- Death and Mira -
"H...RN!E...Y! Death could hardly hear Lucifer through the wind.
'Given the noise, he must be flying full speed. If he's calling me while doing that it must be an emergency in Hydern.'
"UNDERSTOOD!" Death yelled into the echo, startling Mira.
"We have to go now. There's a problem at Hydern."
"What's going on?" Mira asked.
Death glared. "I'm not sure, probably an enemy."
Death climbed onto his uništi and put his hand on its head. The uništi's purple streaks turned darker as black flames formed around its hooves, neck, and eye sockets.
"Sorry," Death said to Mira, "but I'm going to go as fast as I can."
Death gripped the reins. "Go!" he yelled, causing the uništi to almost disappear in a flash of speed.
Mira did her best to keep up, but it wasn't long before she was trailing Death. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
'I had heard legends of him, but to be able to hold on to such a thing.' She realized she couldn't keep up, so she simply tried to maintain line-of-sight, but even that was difficult.
The uništi was burning the ground it ran on, leaving black hoof marks behind it.
Death reminisced as he rode. 'How long has it been since I've done this? Riding towards a distress call at full speed?'
Death started running through all the possibilities in his head of what could have happened at Hydern. 'I know Lucifer has a no-problem-too-small policy now, but I hope whatever is going on it doesn't end like last time.'
Death checked behind him in the sky to see if Mira was still keeping up. The angel was reduced to a dot by the distance which made Death smile, then grimace.
'The only one of your kind who can keep up with me is your father.'
- Lucifer and Team-
The group was now gathered behind the inn, sitting in the empty metal cart, discussing what to do next. Yvere and Heinrich were on the left cart seat, while Sabu, with Lao's unconscious body, were on the right. Lucifer and Peter were sitting across from each other on the floor, with Peter near the back. Elijah was lying down behind Lucifer.
"We need to stay here a few days while all of you recover," Lucifer said
No one in the group disagreed with him. They all just nodded, wondering what would come after those next few days. Elijah was sleeping next to them, and Lao was starting to regain consciousness.
Yvere was impressed that Lao had recovered. "Don't act strong. Keep sleeping if you need to."
"What-" Lao's eye quickly widened as he thought the group might still be fighting. After seeing that everyone was okay he leaned back against the cart and gave a sigh of relief. "What happened after I was knocked out?"
Yvere explained how the fight ended and that she had taken his mana to heal everyone.
"I'm really sorry about that. You know I would normally never do that without consent."
Yvere was worried about Lao's reaction.
Lao waved his hand at the statement. "You needed to heal us and couldn't do it without my mana, it's fine. If you're so worried about the law let's just say I gave you permission prior. Which I do, from now on until I'm dead," He grinned, hoping the statement would ease Yvere's mind.
Yvere laughed, realizing she was just over-worrying.
Lucifer began explaining what the next few days would entail, and what would come after.
"Any of you that want to leave now, and that will include Elijah when he wakes up, can leave if you want. I'll make a call to Satan and have him send some demons out to escort you."
The group was surprised by the news. Lucifer always allowed someone to leave a mission if they needed to, but never outright asked if someone wanted to.
"Would Satan really do that?" Peter asked.
'I thought he was touchy about sending his own out of Hell.'
"I would owe him a favor in return," Lucifer responded.
Peter looked bothered by the statement. 'A favor doesn't mean somethin' simple.' He was against the idea of asking Satan for help but didn't know how the others felt, so he bit his tongue.
"I'm staying," Yvere answered first. "I didn't join you because I thought I would go on fun adventures. I don't ever want to see Cytus again unless he's in an urn, but I won't let him stop me from helping you."
Yvere felt exhausted, and she didn't let on how truly afraid of Cytus she is. She put on a brave face and waited to hear from the others.
Sabu spoke next, "I feel embarrassed by my performance. I was taken out of the fight far too soon. I need to prove to you that I was worthy of the second chance you gave me."
Lucifer spoke in a soft tone, "Before any of you continue I should make something clear, I haven't lost respect for any of you, nor do I believe you're weak for wanting to leave. If you go back to Hell you will still be allowed to join these missions in the future."
'Self-preservation is important, so long as isn't to a selfish extreme.'
