Lucifer, the one who defied the Creator and is now known as the Devil or Satan, blah, blah, blah, – was having his weekly discussion over my well-being  with his friends – some of the most powerful, and deadliest men of the worlds. There's never a women involved. For months now, it's all been the same; she must leave, it's not safe, she doesn't belong here, and, worst of all, she's weak, a human. I mean, come on, you have your powers stolen from you when you're a baby, which is way too young to defend yourself, and for that, I'm the weakest link!  Hell is so unfair; sometimes I wish I was from Earth.

"I can't just send her away; she's my daughter, my youngest, for Heaven sakes! And besides, where would I send her, she doesn't know the ways of the other worlds. She's from Hell, born from and in the Darkness, if I send her away, all that darkness, all that evil, she could tip the balance!" my father fired back in response. It was always the same argument, always the same result, the men huddled together to come up with an ineffective reason for why I should leave my home and friends. Well, friend. Finally the huddle broke apart and a man I'd never seen before stepped forward.

"Lucifer, without her powers, she isn't fully dark, the fact that she is human means that the darkness doesn't control her, heck, it doesn't even touch the bloody lass and she's in Hell. There's light in her, and this isn't the place for any form of light except the glow of fire. The lass doesn't belong here and you know it. The bird's got to leave the nest at some point; we're just giving her a little push, that's all." He said in weird accent, it was a cross between Scottish and Southern, polite but rough, with a slight twang and drawl. You could tell he was choosing his words carefully. I turned my attention away from the unknown man, towards my father and waited for him to come to my defence - tell everyone to shut it, and end the discussion. Instead I heard my father sigh and bow his head.

"You're right, you all are, but I can't, there isn't anyone that can look after her, like I said before, she doesn't know how the other worlds work, they're so different, too different. She won't last, she's too young. Too weak." My father whispered and I felt a pang of hurt and was overwhelmed by betrayal at my father's words. Even he thought I was weak, that I was a mere human that wouldn't last. Anger built up inside me and I could feel the darkness stirring around me, affected by my mood.

"There is someone, and you won't even have to call," the unknown man said as he stepped closer to my father, whose head had lifted up at the statement.

"You don't mean..." he trailed off as the man nodded his head. "I thought she was dead," my father said his eyes lit up with hope, my anger boiled even more. The man nodded once more, his head slightly bowed.

"That's what she wanted you to believe, she's discovered some ways to deceive you, it was her that insisted I come here tonight and change your mind, she wishes to help."

"Why does she wish to help? There must be a reason, is Cassandra in trouble? Can she save her? Is it something else? Something worse?" my father asked rapid fast, panic obvious in his voice. The man shook his head and put a hand on my father's shoulder, comforting him.

"It's nothing like that, at least I don't think it is, you know she only tells us what we need to know and what we must do, nothing more. Look, it'll be fine, I know it's tough, saying goodbye and sending her away, but it's for the best, it'll be fine, she'll be fine. Trust me. Trust her." As he finished talking my anger grew into rage and it took everything in me not to run in the room and punch him, hard, in the face. I heard my father take a deep breath before saying the worst two sentences I've ever heard, and I've heard a lot.

"Fine, you win, I'll send her away. I'll send her where she belongs, on Earth, with the humans, with people like her."

"You've got to kidding me?" I bellowed as I flung the door open and marched into the room to face my father. "You can't possibly be thinking about sending me away, sending me to a different world, especially one where you can't visit!" I yelled before pointing at all the men in the room. "You're going to listen to a bunch of old evil farts, who are no longer feared, even little baby bunny rabbits aren't scared of these idiots anymore. Have you lost your mind? And to top it off you're going to send me to Earth in hopes that a women that you thought was dead will know I'm coming and will find me?"

"Cassandra, you don't understand, it's..." he never got to finish because I interrupted him.

"Let me guess, it's for the best, because I'm a weak human, that doesn't belong here!" I gave an exasperated sigh. "You know the reason I'm powerless is because my powers were stolen, by my sisters no less! If you would just do something about it, make them give me it back..." This time I was cut off.

"Cassandra, you know there's no proof, without proof I can't force anyone to do anything, even my daughters, it's how it works here." I felt my hands clench into fists.

"Dad, seriously! First, I still don't understand why there are bloody rules and laws in Hell, I mean, come on, it's Hell! And second what more proof do you need, one minute they have the normal amount of powers then I'm born with more power than them two put together, and the next thing I'm powerless and they have ten times more power! You raised them, watched them grow, and felt their power grow while mine faded! Isn't that proof enough, you're the leader here, you're the freaking Prince of Hell - because you're too humble to be called the King!" My nails had dug into my palms, tore the skin and I realised that everyone had left; it was just me and my father.

"Cassandra!" He bellowed, "Language!" I gawked at him, I was yelling at him for sending me away and he was talking about my language. I didn't even swear.

"Dad, please, don't send me away, I can't bear to lose you, this is where I belong, not Earth, not anywhere but here," I begged, my voice wobbled and I even felt the tears build up behind my eyes. But he only frowned and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry, honey, but it's final, and it's too late to change my mind anyway. You have to go. But I promise, if I think it's too hard for you or if something happens, I'll send for you, I'll bring you back, and I'll never send you away ever again." He came towards me and pulled me in for hug. My eyes swam with tears, I shook my head, tore away from him and ran. I ran away from the inevitable and ran towards the only person I trusted besides my father.