Chapter Text
The moment Lucifer exited the room, Alastor’s mind was left reeling.
Lucifer had obvious memory problems.
How in hell had he not seen it before? The king’s strange behavior— his odd behavior.
It made so many things make sense.
And clearly it was quite severe, considering that he had told Alastor that his hair was nice looking tied up again.
Lucifer had also seemed confused after he said it, but he didn’t even seem to realize he already complimented Alastor on that.
It was baffling.
Alastor wanted to know why.
The king was so interesting and confusing, and was a box of mysteries that Alastor could not find the answer to.
It irritated him.
Alastor shut his book and stood up from his seat, he summoned his shadow with a snap and turned to it.
“Follow him.” He said. The shadow grinned and disappeared off to do as commanded.
Alastor placed the book in the library’s return bin before exiting the room, heading off back in the direction of the Lobby.
The moment he entered, the room dissolved into whispers.
They talked about how he had the king with him. How they had spent hours alone in the library together.
Good.
They understood that the King of Hell was only to be messed with by the Radio Demon.
Alastor grinned.
He then noticed the demon from earlier, she was currently walking out into the front to go smoke. Alastor silently followed her.
She sighed and lit a cigarette, leaning against the exterior wall of the hotel.
“Well hello again!” Alastor said cheerfully, making his way over to her.
He snatched her cigarette and crushed it under his boot.
“I think it’s time we continued our discussion from earlier, yes?” He stepped forward.
“You see, while the king of hell may not be able to hurt you sinners, I certainly can.” The street lights flickered.
Alastor disappeared from where he was standing and appeared on her other side, less than a foot away from her.
“And I do not take kindly to others messing with my toys. I’m sure you understand.” He got less than an inch away from her face, his form growing in height, his antlers expanding in length, and the street lights turning green.
“You… do understand, yes?” He said, his voice low and threatening.
She let out a small whimper of fear, “O-Of course! It won’t happen again, I swear it!” She exclaimed.
Alastor returned to his normal form, a smug grin forming on his face. “Good.” He leaned in, “You better.” He threatened, before he dissolved into the shadows and was gone
___
Alastor’s shadow followed Lucifer around as he went about his day.
And the king’s routine was admittedly kind of sad.
Lucifer had spent about an hour wandering the hotel to find Charlie, only for her to always leave immediately after he entered the room, or completely ignore him for other conversations.
After that, the king went to the bar and drank enough to kill a man, but was still sober, if not a little tired looking.
Then, after Husk closed down the bar, Lucifer made his way back to his room.
The shadow watched as Lucifer just stood there for a solid minute, staring blankly at something in the darkness, his eyes empty.
It was like the king wasn’t even there.
The shadow noticed the king rub the gem on his wedding band before his eyes slid over to his desk in a way that was almost mechanical.
Then the king walked over to his desk and grabbed something from a drawer, it glinted slightly in the faint light.
It was a dagger made of angelic steel.
Before Alastor’s shadow realized what was happening, the king rolled up his sleeve, took the dagger, and stabbed it violently into his wrist, the blade going completely through his flesh and poking out the other side.
Then the king did it again.
And again.
And again.
Afterwards, the king was left panting, his face appearing distorted and odd to the shadow. Then, he cleaned off the blade and set it back in the drawer.
Lucifer opened another drawer of his desk and pulled out some bandages and wrapped up his arm, then rolled the sleeve back down.
After the process was over, Lucifer then seemed to blink suddenly in surprise, the life returning to his eyes.
“…what just happened? How did I get here…?” Lucifer mumbled, seeming incredibly confused and a little dazed.
Lucifer looked down at his arm where some blood bled through his sleeve, and his eyes widened, his mask forming a sad expression.
“Oh shit- how did that happen?” Lucifer exclaimed, seeming a bit startled.
Did the king not realize he had done that to himself?
He hadn't seemed very conscious doing the whole thing as well.
The shadow was confused.
Then the king seemed to freeze, before turning to face the shadow with an unreadable expression.
But the room was so dark, he couldn’t possibly see it—
“I see you.” The fallen angel said, before he took a step forward, his wings stretching out from his back and his many eyes opening.
