Smoke Against The Moon (Devil X OC Cuphead)

Chap. 16.

*The Devil's POV*

It was nice, having Shadow there to comfort me and to tell me that everything I believed about myself was a lie. It was nice to hear, even if it was hard to believe. Though somehow, coming from her, the girl with the broken soul, it made sense. It just resonated more than it would have with someone else because... I knew she wasn't bullshitting me. She was always honest. She always was with me.

I slept soundly with her on my chest that night and the next day we just kind of spent it together in my office. I had paperwork to do and she stayed in my lap as I worked, running her hands through the fur on my arm or kissing my cheek. I think she knew just how much I needed her and it felt so good to have her there.

She did however have to work that night so when she left my mood plumited. I was left there to do dumb paperwork by myself while my perverted customers oggled my girlfriend downstairs. Yeah... I wasn't happy.

Eventually I took to ignoring the papers and leaning back over the arms of my throne and blowing a piece of paper in the air again and again out of boredom, counting the minutes until the strip bar closed and Shadow would return to me but I was interrupted by a sudden knock that made me drop the paper and I sat up in my throne and glared at the door, about to yell at whoever disturbed me when that fimiliar hum hit my ears and my ears folded back. Oh great. Him again.
"Come in." I call sourly as I go back to filling out the papers.
Gabrielle steps in and smiles politely at me, making me want to slash that smile off his damn face. "Lucifer, sorry for the sudden intrusion but I've gained some knowledge you might find useful."
"Doubt it but go ahead since you're here." I say, glancing up briefly and giving him an indifferent shrug.
He sighs a small, sad sigh at my reaction to him, "it's about... shadow.." He says, saying her name uncertainty.
I look up fully, my attention grabbed, "did you find out more about her soul?" I ask.
He nods, "yes. I did. I found out that I can fix her... well not just me. All our brothers have agreed to help. It's rather simple actually. We help father create new souls together all the time, finishing an unfinished soul will be no different."
"So all our brothers are gonna...come here?" I ask, glancing around the room, very uncomfortable with the idea of all my older brothers in my realm at once. Of course I'd do it for Shadow but I wouldn't like it.
Gabrielle shakes his head, "no actually. I would take her with me to the court and we would finish her soul."
"T-take her to the court? A mortal? Are you insane? What would father say?" I ask, completely stunned. The only mortal allowed in the court had been Jesus and he was half fucking god!
"Actually he signed off on the whole idea. He said that was part of his original intentions for her to begin with, though he wouldn't elaborate."
I lean back in my throne and rub my eyes. I don't want my brother's in my realm but I REALLY don't want Shadow in the heavenly court where I can't get to her.
"I mean... It's honestly up to her. I can't make her go Gabrielle..." I say with a shrug.
"I understand. I'll be back in the morning. If she wishes to go I'll take her. If not then we will try and think of something else." He says simply, folding his hands behind his back.
"You'd bring her back... wouldn't you?" I ask softly, closing my eyes.
Gabrielle is quiet for a while but eventually asks, "why is that a concern brother?"
"Because I..." I open my eyes and look up but I'm still unable to bring myself to say it, to utter the words so I sigh and bow my head with a growl, "because *brother* SHE is MINE..."
Gabrielle sighs and nods. "If she wishes to return then I'll return her."
I nod slowly. "Good. Now get out."
And without another word Gabrielle opens his portal and slips out of my office, leaving me alone once again and I rest my head in my hands on the desk before me. "Fuck..." I whisper.

I must have fallen asleep at my desk after that because the next thing I knew I was woken up by a blanket being gently draped over my shoulders and Shadow kissing my cheek. "Shadow? Darling?" I murmur sleepily.
I see her smile as I open my eyes and she nods, running a hand over one of my horns. "I just got back. Wanna head to bed?"
I nod, standing slowly with a stretch before reaching down and scooping her into my arms, heading for the bedroom with my face buried against her neck, taking in her scent. She smelled fresh and clean so I guess she showered after her sets were done.
I lay us down in the bed and pull the sheets up over us and sigh. "Shadow?"
"Yes?" She whispers as she nuzzles herself against me.
"My brother was here..."
"What did he want?" She asked gently, her voice sounded a little defensive.
"He said he found a way to fix your soul..."
She goes quiet for a while and I wonder for a moment if she'd fallen asleep but she spoke before I could check to see.
"How? What would he have to do?" She asked.
I look down at her, her eyebrows are furrowed and her lips are set in a hard line.
I sigh and carefully explain what my brother had told me and as I speak she sits up off me and looks off into the dark of the room.
I sit up with her and place a gentle hand on her back. "It's your choice. You don't have to go..."
She looks back at me, a strange look in her eyes. She's scared sure but there's something else, something more...
"What's wrong shadow?"
She bites her lip and looks away from my gaze. "Your dream you had... when your brother told you that you'd never have your powers back until you took his halo... what did that mean?"
I blink, surprised by the question and the fact that she had even caught that with everything else in the dream I'd unloaded on her.
"W-well... when I was cast from heaven my halo was destroyed and my wings were given to Gabrielle. My father said that only when I have the ability to love another will I be able to remove my brother's halo and regain my wings and my powers. I am still powerful and I still have my gifts over souls, being able to see and remove them from humans, and then the demonic powers of being able to keep the damned souls in Hell but... if I had my wings back... I'd be able to keep certain souls alive in their mortal bodies forever. Back in the old days I was why people lived so long, then when I was cast down from heaven their lives grew shorter and shorter. Essentially I could make people live forever if I wanted to... father took that power from me because he said that power in the hands of one who doesn't know what love is is useless." I look down at Shadow and think briefly about how my time with her will be so short, how my time with dice was short, my time with everyone in the casino was short, but especially shadow. What I'd give to make her live forever like me.
She nods slowly and takes a deep breath. "And I can come back? They won't make me stay?"
I shake my head and snake my arm around her, pulling her to my side. "Of course. I'd never let them keep you. You're mine."
She turned her face against me and I felt her smile against my chest. "Promise?" She whispered.
I smile and nod, snapping my fingers and a vile of red liquid appears in my hand, I hand it to her and she turns it over in her fingers to inspect it in the dim light. "What's this?"
"A way out. My blood. Use this on a wall to draw a pentagram and it'll open a portal to my office and you'll be home." I explain. "But don't let my brother's know you have it. No part of me is allowed in the court. Not even my blood."
She nods and holds it in her hands tightly before sighing. "Guess I'll get to find out what a whole soul feels like after all."
"I guess you will." I say with a chuckle, pulling her to lay back on the bed again, still wondering why she asked about the halo and my dream...