Chapitre 29: Lucifer and Mira (1)
- Lucifer and Mira -
Lucifer was running possibilities through his mind as he and Mira closed in on Vázoluna's border.
'You hate me, which means you joined because of me, but why? I won't delude myself into thinking it's so you can reconcile. Did Michael force you? No. If this is any kind of sabotage on his part he would've sent someone stronger and/or less obvious.'
Lucifer's face did not give away his thoughts. As far as Mira could tell he was none the wiser about her motives.
'Jonathan. Melinda. Pheriel. So many others you took from us.'
Mira, unlike Lucifer, struggled to keep her thoughts from affecting her expression.
Lucifer's neutral look angered Mira. She thought calling him a fallen would get a rise out of him.
'Do you truly feel nothing for yourself and angels? Are the lessers the only way to draw out your anger?'
Mira suddenly had an idea but decided it was best saved for later.
Lucifer had been subtly keeping his hands ready to shoot Mira down.
'I know you want something from me. Probably some misplaced retribution. Let me guess, the angels I've killed?'
At that thought Lucifer's eye twitched for a moment, briefly betraying his emotions.
'You probably think they were justified in their actions, and now you want revenge. You might be smart enough to not openly attack me, but you clearly haven't thought everything through.'
Mira and Lucifer arrived at the border. The guards there wondered why the two angels had returned but were happy enough not seeing Death with them that they didn't question it.
Mira and Lucifer walked through the border.
"I'll cover the western side. There's plenty of small towns that someone could hide in." Lucifer said.
Mira knew Cytus was on the eastern side.
"Fine. Guess that leaves me the eastern half. Should we revisit the main town?"
"Not until after we've checked everywhere else. Fensyr's lack of knowledge tells me that Cytus probably isn't in one of the main areas."
The forest before the two was almost pitch black. Lucifer created a small flame around his hand, and Mira conjured a ball of light.
'Illusion magic and a sword. If she's planning anything, now might be a good time. She won't succeed if she tries unless she has help...'
Mira flew off while Lucifer was thinking.
'Help from who?' Lucifer looked up at her as she flew off. 'Lycans? Maybe, but unlikely given her disposition with them. Other angels? Possibly, but who? They couldn't have followed us, which means they would have had to set up beforehand.'
Lucifer started flying while continuing his thinking.
Mira had faith in Azriel's planning.
'He should be well hidden enough. Even if Lucifer finds him, that doesn't mean he'll find Cytus. The quicker the two of them are dead, the better.'
Mira continued flying around, trying to be as convincing with her searching as she could. She noted the scouts following below her.
'Is this really worth working with dogs and an eldritch?' Mira made a disgusted look on her face. 'Avenge the dead, whatever it takes.' she convinced herself.
Lucifer was swiftly combing through the small towns that lie throughout Vázoluna. He would land and offer money to search everyone's houses.
"I'll be quick. I'm not here to steal, and I'm not looking for a lycan." He would assure in a firm tone. "There's an eldritch hiding here somewhere. If you refuse to let me search your house I'll take that as a sign of suspicion."
The lycans in the various towns Lucifer visited all reacted the same way. First with anger at his intrusiveness, then with fear that an eldritch might be hiding in their town.
Lucifer's searches were methodical. He would ask every lycan he saw what their magic was. If any lied or refused to answer he would threaten to destroy the ground.
"I know it's rude to ask about magic, but please understand the situation. I want this creature out of your land as soon as possible."
Most were compliant with Lucifer's requests. They knew the threat he posed to their land, and that even if they could fight him it might draw Death's anger.
A long time had passed and Lucifer found nothing.
'Needles in haystacks would be preferable. There's a chance Cytus is being moved with every check I do. It didn't seem like any of the villagers knew something they weren't telling me and Death hasn't called with an update of Cytus's position.'
Lucifer decided to head towards the main town.
Fensyr was by the Amaterasu statue when Lucifer landed next to him.
"Sorry about the argument, for now though can we just hate each other in silence while we search?" Lucifer asked the disgruntled looking Fensyr.
Mira had been pretending to search when she received a call on her echo.
'Michael. I forgot to give an actual report.'
Mira landed on a nearby tree branch and answered the call.
"Hello, sir."
"Your report is late. Is everything alright Mira?"
Mira didn't answer for a moment. She felt bad for what she was doing, knowing how much Cytus's death meant to Michael.