“I suggest you get out before I 尺丨卩 卂卩卂尺ㄒ ㄚㄖㄩ尺 卂ㄒㄖ爪丂 卂几ᗪ 乇几丂ㄩ尺乇 ㄚㄖㄩ尺 爪卂丂ㄒ乇尺 匚卂几几ㄖㄒ 尺乇匚尺乇卂ㄒ乇 ㄒ卄丨丂 爪卂Ꮆ丨匚 卂Ꮆ卂丨几”
Alastor’s shadow promptly left the room.
___
Alastor was walking back to his own room when his shadow reappeared.
He let out an annoyed sound, “Why have you returned early? I sent you to watch the king. I did not tell you to return.” Alastor growled at the Shadow, grabbing its wrist and pulling it into his bayou room.
The shadow let out a series of screeches and whimpers, before Alastor let out a frustrated sigh and released the thing.
“Explain to me, slowly.” He demanded in a low, threatening voice.
Then the shadow went and explained everything it saw, sounding a bit frantic.
Once it was done, Alastor was completely still his hand gripping the table in his bayou so hard that it snapped.
“He… stabbed himself? And then forgot?” He repeated, his voice low.
Alastor was in disbelief.
Clearly the king’s issues were incredibly bad, worse than the king himself even realized.
What drove him to stab himself? The king had not displayed any signs of depression to that extent until the moment he did it.
His shadow had found it hard to explain it but had described it as if a puppet’s strings had suddenly been pulled.
Did the king have a soul deal?
No, that would not make sense.
The king did not even have a soul to trade so it had to be something else.
Alastor needed to do some research…
___
The next day, Alastor found Lucifer in the hotel’s lounge, wearing his usual outfit sans the coat.
The king was sat down in one of the lounge chairs, wearing his mask but skipping out on the hat and instead just having a cloth veil over his head.
And as Alastor expected, Lucifer seemed to be avoiding any pressure or weight on the arm he stabbed.
Alastor made his way over to the king and approached behind his chair, before he rested his elbows on the back of it and looked down at the fallen angel.
“Well good morning, your majesty!” Alastor said with a grin. The king flinched, before letting out a sigh and looking up towards Alastor.
“Good morning uh, Alastor.” Lucifer said, sounding bored but there was a slightest bit of friendliness to the devil’s tone that sent a wave of smug satisfaction through him.
It did bother him how the fallen angel hesitated on his name though. He supposed he should be grateful he remembered it at all if his memory was truly as bad as Alastor was beginning to believe.
“Do you mind if I join you today?” Alastor asked, a smile forming on his face that was way too genuine for his own liking.
Why did he derive so much joy from the king’s presence?
Lucifer seemed a bit surprised by the question, “I don’t see why not. I think you’ll find my day dreadfully boring however.” Lucifer said.
The fallen angel closed his book before standing up.
He turned back to Alastor before holding out his hand expectantly, waiting for the overlord to take it.
The radio demon hesitated, before he took the king’s hand.
Then in a dizzying movement, the two were transported to a room Alastor had not seen before. Then, the overlord realized where he was.
He was in the Morningstar Palace.
“Well quit gaping. You wanted to join me today and I was going to spend my day in the palace today.”
Lucifer said, staring at him with a bored expression and crossed arms.
Alastor blinked and turned back to Lucifer, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
Why was he so embarrassed? He is the god's damned radio demon!
“Of course; my apologies, your highness.” Alastor said with a mock apologetic voice before following the king down several hallways.
The place was built like a maze, every turn having tons of paths to take and very few markers of direction, yet the king navigated it perfectly.
It was dreadfully empty though, Alastor wondered how Charlie managed to grow up here.
“Awfully confusing of a building. Did you enjoy making mazes when designing the place?” Alastor teased, a playful grin on his face as he sped up to walk aside Lucifer.
“The palace has magic in place to confuse every sinner who enters. Anyone who is a member of the royal family can see its actual appearance and as such can navigate it better.” Lucifer explained boredly.
Ah. So it was an illusion then.