Yvere and Sabu looked at each other, understanding what Lucifer was saying. They still wanted to stay on the mission but knew that there was no sense in trying to play a hero with Lucifer.
Heinrich started next, "I don't want to stay, personally."
Everyone, but Lucifer, seemed surprised.
"I would love to go back to Hell, but I can't yet. I don't want to stay and I don't want to go back, so what should I do?" Heinrich turned to Lucifer.
Lucifer could see the desperation in Heinrich's eyes. 'What do I say to someone like this?'
Lucifer ran through various conversations he had in the past. There was one that gave him an idea. "I think you should stay."
Heinrich and Peter were both stunned by the answer.
Before Peter could speak in protest, Lucifer continued. "I don't want you in the front anymore. You should remain in a supporting position. Your magic is incredibly useful, but that doesn't mean you need to be everyone's shield."
Lucifer wasn't sure if what he said was right, but he hoped it would help Heinrich with his decision.
Heinrich thought back to his previous life. He closed his eyes and winced at the images he saw in his mind.
"I-I think I should stay," There was no confidence in his words.
Peter wanted to question whether or not Heinrich was really okay with staying, but he thought he should wait until tomorrow. 'Maybe after some rest and sunlight.'
"Staying," Lao said matter-of-factly.
He had seen plenty of nightmares out in this world, and as terrifying an opponent as Cytus was, there had been worst encounters in the past.
'I should have assumed that a blow to the neck wasn't enough. It's my fault for thinking I could have ended the fight there.'
"I'm stayin' obviously," Peter said.
'I'm sure Lucifer won't be happy that I spent life force, but he should be understandin' of the circumstances.'
"About that, Peter," Lucifer made a hard stare. "How do you feel after spending your life force?"
Peter at the moment of backlash had felt like his body was being ripped apart by flaming chains.
Peter laughed nervously. "I'm fine now. Was in excruciatin' pain before, but that's over."
Lucifer glared, before closing his eyes and leaning back. "It's good that you didn't use all of it, but understand that the consequences aren't done yet."
Lucifer was frustrated with the situation, thinking about how he should have argued with Peter about not training with him. 'I shouldn't have let you convince me. You and everyone else would have been in a much better position if I had just put my foot down.'
Lucifer and Peter were having similar thoughts. The rest of the group were also questioning their parts in the fight.
Eventually, Lucifer got out of his head and spoke again. "Alright, that settles who's staying, mostly, so now let's go over what happens when we leave."
Before Lucifer could speak, the thunderous sound of hooves could be heard coming towards them.
- Death, Lucifer, team -
Death arrived at Hydern's entrance about forty-five minutes after Lucifer called him. He hopped off his uništi and conjured his scythe. It was a long silver pole with a black crescent-shaped blade protruding from the top.
Death quickly looked around for any signs of enemies, but all he saw was the damage from the fight that had taken place. As he saw Lucifer running to greet him he returned his scythe.
"Is everyone okay?" Death asked, looking at the damaged inn and various burn marks on the ground.
"Everyone's fine, mostly," Lucifer explained. "Peter used some of his life force though," He said the last part with an upset look.
'If only I had said no,' Lucifer looked over at Death's uništi, and shuddered. 'I'm guessing Mira is still far behind.'
Death wasn't happy to hear about what Peter had done but assumed it must have been necessary.
"Alright, tell me the full story."
Lucifer informed Death of everything that had happened.
After hearing Ctyus's name Death scowled. "I don't look forward to telling Mira and Michael about this."
They had all met Death before, but it didn't stop them from staring. Death was used to the treatment and passed it off as a result of their fatigue.
'I'm sure they're just happy to be safe,' Death thought, giving an awkward smile.
"Back to what comes next," Lucifer said, snapping the others out of their stares. "We'll be heading to the border in three days. As you all know, once we cross it is when things 'Normally' get more difficult for us. I want this battle with Cytus to be the worst thing to have happened. I'll do my best to keep things smooth."
Lucifer's words were made more believable by Death's presence. He was now grateful that Death had decided to come along.
'Now there's only one thing left to take care of.'
Lucifer informed Death that he would be pursuing Cytus, making sure to finish off the problem before it comes back.
Death nodded in agreement. "I'll make sure to keep a close eye on everyone while you search."
Lucifer flew off, trying to think where Cytus would have gone.
'Where are you, you parasite?!'