The truth shall set you free

1. Truth or dare

Written by VeGirl 2018

"It is all true..." Chloe staggered backwards, her voice weak with fear and perhaps her own naivety, but she was unaware of it in that moment. All she could do was stare at that face; was it even a face? All she could see was red and charred flesh, but still it was Lucifer, she was sure. "It's all true," she heard herself say again, even if she wasn't aware of forming those words.

"I told you..." Lucifer spoke slow, only partly aware of the devil face that still marked him as the ultimate bad. "I don't lie, detective."

Fear prohibited Chloe from anything but staggering backwards. She needed to get away from this creature, to get to safety, but where was safe now. It was impossible to draw a full breath, and eventually small dots danced in her vision until darkness fell.

~ ~ ~

She woke up with a jerk, determined to pull herself out of the nightmare that was tormenting her. Gasping for air she found herself in her bedroom, trying to understand the nightmare. As soon as Lucifer's devilish face popped up to the surface of her mind, she knew that it wasn't a nightmare at all, but the truth. He was the Devil. Her heart started to race again. How could it be true that he was the actual devil?

The devil was only a metaphor for the fight between good and evil; God and the Devil. He spoke of God as his father, and it sounded like a really dysfunctional relationship.

The numbing fear slowly slipped away enough for Chloe to think about a retreat. Lucifer could find her here, but where could she go to hide? Dan? No, first of all he had enough with his own grief and secondly; he would never understand.

Her usually logical brain refused to cooperate. "Think, think," she said out loud, unaware if she perhaps had that conversation for others to hear as well. She stopped in mid motion. "Linda, I must go to Linda."

~ ~ ~

Lucifer stood by the railing of his balcony at Lux, overlooking the city of lost angels beneath him. His heart was... well, he wasn't quite sure what he was feeling. Things had not planned out tonight. Surely he hadn't expected Chloe to back away with that much fear expressed that obvious. Linda had only frozen still when she saw his true face. On the other hand; which was the true face and which was not? Who said that the evil face was true? He sighed and took another puff on his cigarette. "Come out Maze, I know you're there," he said resigned.

A glass of whiskey was offered but he turned it down. His angelic wings were still surrounding his silhouette since the escape from the crime scene. He had taken Chloe in his arms and flown her home. The wings still bore trace after Pierce's shooting, or should he say Cain's, but the wounds were healing.

"The body is clear, there is no sign of my blade," Maze informed him, "and the other ones are placed so it looks like you were never there. Your sister swept in and cleaned the scene from angelic tissue. All is taken care of." It was an attempt to lighten the mood of her master, but to no avail.

Lucifer stood in contemplating silence, as if Maze's effort meant nothing to him. When he opened his mouth again she knew why. "Chloe was there and saw everything, remember?"

Chloe, Maze thought; he didn't call her detective? She refrained from uttering her silent comment. At this moment that would not have worked in her own favor. "So, she couldn't see the beauty in you anymore," she said instead, hitting the nail.

He slowly turned around to face his old friend and combatant; his demon. The red devil face was still visible and Maze took a step closer, her hand reached for it and her eyes glistened with the amazement she felt in the presence of his true visage. He observed her in silence a while, without revealing the slightest emotion. "I suppose I wasn't her cup of tea." He turned away from her again.

"Tea, urgh!" Maze was trying to lighten the mood to no avail. Lucifer showed no sign that he had heard her. "Let me bring you something strong." She marched over to the bar and reached for the bottle far to the left. The Amber liquid sloshed inside the bottle as she remover the wax sealing and opened the bottle. It was not new; it was in fact very old and kept for a special occasion. Maze had a more festive occasion in mind when she pictured the opening of the oldest whiskey in the bar, but it seemed appropriate. What could cheer the Devil up more than an Old Vatted Glenlivet, a 155 years old whiskey from Scotland. This was one of the oldest on earth and one of the bottles she had planned to take with her as she returned to Hell.

It physically pained her to see her Master feeling so low. She was filled with a need to kill Chloe for not accepting the grandiose form Lucifer possessed at that moment. The Lord of Darkness stood by the railing in all his splendor. Power radiating from his form, but also sadness. Tears sprung to her eyes as emotions threatened to choke her.

"Drink!" She offered a glass of the amber spirit and took a gulp herself.

Next to each other they stood, the Devil and his demon; his spawn, overlooking the city of humans below them. Once again Maze was filled with emotions. "All these human feelings..." She cleared her voice. "Linda says that feelings makes me strong, but they only make me weak." Her voice got clogged with mentioned emotions and tears pooled in her eyes. "Lucifer, take me home. I can't stand it here. Take me back to hell."

.