- Death, Lucifer, and Kahvis -
Lucifer took a seat in the right corner of the tavern while Kahvis sat across from Death who was still standing.
"You don't have to stay for this," Kahvis said.
Kahvis looked around at the tavern, inspecting the various damage Death had done in his anger. They looked at the holes in the table with what seemed like interest.
"I think I do actually. Things are a bit too tense for me to leave you two alone right now." Lucifer replied.
Death felt insulted by the response. He wondered if Lucifer didn't trust his patience, or if he was just using it as an excuse to stay and listen. Either way, the glare he gave kept Lucifer from saying anything more.
"Whatever." Death mumbled. "Let's talk, unknown. First question, what are you?" He asked, not taking a seat.
"I can't-"
"We're done talking then." Death interrupted.
"Hear them out," Lucifer spoke up.
Death didn't respond to Lucifer. He was in no mood to play by someone else's rules right now. To him, the fact that someone he already didn't trust wouldn't reveal what they are was all it took to refuse the idea of conversing further.
Kahvis sighed. They looked at Lucifer with melancholy in their eyes. They closed their eyes and placed their hand on their stomach. After a short pause, they opened their eyes and placed their hands back onto the table.
"I'll tell you...only you two though. I hope once you know you'll understand why I refused before." They sounded slightly shaky.
Lucifer couldn't believe what he was hearing. Death on the other hand didn't take the gesture as one done out of kindness. He turned and faced Kahvis, looking down with a stare that would have chilled any normal being.
"Hide what you are so you can use it as leverage later, clever. You're playing shady merchant with the wrong being."
Lucifer had stayed for a number of reasons, the most important being that Death seemed to be reaching a temperamental breaking point. His tone had seemed off, almost like the ancient was imagining someone else as he spoke.
"Let's at least hear their origins before you leave." Lucifer tried to calm Death down.
"Both of you come here. I'm not speaking this." Kahvis informed the two.
Lucifer walked over. Kahvis placed their hands out and created an illusion around the three. They floated their hands over the table and started to create an illusion that depicted their kind's history.
Death and Lucifer were breathless at what they saw. The show before them sent a wave of emotions through both. As the illusion progressed they could see easily the reasons for hiding this information.
"I'm sorry," Death said.
"You can't tell anyone else," Lucifer warned.
"I know, to both of you," Kahvis said. "Let this be a sign of absolute trust between us. You now have the means to end me and this resistance whenever you want, so please hear me out."
The illusions faded. Death took a seat while Lucifer looked around with suspicion. He didn't see anything, but the reveal he just saw gave him a paranoid itch in his mind.
"No one else is here, so please, take your seat while Death and I speak," Kahvis asked.
Lucifer went back to his original spot. Instead of watching the two of them he started to scratch his arm and think. He had a lot to process, more than he ever thought he would.
"Alright, speak." Death said softly.
"I'm officially requesting your assistance in helping with Baal and Moloch. We won't win this war against them without you." Kahvis said.
Death found the blunt honesty interesting. He pitied the being before him, so he wasn't quite sure how to proceed. He decided to get much-needed answers first while he thought about the things he just saw.
"There are a few things I need to know. First, why did you kill angels? Second, did you kill the demons that deliver messages from Fenrir to the lycans? Third, why did you delay meeting me?"
Kahvis didn't speak immediately. They were normally quick to answer any questions, but this clearly took them some time to gather their thoughts.
"In order." They started. "I killed the angels because they had been frequenting the Underground. They were responsible for some of my soldiers being sent to that pit, so I made them an example in hopes to prevent any further problems."
"As for the demons, I didn't kill them. I don't know who did. I checked with Asmodeus and Belphegor to make sure it wasn't them and can confirm it wasn't."
"Lastly, I disagree with certain views of yours. I needed Lucifer's help below while making sure you stayed above to delay the demon army."
The last answer erased Death's pity for a moment as he remembered something very important.
"Two grim died to that army...an army you knew was coming." Death's tone returned back to what it was initially.
"I know. I explained why I couldn't warn them to Lucifer. I wasn't sure if he had told you or not." Kahvis paused, they looked at their hands as they continued.
"Your grim are among the most conspicuous beings in this world. I know why, I just need you to understand that trying to give them information wasn't safe on my part." They gripped their wrist.
"I'll give you a hand as penance if you think that reasoning isn't good enough."
Death and Lucifer looked at each other. Neither thought it was a bluff. To give one's literal hand to someone is to show subservience until the hand is replaced. It's an archaic form of binding that most would only say as a joke.
"We still have a war to fight, so we'll table that idea for now." Death looked at Kahvis's tight grip.
"I can't wholly blame you for what happened. Moloch and Baal are cancers that should have been dealt with long ago." Death closed his eyes and shook his head.
"In a way, I have my own share of the blame for what happened."
Kahvis released their wrist. They had been expecting worse to come from Death's reaction to the loss of the grim. They looked up at him.
"There is one thing I need to bring up with you before we start discussing war plans."
Lucifer knew what Kahvis was going to say next. He desperately wanted to signal them to just keep quiet and move forward. He suddenly felt worried that things might get hostile again.
