#lucifer 01

But a ghosting chill caressed through his curls and coveted his cheeks, beckoning him to come, Sandalphon spreading his tawny wings to their farthest span and diving down into Spirale’s most blackened pit. His primal instincts screamed at him to ascend, but morbid curiosity grasped at him--What was down there? What could possibly thrive in the darkness that would plead his audience like this? After all, he was confident enough in his own abilities to retreat if he had to, he wouldn’t even have to go that far--

S̢̩̠and͕̦͕̩a͙̖̼̺͚͈̣l͍p̵̘̘̪͉̩̰͇h̩̲̠̥̘o̡͉̭ṉ̵̞̺.҉.̮̙ͅ.̻̞͍̙͈.͈̳

That was... his voice, wasn’t it? The former lord of the skies. Albeit familiar, it was distorted, twisted, and he couldn’t be fooled; Lucifer was dead, after all. There was no logical reason for him to be tucked away in this pit upon a prison island, away from their native realm--

W̛̙̥̕h̲͙̫̗͎̯̻̥͘é̷̹̜̥̦̖̭̲͉r̛͖͚̖̹͝e̻ͅ.͟͏͙̱̳̰͔̥̣̗.̨͉̺͚̹̭ͅ.̛̲̙.͍͚͡͡ ̦͙w͉̠̞̱͚̗͍̘̕h̵̤͙̣̬͙͖̝͜͟ẹ͉̙͉͘ŕ̨̠̭̺̖͈͘ę̣̺̣͔̥͚̲̀͜,̵̱̥͞ ̛͔͓̀̕Ś̫͖͈̟̜̯̝̺̻à͈̮n҉̶̫̣͉̻̮̗̤ḏ̶̞̟̟̖̩̀a̡̼ͅl̬̩̗̕͟p͍̹͜͡h̗o҉͍͓͍̥n̛͏̙͠.̸̘̘̣̬̘.͏҉̦̰.̸̟?͘͞ͅ 

“Who are you?!”   His first mistake was acknowledging the presence at all, exposing his latent fears, and allowing for the shadows to sow their seeds into his head. It was from there that his body had begun to forget which way was up or down, that he was even in motion at all, blurry images coming into sight like broken paintings.

P͚̘̜̬͡l͓̬̱̣̩̝̙͢e͚͍̹͖͕a̹͕̪̹̱͇̼̮͝s̞͇͖̝͕͜e͜͏̦͙̺͔̭̣̘.̦̰.̜̮̭̮̘̻̖͝.̶̸̦̯̳̺͚͖̞.̢͏̮̪͙̰̤̦̹̹.̡̼̱͎̞̞͇̤̘ ̜͙̯̼͜S̶̮̮͎̯͟a͉̲͞n̬̖̦̲̞͎̰̕͢d͓͉͈̝̥̩̤͡a̻͡͡l̵̨̯̬̼̠̱͍̟̪̕ͅp͏̵̵̫̣ḩ̟̹̼̳̹͍͉̳̀͞o͙̣̥͓̪̘̙̕n̩̫̬̥̣̝.̛̯͕̥͇̬̠͔͚͡ͅ.̷͓̯̯̱̗̬̣.̸̲͉̣͉̜̘͟.̢̢̣͕͙̹̼̬͘ ̳͓̕I̶̤̺̹͈̘ͅ ͈̘̥̲̥̜͉̀n͡҉͔̲̪̬͔͍͙é͈̰͖̰͚̯̞͈̻͡e̷̵̯̖̪̲̻d̲͍̖̭̫̣͔.̴̴̝̺̠͔͓̜͎͞.̛͚̩̖̞̻̫̠͡.̴̫̹.͙͕̬̗̱̦̪̱̕

Something... something was suddenly reaching for him, it was close--

-͉-̼͈̤͔͙̬My̡͇͓̖̪̱̫ ̹͚͎͠w̺i̬̪n̨̯̙̪ͅg͓̭̝̩̪s̺͍͡.̰͙̺͍ ̩͍̯̯̼͇G͕̰̞̞̟͘i͓v̬͇͢è̖͉͈͕͚ ͔̹ͅt̶̰̜̱̰͉̼h̖̮͚͢e̩̗̠̥̝m̰̜̰͓͙͡ ̸̹̻͖̩̠̱b̰̗̱̩̩͓̘a͚̬͍͕̹̳c͇̜ͅk̘͖ ̥̳t͏͇̜̥̬ơ̜̙̤ ͓̰̝m̛e͎̫͕͕͇̟͘.̹̰̀ͅ ̦̩̘̪̪ Ah--..... it was Lucifer. .... Lucifer’s headless body, that is Clawing its fingers into his cheeks as it grabbed at his face blindly, the bloody screams of anguish entered Sandalphon’s ears from the nothingness above that severed neck, his widening scarlet hues swearing he could see a bloodied pair of lips open up before him. G̥̤̹͜ I͙̝ V̝̺͇ E̳̙͉͎̭ ̦  M Y͕̖͖͇͢   ̱̟̩̙W̢̺̲͚̲̮̣ͅ Í̠͎̟͎ N̡̙̫̣̮ G̹͖̯͎̪ S̰͍̩̦̮̠  ̦͚̱̟͔ B͙̦̘̘̦ Ḁ͓ C̸̯̹̝̤ K̶   ̰͠T O͕͎͓̮̳̮   M̷̠͔̼͔ͅ Ẹ̡̱̟̖,͔̞͓   ̷̞Y͉̩̙̫͙ O̢̙͈ U͠   ̜̦W̱̩͠ R͓͈͔̳͎͈ È̞͇͎̰̠̤ͅ T̞͎͡ C̵̤̭ H̗̜!̭̖̩͞!!!

He thought to scream himself, but the darkness choked him,like an ichorous liquid, sending him spiraling down, anchored by this wailing phantom and suffocating him in despair...

Frothing out from the depths of insanity, did Sandalphon’s consciousness and clarity finally return to him.

--That’s right.

More than once now, he had tried to traverse through the endless fog surrounding the island... and down the central, endless pit. Each time he wound up back at the same start, unable to recall much except for his initial decision to enter such places. But now, he was awake again, regrettably, in his small bed fit for barely one, a migraine pounding between his eyes. His lips thirsted for caffeine, getting up only to satisfy himself with a diluted cup of your common, mortal’s brew. It was enough to quench his palette before he left his shoddy apartment and took to the streets once more. This was his new life here, at the so called city of Spirale, his third imprisonment of sorts, if you counted Hive alongside Pandemonium. Still, there was some amusement to be had here--Sandalphon couldn’t help but smile wryly at the thought of what greater god still spited his worthless self this much to put him through the likes of yet another punishment... 

--Rain began to fall at some point.

Tired eyes looked up, trying to see beyond the endless falling drops and grey.. but there was nothing there. He knew he was trapped, he was a being of solid rationale---well, for the most part. What was that called again? That unshakable fool’s will to wish for something better against all odds? Regardless, it was probably something that young Captain of the Grandcypher put into his head. A whole load of nonsense. 

Coming to a stop in his stride, the incessant weather annoying him as his fringe clung to his eyes and blurred his sight, he couldn’t help but feel a lingering regret somewhere, too, one that he had just recently left behind-- The miracle of having the chance to mend a tragic parting and yet he avoided all opportunity in order to protect his cowardly core.