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“You’re a fucking monster,” he seethes, spitting at me like I don’t have him balancing on the fine line.
“Duh,” I say, pulsing my eyes wide. “Get with the program. We all are.”
“Even if I die here today, my father will see to your end.”
I slice my sword down, severing a wing from his body, and it tumbles into the pit I’ve opened up to the center of the Earth. He howls, his chest pulsing as he hyperventilates.
“He’ll have to fucking fight me first.” I kick my boot against his middle as he falls and I watch as he disappears into the glowing red light in the bottom. His screams stop and I use my power and magic to seal the crevasse shut.
The world is silent… too quiet, if you ask me. I glance around, seeing no sign of the shadows that crawled across the ground. Climbing the hill, I find Asmo holding someone in his lap. Rushing forward, I stumble, nearly falling on my face as I try to get to them, finding Lucifer laid in his son’s arms. Asmo holds his hand, tears slipping down his cheeks.
“I spent the better part of my entire life hating him…” he whispers. Blood leeches from the slice across the Devil’s throat. All signs of life are gone. “I hated him, Alice.”
Dropping to my knees beside them, Asmo leans into me. “What happened…” I breathe, staring at the man I’ve known my entire life–at least what I remember of it. He might’ve done things wrong, but I believe he did them for love, for what he felt like was the greater good.
“He saved me,” Asmo says, using his bloodied hand to wipe at his cheeks. The alabaster skin is now stained red. “I tried to keep Gabriel from getting over that hill, but he got one over on me. I just remember the hilt of his dagger slamming into my face.” My eyes dart up, as I grip his chin, turning his head to see the wound within his hairline. A gash deep enough for me to make up a hint of the bone. I’m sure it knocked him out. He’ll need stitches. Since the wound was caused by one of their spelled blades, it won’t heal on its own. Not at the speed he’s used to. “When I woke up, Gabriel was dead along with the others and my father was next to me.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, gathering Asmo against me. His body shakes as he sobs and I press my palm to the wound on his head, using what I can of my magic to slow the bleeding.
“Over here!” Finn shouts behind us. I could recognize his voice anywhere. Craning my neck, I watch him trip and fall, rolling down the hill but somehow managing to make it back to his feet before he hits the bottom. He sprints forward, only to stop halfway between the bottom of the hill and us.
“We need a healer,” I say, and he nods quickly.
“One is coming. Those Elven folk are no joke. Kai’s awake, still injured but moving.” Finn slowly steps forward, keeping his distance as he peers around me. “Fuck… We didn’t make it in time.”
Squinting up at him, I feel Asmo shift. “What do you mean?”
“Lucifer knew this was going to happen. He warned Kai not to interfere, that changing things now was too dangerous. He’d accepted his fate, knowing his sons would live, but apparently in this timeline, neither he nor Queen Persephone come back, but both Kai and Asmo live.”
Asmo tries to stand, but quickly falls, dizzy from the wound on his head. “I need to see him.” He shouts, and I try to help him to his feet.
“You’re not teleporting anywhere. The last thing we need to add to this mess is you losing your other eye.” Asmo wipes at his face, chuckling silently.
“At this point, I’d rather be blind.”
“Still surly as ever, I see.”
Three Elven men, their faces painted in silver blood and their robes splotched, come down the hill, moving as if they were born to walk on uneven ground. Like they’ve practiced it dozens of times.
“They’re here to help. They protected the castle in Hell Hold. The angels didn’t just land here, but a majority of the realms have been cleared and any of the angels that survived it have been either taken prisoner or defected the moment they saw your grandfather and the rest of the fallen,” Finn explains, helping two of the elves put Lucifer onto a cloth stretcher. The third opens a portal.
It doesn’t swirl through the air like Kai’s does or that of my aunts. It almost looks like someone poked a hole in time and space and as the circle grows larger, Hell Hold’s foyer becomes visible.
“What of Solaria?” I ask, linking Asmo’s arm around my neck and steadily walking him forward.
“Barely touched. The few that landed there mostly never made it out of the forest, from what I’ve heard. Eva and her sisters are there now,” Finn says as we step through. He follows behind, clasping a hand on my shoulder. “You should be proud. We won and the seven realms are celebrating.”
My eyes flick black, and I nearly drop Asmo as I whip around to face him. “The Devil is dead on a stretcher. Excuse me if I’m having a hard time finding joy at the moment.” Asmo’s hand squeezes mine from where his arm rests over my shoulder, as if it’s a silent thank you.
“I know it’s sensitive, but war comes at a cost. People die and lives are lost, but they give them up supporting and fighting for the people they love.”
“Tell me that after I have to break the news to my wounded husband that his father no longer walks among us,” I snap as Asmo and I limp along. Two of the healers rush from the throne room, stealing him from me to tend to his wounds.
“He already knows. Like I said, Lucifer warned him. There were only three ways today would happen. Different variations of each, but three paths all the same. If Kai was wounded, Lucifer would die. It was only a matter of whether Asmo died with him. It was either that or the Devil would live and either one or both of his sons wouldn’t. The last option was you, along with everyone else. The Devil did what he could to right his wrongs in his final moments. He chose to join his wife in death so the three of you could live. Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart–as someone who’s made the same choice.”
We’re silent as we climb the stairs, heading toward our floor. Blood is crusted on my face, caked beneath my nails, and covering nearly every inch of my body, both the silver of my enemies and the crimson of mine.
“You’re right… You better than anyone know how tough that choice is,” I saw, clenching my jaw. “I just hope Kai and Asmo recover from it.”