"What is it?" Death asked.
"Why have you grown more passive over the years?" Kahvis asked.
Death's left eye turned black. He tried suppressing his anger at the question as best he could. "Passive" was a word he had grown to hate almost as much as "lesser". He spoke through his teeth as he responded.
"What exactly do you mean?"
Lucifer and Kahvis could tell Death was clearly restraining himself. Unfortunately, only one of them knew better than to keep pushing.
"I'm not saying you should have stayed as a rider for all existence, just that you seem almost complacent in the progress you've made." Kahvis started. "It seems to me like you stopped trying, with the main exception being the lycan incident."
Lucifer carefully stood up, just barely hovering over his chair. He fully expected that at any moment he would need to place himself between the two.
Death's other eye turned black as he crushed a piece of the table he had been holding onto. He had what he thought was an obvious answer, which was the only thing keeping him somewhat stable.
"I don't care for words like "passive" and "complacent" when they're being juxtaposed with my past. I can see how someone might delude themselves into thinking anything less than me beheading while riding Hrom is being passive, but I have to disagree." Death's voice was getting deeper.
"You see, I would like the world to change without more bloodshed if possible. The lycan incident as you put it is exactly what I hope doesn't need to happen." Half of Death's face was now covered in smoke.
Lucifer was now standing closer, certain that Kahvis was about to make this much worse.
"You think bringing the lycans in line was something that didn't need to happen? Statements like those confirm a worry I've had for a long time now." Kahvis said, noticing Lucifer inching closer.
'I should be able to stop him from here.' Lucifer thought.
Death, whose face was now fully covered in smoke, crushed another piece of the table. From the outside looking in it would have seemed like Kahvis was giving their last words before being executed.
"And what is that exactly?" Death's voice drew a curious check-in from Peter.
Lucifer waved Peter to go back outside. He created his wings slowly, keeping them low to his back.
"You fear yourself," Kahvis affirmed.
Death didn't say anything. His hands stopped gripping his side of the table. He stayed silent for a moment. There were many "wrong" answers that could have escalated this situation, but what he heard wasn't one of them. His face slowly returned to normal as he spoke.
"I, like anyone, have good reason to fear what I believe is the worst version of myself."
'Worst version?' Kahvis and Lucifer thought.
Kahvis had planned parts of this conversation out. They expected anger, maybe even physical aggression, but not this. The response they got seemed to be so different than what had been prepared for that it created a hint of uncertainty in their voice.
"You fear yourself, and it's made you hesitant to the point of passivity. I know how you feel about the word, but I mean no offense by it."
Lucifer wanted to ask Death what he meant exactly by "worst version". To him, the Death of the past was almost like a hero in a twisted way. Whenever the two would talk about that time Death seemed to agree. Lucifer now wondered if Death had been lying to him, something he usually excelled at catching.
Death stared blankly and spoke in a slow monotonic voice.
"I disagree with you about being passive. I do truly believe that this world needs equality and that the way to do it shouldn't involve me playing executioner."
Kahvis wanted to talk about how they disagree with the idea of equality being possible. They looked at Lucifer who was making a frantic expression of "Don't" on his face, which convinced them otherwise.
"For now let's discuss the coming war if that's okay with you?" Kahvis asked.
"Yes, I think that's a good idea." Death's tone still lacked emotion.
"Luce we have another gu-" Peter's voice got muffled.
Lucifer went to run out but stopped when a woman came through the tavern's doors.
Death turned around, emotion returning to his face in full force. He couldn't hide his astonishment.
The woman stood 6'2" with long white hair that went down to her shoulder blades. Her brown irises had a cut of white in them. Her sleeveless red shirt and red shorts wrapped tightly around her body revealing a strong muscular figure. Her pale skin matched Death's, causing Kahvis to shift his gaze between the two. Her expression looked like someone who had just been woken up.
"Care to explain why the fuck an army marched through a non-combat zone?" She directed to Death.
Lucifer walked up to her.
"Did the guild send y-" She pushed her palm against Lucifer's chest, launching him backward through the tavern's wall.
Kahvis and Death both stood up. Kahvis expecting a fight, Death an argument.
"Not talking to you, Lucifer." She kept her stare on Death.
"Where have you been?" Death asked.
Saint leaned to the side of Death's shoulder and looked at Kahvis.
"You must be the reason." She started to walk past Death who put his hand up.
"Since when do you do the guild's dirty work?" He stopped her.
She looked up at Death who was clearly not getting out of her way.
"I'm not here to kill the unknown." She confirmed. "I need it to be made clear that this zone is now considered off-limits until further notice."
Lucifer walked back in through the hole. He had been taking a moment as he lied down in the broken wood looking up at the sky to wonder if he should even bother going back in.
"We reduced the Underground to cinders if you're curious." He said, picking pieces of wood out of his clothes and hair. "This "Non-combat" zone is a farce. I thought you'd be smart enough to know that."
Saint gave an irritated glance at Lucifer.
"Okay then." She shrugged. "I'll be sticking around until whatever is going on is over."