Suddenly, Lucifer stopped and turned to face a wall where there was a large painting of Lucifer, Lilith, and Charlie when she was younger.
The king was not wearing anything on his face, but Alastor knew it was not his true face, but perhaps an imitation of what he once looked like when he was an angel.
The king approached the wall and poked it once with his finger. Then a door appeared in a small burst of golden light.
Lucifer opened the door and allowed Alastor to enter first.
The inside looked like an office of sorts. There were many paintings and family portraits of the Morningstars and some of whom Alastor assumed were the six other deadly sins.
Lucifer walked past Alastor and sat down at a large desk, summoning a quill before sighing as he grabbed a paper from atop a stack.
Lucifer hesitated, before he turned back around in his chair and summoned a large comfy chair near his desk for Alastor to sit in. Then, he made a stack of several books that Alastor had noticed in the library that he had considered reading sometime in the future.
“I’ll be working for a while, so you can read in the meantime if you’d like.” Lucifer offered, turning back around in his chair and returning his attention to the paperwork.
Then, he did something Alastor wasn’t expecting.
Lucifer removed his mask.
Of course, he still had that veil sans the hat, and he appeared to be wearing a large amount of bandages over his face underneath said veil which obscured any details.
But it still surprised Alastor.
The overlord made his way over to the chair Lucifer acquired for him and was surprised to find it was the exact type of chair that he preferred to sit in.
Had the king been paying attention to what he liked?
Alastor would not admit it if asked, but he was very flattered.
He grabbed a book and quietly opened it, summoning reading glasses and removing his monocle to properly read the text as the font was a tad too small to be properly readable.
Then, the two sat in quiet as they minded to their own businesses.
___
After a few hours, Lucifer finally finished up all of the paperwork which had been piled up over the past year or two which he had neglected.
Alastor was startled when the king then let out a small hiss of pain, sitting up in his chair.
“I’m fine! Everything’s alright. You can calm down.” Lucifer said quickly, grabbing his arm and holding it still.
It was the arm Lucifer had stabbed, Alastor realized.
The devil magicked what appeared to be some bandages and replaced the old ones which were stained with golden blood.
“How did that happen?” Alastor spoke up, already knowing the answer but wondering if Lucifer would answer truthfully.
The king paused momentarily, before he finished the wrapping.
“I… don't remember.” Lucifer said quietly, his hand absentmindedly tracing a circle over his wedding band.
Hmm…
“That’s a little odd.” Alastor said after a moment. “Does… that happen often?” The overlord asked.
Lucifer considered for a moment. “I… don’t know. I’m sure I was just careless with something or I got it when I… when I…” Lucifer trailed off, his brow furrowing as if he was confused.
Then, the king summoned his journal with a small burst of flame, and rapidly turned the pages until he reached the date Alastor realized was the day that he and Lucifer had spent time in the library.
After a moment, Lucifer continued. “I’m sure I got it during the whole thing with Box…” Lucifer finished quietly, closing the journal and setting it on his desk.
It was within arms reach if Alastor was bold enough to grab it.
“Vox.” Alastor spoke up, “He was called Vox. Not ‘Box’.” He said, his brow furrowing.
Lucifer couldn’t even remember the whole kidnapping properly? That whole thing should have been incredibly traumatic yet the angel acted as if it was barely an event of importance.
Lucifer paused at that, turning to Alastor. “I’ll… write that in then I suppose.” Lucifer said, grabbing his journal and scribbling down in it.
“What else do you not remember?” How can Alastor exploit this?
Lucifer hesitated for a moment, seeming to weigh if he should answer honestly.
“I can’t remember for the life of me how I even got in that weird jar thing. I try to remember but the closest I get is I think I was watching a video on my phone… but then I got a call and then… I was in the box.” Lucifer admitted.
So the king would have just random massive memory gaps? That’s incredibly convenient if Alastor ever needs to interrogate the king without him knowing.
“That’s… unfortunate…” Alastor said eventually, his tone careful.
They sat there for a moment, before Alastor spoke up. “May I ask you another question, sire?”
Lucifer contemplated. “Sure, but I have the right to not answer if I wish.” He agreed.
Alastor grinned.
He stood up, walking around and approaching Lucifer’s chair from the front and leaning over the king, placing both of his arms on the arm rests of it.
Lucifer’s eyes widened, seeming a bit startled by Alastor getting all up in his space.
“You may not recall, but do you ever remember receiving any summonings during the 1930’s?” Alastor said, his voice low and with a slight purr to it.
Lucifer’s brow furrowed, thinking for a second. Then, his eyes widened. “I may vaguely recall getting a few calls to summons then… although that was when Charlie was going through puberty and Lilith actually called for some backup on that one.” He said hesitantly, looking up towards Alastor.
Alastor’s eyes narrowed. “And you just ignored them…?”
“I started ignoring those after they did all those weird witch hunts and demon hunts in the… what century was that? Plus a lot of those in the 30’s were human sacrifices… I only jam with sacrificial lambs.” Lucifer replied nervously.
Lucifer only responded to lamb sacrifices?
He just needed a damn lamb?!
Alastor stood up straight, his brow furrowed in thought.
“Let me guess, those were you?” Lucifer said, his head tilting curiously.
Alastor let out an annoyed huff and crossed his arms, glancing away from Lucifer. “Don’t mock me.” He said with a growl.
Lucifer chuckled and stood up on his chair so he was a similar height to Alastor and reached his arm up to playfully ruffle the overlord’s hair and gently pet his ears.
Alastor let out a loud radio screech, but that did not deter the king who just chuckled and removed his hand.
Why did he kind of enjoy being pet for a second?
“Calm down, Bambi. I’m just teasing you.” Lucifer said with an amused tone of voice, but it lacked any bite or mocking.
Alastor let out a dramatic sigh, huffing and sitting back down in his chair and crossing his arms. “Do not call me that.”
Lucifer snorted, resting his arms on the armrest and his chin between his hands. “What do you want me to call you then?” The fallen angel said with a light tone to his voice. His tail swayed back and forth behind him in his chair in a way that endeared Alastor.
Damn this stupid king.
Alastor did pause for a moment to consider what the king could call him.
He didn’t want the king to call him something stupid, nor anything too unfriendly.
“Because I can just start naming names until you pick one—“
“Al.” Alastor cut him off. “You can call me Al.”
Lucifer blinked, before his eyes smiled in a way Alastor could tell he was grinning under his veil.
“Alrighty then, Al.” Lucifer said, standing up out of his chair. He grabbed his mask and placed it back on his face, and then he turned.
“I’ll be back in a second, I need to go grab something.” Lucifer said, rushing off to another room.
Lucifer’s journal was right there.
Alastor motioned his shadow to grab it, which it did with a grin before disappearing off.
They had perfect timing as Lucifer made his way back to Alastor and approached him.
He held his hand out to the overlord, another expectant look on his face.
“Well I’m finished up here, so let’s get going.” Lucifer said.
Alastor hesitated before he took the king's hand. Then the room spun as they reappeared in the hotel.
God, that made him motion sick.
“Well, this has been a pleasant day.” Alastor said after a moment, looking back over to Lucifer who released his hand.
Lucifer nodded, a smile appearing on his mask. “It was.” He agreed, “I’ll see you around then, Al?” He said with a light tone.
Alastor nodded, a grin spreading on his face. “Of course, your majesty!”
Lucifer paused, frowning. “No. I get to call you Al, so you can call me Lucifer. No more ‘your majesty’ bullshit. Alright?” He said.
Alastor was so good at this.
“As you wish, Lucifer.” He said with a grin before dissolving into the shadows.
___
Alastor reappeared in his bayou room and grinned proudly to himself.
He lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke, enjoying the burn on his throat.
He set it down before turning to his magic companion.
“Bring it here.” He said to the shadow who smiled widely, carrying the journal over to him.
The journal was old looking, but had been preserved by time with very powerful magic.
It was definitely Lucifer’s journal.
He flipped through the pages, seeing entries that dated back to before even the American civil war.
His teeth glowed in the dim lighting of his room.
“Let’s get reading then, shall we?”