'Don't worry Michael, Cytus will be dead eventually.'
"Everything's fine sir. I think the boredom of traveling through Vázoluna made me forget to report. Nothing of interest has happened. We arrived outside of Sol, but we made camp for the night."
"Be careful of Sol. I know that thing's vessels like to frequent the area. I'm sure you're more than strong enough to deal with an eldritch, but don't let your guard down. I've seen too many angels lose their minds to frenzy."
Mira looked at the dark ground below her.
"I'll be careful. I would never let one of their kind get the better of me."
"Ezekiel and his team should be arriving in Vázoluna in a day or two. I hope we can soon give Uriel his proper send-off."
Mira closed her eyes. She wanted to tell Michael everything she knew. She stopped conjuring her ball of light and bit down onto her hand.
'Don't throw it all away. We're so close.'
Mira released her hand and responded.
"That's good to hear. I'll make sure to not miss the next report." She said before Michael ended the call.
Mira put the echo away and just sat on the branch. She knew she had to keep moving, but for just a moment she felt frozen.
'Michael...if only you could be trusted to know this plan. I always thought you hated Lucifer as much as I did, but Azriel assured me you didn't.'
Mira's mind flashed back to a conversation she had with Azriel before leaving Heaven.
"Why can't we tell Michael? Surely he wants Lucifer gone as much as us."
"You might think that, but Michael has his own worries," Azriel assured her. "If Lucifer dies, then Death will hunt whoever killed him. Michael is strong, but even he fears Death, and with good reason."
"If our plan works Death won't know who killed Lucifer though."
"The fear of being found out is too strong for us to trust Michael's help, sister. We'll just have to be stronger in his place."
Mira had frequently thought about this conversation. She didn't understand the fear Michael felt towards Death initially until she watched the match between Death and the vampire rulers.
Stories of Death's strength were well known among angels, but some, like Mira, had thought them to be exaggerated tales.
'I'm a fool. Father considered Death his equal. I always thought father was just being kind.'
Mira conjured her ball of light and took a quick breath.
'Let's just get this "search" over with. If I think any more about this I'll want to stop.'
Lucifer and Fensyr searched every building they could. The two found nothing and met back at Fensyr's house, where Lucifer decided to ask Fensyr a strange question.
"Yokai, eldritch, and an archangel. Which do you hate having here more?"
"Eldritch, no question. You're a close second after our argument though." Fensyr tried to stifle his laugh.
Lucifer was angry with himself over his past judgment of Fensyr.
'Death trust you for a reason. Your word choice and attitude are rough, but at least you're trying to keep things peaceful.'
"I'm not sorry for what I said, but I am sorry we couldn't find this parasite. I'll keep searching, but this thing has a great hiding spot, wherever it is." Lucifer said before flying off to meet up with Mira.
'Might as well check up on her. I doubt we'll find anything, but it's worth keeping tabs.'
It was sunrise by the time Lucifer left. Little slits of light started pouring in, barely illuminating parts of the forest.
Lucifer eventually found Mira and the two decided to land momentarily.
"Nothing. You?" He asked.
"Same." She responded curtly.
Mira scratched her hand and Lucifer noticed the teeth marks.
"Looks like you almost drew blood. Did you spot something?"
Lucifer's tone was calm, but his mind was flooded with questions.
'You would only bite your hand like that if you were trying to be quiet. Why would you need to be quiet?'
"I was being followed by a group of scouts." She lied "I stopped on a branch and bit my hand to stay quiet until they left."
Lucifer saw right through the lie but wasn't sure how to proceed.
'Why would you care about the scouts? How would staying quiet get them to leave you alone? As far as I know, this isn't a random habit of yours.'
Lucifer decided to ignore the questions in his mind.
'Let's just move on for now.'
"I want to search with you. I've already checked my locations. I think it would be beneficial if I helped you."
Mira wanted to say no but realized how suspicious that would look.
"Fine, but I don't think our luck will improve much."
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Gama_Ser
Gama_Ser Retroactive chapter fact #29
Most lycans hate the fact that Lucifer's eyes are bright red. The image of him at night is unsettling to them.
"I generally prefer beings who are afraid of them to the ones that think it's attractive. Same with my name and fallen status."
- Lucifer answering a new reborn's question about his eyes
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone